//------------------------------// // Into the Past // Story: Legacy // by NFire //------------------------------// “No, Rarity, we really don’t need that much stuff.” “But...but darling! You simply can’t go on a trip without being properly prepared!” The named Unicorn was smiling as she sorted through the tremendous pile of luggage that sat on the crystalline pavement. Athena tried not to sigh, “It’s called a search and sweep Rarity. All I’ll be doing is looking for artifacts. It’s not really something exciting, it’s quite boring actually.” She twirled a hoof idly at the rest of the friends sitting there, “You all really don’t need to come with, it won’t take long as I’m dividing the area up into sectors. I figure one a day ought to give me enough time to dig deep.” “We don’t mind, really,” Fluttershy was smiling warmly, “You always have something interesting to do.” Athena felt a swell of pride in herself, damping it down as she tried an appeal, “Fluttershy, I won’t have any spare time to do any of that. Everything I have will be concentrating on this.” Something was missing, “Where’s Spike?” Twilight rolled her eyes, chuckling, “He’s off enjoying his fandom I’m sure.” She waved a hoof, “He said he wanted to just hang around in the Empire. I think he just wanted to get caught up on his comics, hasn’t had much time lately.” Athena had learned, quickly, that Spike was considered quite the hero in the Empire. After seeing the huge statue of him, she’d wondered what he’d done and was quickly filled in by Twilight. It was a pretty good tale. “Fair enough. But you guys really don’t need to come along. Nothing more exciting than rumbling through the snow looking for buried stuff.” Rainbow huffed, hovering next to her, “Hey, if you find something cool, we wanna see it!” The smile belied the gruffness of her statement. Athena gave in, “Fine! As long as we get going now.” A hoof got pointed, “Rarity, you’re going to have to leave all that behind, seriously.” The marshmallow Unicorn gave a tremendous pout, and Athena stubbornly shook her head. It was quite the face-off for a few moments as the group looked from one to the other. A dramatic sigh and a puff of breath indicated acquiescence, “Fine, let me call a porter.” “Thanks, Rarity.” Athena started through the checklist for movement, not very long, it was important. Lights started rotating beneath covers, warning anyone near to clear the area. She stopped any klaxons from going off right now, knowing that trying to drag nervous Crystal Ponies out of their houses once more would just delay everything again. She would drop her track shields once further away from the archway, which was absolutely dwarfed by her hull. The sound of a few tons of durasteel clanging into place would definitely make an impression. She wanted nothing to stop her from moving out. A troop ramp extended under cover of the shield which surrounded the Empire, keeping it warm and safe against storms. They cropped up quite a lot in the Empire, as she watched the clouds already moving in. Weather patterns were very unpredictable, even with her sensors strained to the limit watching for pressure patterns, they just zoomed in and dumped snow. She remembered a time when methane ice covered her sensor blisters, a rain of solid hydrogen fell on her hull as they fought on a moon in the inner sectors of the Concordiat occupied area of the galaxy. A place where no human could be unless heavily supported, yet a lifeform was there that decided it did not like humanity and wanted to do something about that. Snow and ice? Bah, not a problem. She had warm outfits for them, already fabricated long ago when gearing up for the trip. They would be safe should they need to exit the safety of her confines. Hopefully, she wouldn’t need that. Athena smiled, her lips curling softly, seeing Rarity tipping the porters whose job it would be to haul that mountain of luggage back to her rooms. Outrageous sometimes, yes. But she couldn’t fault her, being that way was just her norm. Business done, the stylish mare trotted over to join the others who headed for the ramp as soon as Athena cleared it. Into the warm interior, comfortable and cozy, where the bitter cold would never reach. Athena saw them to their quarters, dropping on a rack and letting go of her avatar she sunk deep within herself, powering up the big fusion plants and snapping her Battle Reflex circuits wide open. Energy roared through her. Usually in combat conditions they had no time for slow and steady power up. Now, though, she had all the time in the world and it was wondrous. Sensors cracked on, ranging and radars and everything else lit up the atmosphere around her in an invisible shield of sight. Seeing and feeling anything that got