//------------------------------// // VII: But He Who Has Understanding for His Charioteer, and Who Holds the Reins of the Mind, He Reaches the End of His Journey, and That is the Highest Place of Vishnu // Story: The Huntress // by The Quiet Party //------------------------------//         Since her rebirth, Lily Diamante’s life had been a study in contrasts.  From the very first moments her Ghost, Persia, resurrected her in the desert wastes outside of Tucson, Arizona, she yearned to know who she was.  Her name had come from a jewelry store where she'd found the police revolver that formed the basis of her now-famous hand cannon, Style & Grace.  She'd spent those earliest of days dealing with scavenging diamond dogs, roving bandits and making sense of herself in this shattered world.         Eventually, the road led to Tombstone, a town once known as a lawless villa of the Old West but now a heavily-fortified settlement fending off daily dog attacks.  It would be the place where Lily would find a sense of purpose defending the people with her weapons and her surprising talent at void magic.  As more survivors flocked to Tombstone, Lily began to build a legend for herself, earning scorn from the dog archons in the area and praise from the locals, who praised her as their guardian angel.         She'd also earned a bigger prize as well: the heart of Martina Sache, the Awoken girl who ran the local bar.  A beauty with fiery red hair, yellow skin and glowing turquoise eyes, Lily almost felt as if it were her destiny to be with her.  Their nights had been passion-filled and the days loving, both of them a family along with Martina’s human brother Minal.  As they settled into a familiar life, it was a joy they hoped would last forever.         It went without saying that it didn't.         Twenty years after her arrival, as Martina and she settled into the lives of a happily-married couple and Minal had grown into a charming young man catching the eye of every girl in town, the House of Bones attacked, swiftly and mercilessly.  A minor dog warren trying to make a name for themselves, they thought to raid the remains of Tucson for technology and eventually turned their teeth towards Tombstone … for food.         The battle that commenced rocked the local area.  Dog skiffs rained cannonfire on the walls of Tombstone, while the defenders desperately fought back.  Lily herself sallied forth from the walls, meeting dogs with her weapons and giving no mercy.  It had been at this time that she'd thrown a nova bomb spell at a skiff, intending to break its guns.  Somehow, she'd set off a chain reaction with that cracked the starship in two, and with the help of Persia, became a one-woman instrument of war.  And yet the dogs still came, hellbent on capturing the town at all costs, as if their very lives depended on it.         Defenders fell, and so did civilians.  Lily had become so busy that she hadn’t eaten, slept or seen her family in days.  Granted, Guardians were more than capable of such actions, and as a warlock, she had proven to be an incredibly skilled one, but she was only one, and the dogs numbered by the hundreds, if not thousands.  And in the distance, laughing as he sent waves of troops to the slaughter, was the Alpha, the leader of the warren, Kardhel.  A huge monster of a mutt, he easily towered over Lily sizewise, but was too much of a coward to wade into the battle directly, instead preferring to lead his troops from afar.         Finally, on the seventh day, when Lily felt too weak to continue on.  As she regenerated from the second time she’d died – she hated herself for that, not because of her own death, but because of the lives lost in the time it took for Persia to reconstitute her – she checked her ammo, found that she was almost completely depleted.  Persia had used all her transmat stores of ammo, and couldn’t generate any further. She was left to her magic, and from her exhaustion, that wasn’t a source that was going to be used anytime soon.         Smelling victory, Kardhel ordered his ketch in, the massive starship soon eclipsing the sun with its sheer size.  With that, the monstrous ship began firing large bolts of voidfire on the town, ripping it to shreds even as dozens of servitors began to boil away from the starcraft.  With the condition Lily was in, there was no way she could fight them off and no way to stop them.         A second later multiple explosions ripped through the ketch, seriously damaging it and making it list to the side as its gravity well partially failed.  Kardhel ordered a retreat lest his last weapon be lost, and as he disappeared, four new Guardians – another warlock, two titans and a hunter – appeared.  