close to her. Ponies loved a good show, and she could see the Crystal Ponies gathering as her alert sirens went off this time, making absolutely sure no one was near her when she moved. Muted somewhat as to not overwhelm, it gave everypony fair warning that this mountain parked in front of the archway was preparing to go. Athena watched carefully, making sure nothing she did set off another panic. Everything slow and careful. Princess Cadence and Shining Armor were standing within the magical shield, watching with wide eyes as everything on her hull lit up in a flurry of sound and thunder. She whipped her turrets around, giving them the traditional Bolo salute and seeing them both smile. Athena had explained what it was much earlier. Some things could not be dampened, nor put aside, she had to do things right regardless. Her drive trains slammed into place with a clashing of tons of metal, the huge treads grabbing the snow covered ground deep and moving her forward with a rumbling of engines. She couldn’t help but smile, seeing little ponies with parents chattering excitedly and pointing at her as she moved off. ----- Cadence watched with eyes that tried to take it all in, seeing the ..the Bolo.. move off into the building storm, “Shining, isn’t that the most amazing thing you’ve ever seen?” Her voice was caught up in the wonder of a technological marvel like the one now slowly making its way into the fields surrounding the city. The bulky stallion next to her nodded his head, “It is. Just glad she’s on our side.” ----- “I’m warning you all right now,” Athena’s voice came clearly through the speaker system, “It is going to be slow for the next few hours unless I find something.” “Actually,” Fluttershy was fluffing up some pillows on her bunk, the mattress as soft and comfortable as it could be, “I am going to catch up on some rest. Taking care of my animal friends is all well and good, but it does get tiring sometimes.” She snuggled under the thick comforter, “And this is the perfect time.” A cyan mare leaned back into a pile of pillows as well, “I’ve got the latest Daring Do, and it’s been a long time since we’ve had nothing to do.” Rainbow wriggled her body, pinning wings tight, as she settled into the bunk, “Plenty of time now!” Her eyes though were a little weary, body relaxing into the welcoming mattress. The rest of the group smiled, knowing her love for naps, seeing her yawn. “I, for one, am going to take advantage of that exquisite wash room.” Rarity was gathering a few things stored for her by Athena, “A long hot soak, then plenty of rest. It’s so rare we do get the time.” Flipping a towel over her shoulders she stopped before entering, “Anypony else?” “Ah’ll join ya, that sounds real nice actually.” Applejack was rummaging for another towel and a long-handled back brush which she threw to balance on her back, “I could use it to get some of the kinks out. Like ya said, not often we get the chance.” She finished gathering a couple more items, turning to look at Twilight, “Want to join there Twi?” The Alicorn started, having been lost in thought for a second, “Oh, I was wondering where..” A loud snoring interrupted her, making them all turn to see Pinkie sprawled out on a bed, clutching a large bag of potato chips in one fore leg. “That answers that.” Rarity looked on with a snicker, “She’s quick.” “I actually wanted to take a look around.” Twilight gave them a response, “We’ve never seen everything, just a few places inside here, and I was just wondering..” Applejack nodded with a smile, “Same old Twi. Have fun then, don’t get lost.” The two mares headed into the wash area, anticipating a nice, quiet time to cure their ills. Twilight looked around for a second, wondering where.. “I heard.” Athena’s voice was soft in her ears, “You are allowed anywhere but engines and powerplants, for obvious reasons. Too dangerous when we’re moving. Anything else, feel free Twilight.” Before the Princess got to the hatch, the voice returned, “Oh, and do not mess with the gunnery areas. Look, but don’t touch. All right?” The Alicorn sighed, “Fiiiine.” “I thought so. Do not let curiosity get the best of you, there are very dangerous things inside my hull. Follow any indicator except the orange.” “I got it.” Twilight waved a hoof in the air aimlessly, “I promise.” She shot out the hatch and down the access-way. ----- Athena assigned a part of herself to taking care of the friends while she used the better part to light up everything. Radars and ranging lasers swept outward into the countryside. Ground penetrating radar sunk deep into the frozen ground, looking for indicators of anything with a technological trace. The metals and plastics that were in human made items were easily distinguishable from anything else. She poured power into all those sensors and scanners she hadn’t used in a while. They worked perfectly, if not more so, being rebuilt and redone, they reached out farther than before. There! She zeroed in on a trace reading, finding a lump of durachrome that was sunk into the soil. Nothing much, but proved it worked! Plotting coordinates came up inside her. A board that was slowly filling out as she mapped the local area was filled with dots that joined them. Dusty had told her where a lot of the items had been found, giving her the ability to find clusters or caches that would lead her to bigger things, she hoped. Her maps were filling in quickly as ranging microwaves reached out and bounced off of the solid land underneath the eternal covering of snow. Hills and dips slowly revealed themselves, the far off mountains were getting closer in her mind. The glacier gleamed in the distance, moving forward or back as the seasons dictated, they never retreated very far. She had them scheduled, as soon as she took care of the designated areas around this part of the city. Get the easy stuff first and fast, tackle the rough stuff with enough time. An alert went off, something moving through the snow towards her. Scanners swapped out, bringing up a thermal view. Unknown. Nothing in the catalog, nothing identified before. It was large, camouflaged against the now drifting snowflakes, it blended into the landscape. She was amazed it didn’t shy away from her moving form, though the dampeners were on, still she made some noise. Athena smiled internally as a port opened with a snapping sound, the blunt snout of a rotating cannon peeked out as she took aim at the thing. Carnivore, definitely, the muzzle had a grimace that showed razor like teeth. Claws gripped into the snow as it moved towards something further on. Family of something or other. Yep, it was stalking them. Tactical took over, gunnery made adjustments as the chain feed ramped up with a whine. The family of animals was huddling in a snowdrift, feeling the rumbling of something huge moving past them, bodies trembling in fright. They never noticed the hunter looking for them, eyes closed, bodies tight together as they tried to stay warm. The carnivore was hungry, finding at last the hiding place of the food it was tracking, it raised a paw ending in razor sharp claws, looking forward to feasting for the moment. One of the little furry critters cracked an eyelid, seeing the huge thing above them and waiting, knowing it was seeing it’s doom. A whining sound, a beam of stuttering light from somewhere and the creature was gone! Bloody gobbets exploded over the pristine snow, wiping any trace of the hunter from existence as the little animal stared out into the whiteness. Yeah. No bad guy, no more. Can’t live with ‘em, just shoot ‘em. Athena laughed inside, storing the weapon and looking at the board that was making itself into a map. More chunks of durasteel there..got it. By reflection it is rounded..hard to do on durasteel unless its very old. Happy trails, little furry whatevers. Athena bid the group of small creatures farewell as she moved through the heightening storm. ----- “So, whatcha think ‘bout all this?” Applejack’s voice cut through the fog of scented steam from the bath where she and Rarity resided. “About what, dear?” Rarity was involved in scrubbing herself down with a soap that Athena had given them, the fragrance was stunning and lasted forever on her coat. An orange hoof waved idly, “About finding stuff from the past. I mean..she said some things were pretty dangerous.” The Unicorn stopped her motions for a moment, tapping the long handled brush on her back with a flick of her magic, “I think if she gets rid of those items, it’s all well and good.” “Ah know. But maybe we shouldn’t be messin’ with them at all?” Emerald eyes looked slightly worried as they caught Rarity’s azure ones. Her friend was lost in thought for a second, Rarity never worrying about more than the latest designs, she now pondered what Applejack was saying. “I think we should trust her. Let her make Equestria safer for everypony. Don’t you agree?” “Guess I just worry too much then. Ah trust her, ya know. She ain’t ever done anypony wrong.” Applejack smiled lopsidedly at the Unicorn, “Oughta stop huh?” “Never, dear Applejack.” Rarity leaned over, giving her friend a hug with a scented fore leg, “If somepony doesn’t ask, who will?” The farmer nodded, leaning back into the water that was soaking in so delightfully, muscles relaxing, body shifting to slip underneath the surface along with a happy sigh. ----- Twilight wandered the corridors of Athena’s hull, peeking into various hatches and seeing stores of food and ammunition. She was looking over