Using an array of weapons she’d never seen before they began to push back the House of Bones, bloody corpse by bloody corpse.  And when it was over, the warlock hit them with an electrical storm the likes of which Lily had never seen.         Eventually the newcomers introduced themselves.  The hunter was a small human woman by the name of Alkhaest; she only went by the mononym and claimed that any other names she had in the past were just that – the past.  The first titan was a jovial Awoken man by the name of Kiyl Sahndars; he wore the mark of the Sunbreakers, which Persia explained was a reclusive sect of titan warrior monks. The second one was an earth pony, something Lily had never seen before.  They were aliens from another world originally, but had settled here on Earth after the destruction of their home reality by the Taken Queen and now were no different than their human or Awoken counterparts.  He was a retiring type, and he referred to himself as Saint, strangely enough referring to the warlock at his side as his “mother”. But it was the warlock that had captured Lily’s attention.  From the look on the faces of some of her fellow villagers, they had seen a vision of the divine, and the young warlock soon found out why: this was Princess Luna, the alien goddess from another world who had given up everything, from her lands and station to her homeworld and even her pony form, to defend humanity from her own sister.  Her name was legend amongst the species on Earth, and in the centuries since Nightmare Star had all but extinguished the light of humans, Awoken and Trues, she had tirelessly wandered the world, a traveling knight in a reality gone horrifically wrong. Once the smoke had cleared, the town’s defenders started looking amongst the rubble of Tombstone for survivors, of which there were few.  Ghosts, similar to Persia, flitted around the town and broke apart into energy sphere, discharging a powerful blast of energy into the corpse.  Persia helpfully explained that they were chosen to be Guardians such as herself, selected to wield the light against the forces of Darkness. But no Ghosts came to choose Martina or Minal.  And as Lily arrived at the saloon/home she shared with her wife and brother-in-law, it wasn’t long before she found their bodies. Lily didn’t remember much after that.  She vaguely recalled others burying her loved ones.  Or that Princess Luna offered the survivors a chance to live in a city far from this hell of a place, a shining city where Guardians bristled and her other child Ana led the defenses.  Lily had nothing here, nothing left of anything, save for Persia and an outfit that Martina made for her, something Lily had never worn before because she considered it too precious to sully with dog blood. So it came to a shock that without a singular care in the world, Lily stripped down to nothing in front of everyone – she knew the looks she was getting, but she was too broken-hearted to care – and slipped on the armor and white robe with inlays of gold and silver that seemed to burn with the sun.  The moment she slipped it on, however, as if reflecting her heart, the garment became as black as the darkness they fought, the metallic strands changing to neon codas of blue and green. She’d cried that night and for many afterwards.  She became lonely, lost, and tried to find herself in the arms – and occasionally forelegs – of so many lovers, searching for something she knew she’d never find.  And as the trail of spent bullets and forgotten lovers grew miles long, Lily had amassed a legend around herself as mystical as anything else had become in this blighted world.  Legends that she’d been there at the last stand of Luna’s children, as Ana Bray and Saint fell at the battle of Twilight Gap, and that she’d avenged her friends with a bloody trail that still stained the walls of the Crucible Zone now known as Frontier.  That she was generous to a fault, with her charms to her friends and bullets towards her enemies and that sometimes there didn’t seem to be much of a difference between the two.  And that since her loss, the only one she really loved was her Ghost, Persia, because the AI was the only family Lily really had left in this world. Still, Lily fought on, knowing that if there would ever be peace, it would be a world that she didn’t belong in and didn’t deserve.  