a huge room with various spare parts shelved and in containers, watching the tech spiders move about selecting one and scurrying to replace it somewhere in the massive Bolo. Heading out, following a green indicator line, she came to a door where a sign was posted in Equestrian alongside some of what looked like ear muffs. WARNING: Gunnery Section Four Past this point you MUST Wear ear protection! --- DO NOT Step past red line! Damage or injury can occur! The Alicorn pondered, wondering if she really needed to..of course she did. Curiosity always got the better of her as she fitted a pair of the muffs on and slapped the doorway button. The hatch opened on a scene of organized chaos. In front of her was some sort of mount, upon which rested a large barreled cannon of some type. She recognized this from explanations long ago. Stretching down to the left and right of her were ranks of such things lined up and down the long corridor. The cold seeped in here, making her shiver and wishing she’d brought a scarf or something. Tech spiders moved among the different weapons, cleaning and oiling, checking for wear and tear, replacing anything that needed or even looked as if it needed changing. Tracks lined the corridor, letting the gun mounts move to the side for checks, then slapping back in place faster than she could see, ready for action. A mount carrying two different weapons moved in from the side, rotating and bringing up a multi-barreled gun that stuck its snout out a newly opened port. The scream of a high speed feed system came through the muffling on her ears, making her flinch as the cannon roared, hundreds of shells bouncing out of the breech and sliding down the catch chutes for reuse in the space of a second. The barrels smoking hot as they retracted back in, the metal opening slamming shut with a clang. Tech spiders moved in, sweeping any spilled shells up and carrying it all off to be recycled into fresh ammunition. Twilight took a step forward then halted, looking down at a glowing red line that was far back from the moving gun mounts. She really wanted to make a closer inspection to observe how all that stuff worked. The tech spiders always intrigued her as they were fast and efficient at whatever they did, it was fascinating. A lull in movement made her lift a hoof, stopped by a voice in her ear. “Don’t step over that line, Twilight.” “Athena?” She looked around before finally realizing she was wearing her link. It had become such a part of her she barely noticed anymore. “Yes. That’s a high speed track system. Those gun mounts will cut you in half if you get in the way.” The voice was very firm, brooking no argument. The outstretched hoof flinched backwards now, Twilight taking a step back and looking at the delicate ballet of the machinery around her. Her mouth opened to reply but was stopped once more. “I know, curiosity. In my hull it will get you hurt. I did not bar you from Gunnery because I knew you’d like the intricate workings. But if you cannot obey the safety rules, I will have to restrict your movement.” A silent nod, then, “What were you shooting at?” Soft chuckling over the link, “Just saving some fluffy critters from doom.” Twilight tapped a hoof in thought, “I’m not sure if Fluttershy would be happy about the fluffy critters, or sad you shot something.” “We’ll not tell her then, agreed?” “Agreed. Although...” With a sly look Twilight raised a fore hoof, Athena’s voice coming back. “Don’t even think about blackmail. You can look through gunnery, but if you stray across the line even once, you’ll be carried out by my tech spiders in a most undignified manner. You will also be restricted to the sleeping quarters and the bathroom. Understand?” A dramatic sigh, “Yes.” “I’m glad we get along so well.” Twilight rolled her eyes, “Right, sure. Smart pony.” “I try.” The link clicked off, leaving Twilight alone once more, but knowing that Athena was tracking her every move. She wandered up and down the corridor, eyeing the machinery in action, even getting to see another one firing at something out in the snow. She exited the Gunnery section and hung up the ear covers, looking for another place to peer into. Choosing a direction at random, Twilight happily trotted off in a voyage of discovery. --- Athena was puzzled. So many little things but nothing large enough to be worthwhile for stopping and excavating. You would think in a debris field, something would pop up. Ground penetrating radar was helping her plot the various discoveries. Simple things, chunks of metal, just...junk. Nothing else was there. Steelcrete would have worn away to dust, electronics also turned to fading marks in the ground. She was getting an inkling though. Something was nagging her at the back of her cores, something important she was missing when looking at the data that showed her the discoveries. Swinging around, she sped off to another designated sector, bringing up her scanners once again and seeing a scattering of responses. A pattern was starting to show, but of what? A third, the same thing. Now the data was definitely showing it and she kicked herself for not recognizing it earlier. It was centered on the Empire. ----- One quick sweep around the perimeter of the Crystal Empire and she had her data. Not going any further than this, she decided to park for the day and ask the Princess and Shining if they had maybe run into anything unusual while living in the castle. The debris field was scattered outward from the city. Unknown as to how it stayed intact, but the program was showing her a definite pattern based on the available scans. Admittedly some debris fell way outside the norm, but on the whole it showed a center-point. The large edifice known as the Crystal Castle was smack in the middle of the ring of debris. Twilight had told her many stories of Sombra, the days of darkness and how he ruled in terror. Curiouser and curiouser. ----- It didn’t take long to return to the archway, this time a little less louder than before. Since the Crystal Ponies were expecting it, no disappearing population either. Matter of fact, quite a crowd was watching the Bolo pull up with a slight rumbling and creak of treads. The rotating lights starting up as a warning before the troop ramp slid out and landed on the ground inside the shield. Fluttershy stretched a back leg and mmmm’d, “That was the best nap ever.” Her wings popped out, flexing before being pinned to her sides as they walked down the ramp, “Maybe I could sneak away and do that again some time?” She gave an abashed look at Athena, who smiled in return. “You’re more than welcome, we’ll keep it a secret.” The sable pony turned to the others, “Sorry for the short trip, but I found out something that I thought needed to be investigated, didn’t want to bother you until we got back.” Rarity fluffed her mane, her coat exuding a wonderful aroma around her, “Never fear dear, we know it’s important. It was a nice chance to relax though.” Pinkie was busily munching her way through a very large bag of potato chips, nodding, “Was great! I sure feel rested even though we were only out for a few hours.” Twilight laughed, “You were out like a light the whole time.” The pink mare gave her a coquettish glance, fluffing her mane with one hoof as she did an absolute spot on impression of certain Unicorn, “I need my beauty sleep!” Immediately going back to munching on what was left of the chips. Even Rarity got a good laugh from that. “The debris I found was centered here, on the city. Something’s here.” Athena waved a hoof, “I haven’t checked near the glacier, maybe later, but something around here left a lot of junk.” She explained about the pattern of debris. Princess Cadence and Shining were just joining them, catching the conversation. “We’ve never seen anything odd, even while building new houses or other things.” She looked at Shining who nodded in agreement. Athena had no clue and told them, “I don’t know why it’s like that, but the pattern is pretty clear. I am assuming some things, but the closer I got to the city limits, the more junk I spotted. Mind you it’s small pieces, nothing worth digging up, but it is there. After so long I’m not sure why it’s still that way, but..perhaps the magic around the city protected it? I honestly don’t know.” Cadence waved them all on towards the castle, “You’re welcome to look anywhere you wish.” ----- Sitting around a small table a few hours later, Rainbow Dash gave a sigh and thumped a hoof on the crystal top, “Nothing. I didn’t find a thing.” The others gave the same report. Scouting through the castle, peering into every nook and cranny they could find, nothing odd or out of the ordinary was found. Athena spread a printout of her data, showing little red dots where she’d detected the junk and detritus from long ago. A hoof pointed to a cluster, “This stuff is deep, very deep. But it all makes a circuit around this city. Something here was destroyed and left clues..or maybe I’m just over-thinking this.” She whacked the paper with a frustrated sound. “Wait...wait wait wait.” Athena turned to Twilight, “Didn’t you use a spell to reveal that staircase when you were trying to find the Crystal heart?” “Yes,” A lavender hoof pointed, “In the throne room. It revealed how things had been in Sombra’s day.” “Can you use it anyplace else?” Athena saw the light go on behind the violet eyes, “You think it may be hidden?” The pegasus nodded, “It’s the only answer I can think of. It would be deep, very deep. Is there a sub basement here? Some place where Sombra did his dirty work?” “I ran into a few areas that were way under the castle. Maybe that’s it?” Applejack was seeing Twilight smile. “It’s got to be behind spells. There’s still a lot we don’t know about what he did and why.” Twilight slapped a hoof on the paper, “I bet it’s just hidden from sight like that staircase!” Cadence and Shining Armor looked at each other nervously, “We’ll accompany you.” Athena wore a feral grin, “And I’ve got an idea that’ll help keep everypony safe.” ----- Athena loved experimenting, catching the bug from her sister. Never putting plans in action she did do one thing before this trip, planning ahead as Crusader had always advised. Now she brought them out. Having a Ferret deliver them to the front door of the castle, she’d created them from a need for possible urban or close combat. Tech spiders trooped out of the vehicle. Heavier than normal they were the same size as all the others, except for the reinforcement..and the guns. She could see through the cameras, proudly watching them move silently into the castle past astonished guards. They were matte black and very quiet. Powerful beam lights were dotted around their bodies to provide illumination and distraction. They moved silently, almost gliding along the reflective floors. Atop the low-slung body a pivot mount held a very special weapon. It was multi-barreled, but at need it could do single shot and sniper duty as well. Very multi-purpose, blindingly quick to swivel on the ruby bearings, and absolutely deadly. There were only four. It was all she could do to make those as everything else went into their own maintenance. By sacrificing a few non-essential things, she was able to get them up and running. They stopped on a command from her, taking up positions outside the doorway, sensors moving in smooth motions to map the room, confirm friendlies and look for hostiles. Anything designated a bad guy, was going to get a nasty surprise. Twilight raised an eyebrow, seeing the inky black machines march in and stand at their posts. “That’s your idea?” The pretty pegasus gave her the sweetest smile she could muster, “Of course!” ----- It was a sub-sub-basement. One of those unused places where miscellaneous storage was, castles long having them. When the Princess took over, she had toured and mapped each and every place, never suspecting anything else since Twilight discovered the staircase in the throne room. Standing at the end of the corridor, Athena set two machines before them, and two in reserve. “Can you use the spell on this whole space?” Athena was watching Twilight ready her spell. A nod, “Yes. It should filter down, but I can cast it as needed if it doesn’t.” It wasn’t a very long accessway, but it was the deepest level they could find that was known. Athena figured it would be best to start there. Relays to her hull had been set up just in case, providing clear communications between it and her avatar. She ramped up the power to her transmitters and made sure she had a clear link with Crusader who was online now, paying very close attention to what was coming across the communication lines. “Anytime you’re ready Twilight.” She stepped back, joining the others who were waiting behind in the room at the bottom of the stairs they used to get down here. Twilight had a bad habit, one that made most of her friends smile or even chuckle. When concentrating on a powerful spell, her tongue slipped out from between her lips, sticking out to the side as she narrowed her eyes. Applejack nudged Rarity as the dainty mare put a hoof over her mouth, smothering a slight titter, “There she goes.” A bright magical aura lit up around her horn, spreading in a wide fan of color that stuck all the way down the corridor, lighting up the walls and floor to ceiling. Nothing changed, nothing was...wait. “There!” Shining pointed to a discolored part of the wall further down as Twilight cut the spell. “Hold it!” Athena’s firm voice cut through the movement starting from everyone, “No one move until I check it.” A single machine sped down the hall, Athena brought out a pad-screen from her saddlebags that was good only for the feed from her little warriors. It showed the camera moving quickly, the stabilizers giving her a solid picture. Quick change of angle and she was staring at the revealed place in the wall of the hall. A doorway, shining in the ambient light that the crystals put out. Solid and very sturdy, it was encased in a metal frame that held it tight, locked and secure against the ages. Writing was revealed, making her gasp. Faces crowded around as she read the single line. Authorization Required for Access It was written in Concordiat Standard! To be continued.....