And if she would ever find peace for herself, that would be even less possible, because in all the lovers she’d taken over the decades, not one of them ever really made her feel as Martina did … or a mostly-forgotten memory from even earlier, one she couldn’t identify even now. If there was one thing that Lily kept to herself, even away from comments in confidence even to Persia, it was that in the little girl she must have once been whenever ago, Lily Diamante believed in miracles. But she’d never thought she’d see one. Until now. ~*~ Lily opened her eyes, wondering why, exactly, she could – the scorch cannon should have rendered her into component atoms.  And a second later, she saw why.  And gasped. There, standing before her as, well, a Guardian, was the newbie Hunter whose pants she planned to get into later on, blocking the solar blast as if it were nothing.  Indeed, the bolt of energy sat in her hand, as if the hunter had caught an arrow.  Sure, Light allowed one to hold mystic energies in the palm of one’s hand, but catching it was a whole different thing! “What.  The.  Hell?” Lily said aloud, her voice dripping with incredulousness. Not looking at her, the hunter said, “Glad to see you’re okay.  Look after your Ghost.  I’ll finish this.” “You’re going to take on an Archon and a Wa—” “Trust me,” was all the huntress had to say, actually ignoring the dogs long enough to turn to look at Lily… …and then she moved.  ~*~ From the moment she put motion into her first step, Sunset knew she had very little time to stop all this.  She’d already risked a lot by catching the solar bolt as if it had been nothing, but she was still growing into her power as an alicorn, and she had to stay alive long enough for her to fully master it. Ignoring the warlock behind her, Sunset reached into herself and called forth something that was instinctive to her: a gun made of pure magic, ready to fire bolts of highly-destructive energy towards its target.  Hunters usually created this out of solar energy – the Golden Gun.  It was the strongest ability available to the hunters who had mastered the school of warfare known as Gunslingers, and Sunset, having somehow learned this skill without ever having gone through the paces, followed through as had every Gunslinger ever done. But no Gunslinger had the ability of Sunset’s true magic, and so this was no ordinary Golden Gun.  Burning with the turquoise magic of Sunset’s own innate powers, it was far more valuable than mere gold and far more potent – a Celestial Gun.  With a practiced ease that she still didn’t understand how it came to her, she pointed the gun and fired. The first shot slammed into Vaksis, knocking him off his perch and sending him flying.  A second shot immediately followed, this one punching right at his head and knocking him out.  The Archon incapacitated, the hunter then trained her Celestial Gun on the Walker. Another shot rang out, blasting the armor off of one of the legs.  As the mechanized tank stumbled, Sunset jumped onto its head as the cooling vents behind the sensor head opened up, glowing a bright orange as they discharged excess heat into the air.  From there, she rained down fire from her Celestial Gun, pouring one aquamarine blast after the other.  Three shots were on average the number of rounds most Gunslingers could do before the exhausted themselves.  Four was for the absolute best or those who had augmenting armor that enhanced that skill.  Yet Sunset kept going: five, six, seven eight, until after the ninth shot, when she could hear something cracking within.  She jumped off the walker, barely dodging the electric blasts that came from its secondary guns, diving behind a long-rusted car as the walker went up in a blaze of glory, detonations rupturing the object as if it were a bombardier beetle whose internal mixture went horribly, terribly wrong. Sunset moved over to where the unconscious Archon was, Sunset summoned her shadowbow, but it too glowed with her power and was unsuited for the void-sounding name.  With casual grace, she pinned the dog commander to the ground, the glowing teal bolts holding him fast in a magical tractor beam.  Satisfied as she’d disabled him, she walked towards where Lily was, breathing heavily and bleeding profusely from the wound in her side. “What are you?” Lily panted, looking as though she was on her last legs. “The hunter who’s going to stop Nightmare Star for once and for all,” Sunset said as she bent down to inspect the wound.  “The Taken Queen will someday know I’m coming and when she does, there’s not a thing she can do to stop me.” “What?”  In the distance, another Walker exploded, but neither woman paid much heed.  Safford and the others would take care of the other two, Sunset was sure of it.  But for now, all that alicorn could do would be to take care of her fellow Guardian. Sunset nodded, then took a look at the wound.  “This is more than I can fix, I think.  I’m not a doctor, so I really don’t know more than first-aid.  Let me see if I can fix your Ghost.”  She called to her side.  “Dawn, gonna need your help.” “You can’t fix a Ghost!” Lily insisted.  “Nobody can fix Ghosts!” “I’m sure I can,” the hunter said with certainty. Meanwhile, Dawn came out of Sunset’s subspace pocket.  ⟪She’s right, you know,⟫ the Ghost said with a melancholy truth.  ⟪Tiberius told me that after the battle of Twilight Gap, Speaker Luna nearly drove herself mad with grief trying to repair her children’s Ghosts in the hopes they would come back to life.  Apparently she even turned to Osiris for help.⟫         “Who?”         Lily, however, caught that.  “Osiris?  He’s a madman!  Why would she?”  Seeing Sunset’s confusion, Lily explained.  “Osiris was once the Warlock Vanguard and an old friend of the Speaker’s.  But they had a falling-out over tactics related to fighting Nightmare Star.  He took his followers, and they resettled at the Reef and Mercury.  The Cult of Osiris sponsors the Trials, and I’ve won a few of those,” she said, pointing at her bond, encircling left forearm.  “I’ve even been to the Lighthouse, which is said to be his home.  But I’ve never seen him there, or for that matter, any of his followers at the Lighthouse.”  Her miniature speech clearly winded her, as she fell back, panting.         Meanwhile, Sunset picked up Persia.  Inspecting it, she said, “Somewhat intricate piece of magitech, for sure.  But there’s something familiar about it, something I can’t put my finger on.”         At her side, Dawn groaned.  ⟪Please don’t refer to us as machines,⟫ the Ghost insisted.  ⟪I know we’re not biological lifeforms, but we are living.⟫         “Sorry,” Sunset admitted with a slight embarrassment.  Holding Persia in one hand, she began to gently tap him, each percussion of her finger flickering with her power.  After a few minutes, she let him go, and the AI floated in the air of its own accord.  “There, that should do it,” she said, and as if to punctuate it, the third Walker detonated, and a cheer sounded from the Guardians continuing their attack.         Persia’s optical emitter flickered to life, and she looked at Sunset.  ⟪How?  Why?⟫ the Ghost asked, and Sunset in turn pointed at Lily, who reacted accordingly.  ⟪Mistress!⟫ she bleated, immediately firing healing beams to assist Lily’s suit.  ⟪Are you okay?  I’m sorry I wasn’t able to assist you immediately.⟫         Lily felt a new wave of comfort and Light wash over her and she got to her feet unsteadily as the final Walker exploded in the background.  Looking at Sunset, she said, “I … I don’t know what you did, but I can’t thank you right now.  But I will thank you later tonight,” she purred.  “I’ll thank you in ways that’ll show you just how grateful I am.”                  “Down, Lily,” Safford said as he rejoined them.  Cornerfire could be seen zapping his armor here and there, making small repairs to the smoking-but-still-functional titan gear.  “We took the other three down,” he reported to Sunset, “and I see you fed that last one its own exhaust vents.  Not that I should be surprised in the least.”         Lily, however, sounded miffed.  “How do you know I didn’t do it?” she asked the pony.         Safford laughed.  “I don’t need to be a unicorn to feel true magic, Lil – a pony knows it in his bones,” he told her.  “Plus….”  He pointed to where Vaksis was still pinned down with shots from Sunset’s skyshot bow.  “Shadowshots don’t last anywhere near that long, and you aren’t a hunter.”         “Fine, fine,” Lily admitted.  “I don’t need to know how talented someone is at war when I sleep with them.”  Safford glared at the warlock, and Lily gazed back.  “You know, you’re being awfully protective of her.  Thought ponies usually didn’t go outside their species for comfort.”         “Except with you,” Safford stated.         “Yes, except with me.  Your point is?”         “My point is that you wouldn’t sleep with the Speaker, would you?”         “I would if she wanted to, but she seems to be that kind of all-distant matriarchal figure that I’m trying to get Ikora away from imitating,” the warlock said, matter-of-factly.  “Someday, I might just pull it off.  Anyways, you still haven’t explained what the deal is with you and that girl.”         Both watched as Sunset walked towards the dog Archon.  “Then let me make it clear: On my honor as an Amity cleric, Sunset Shimmer is not to be touched, got that?” Safford warned.         “‘Sunset Shimmer’?  With a name like that, she sounds like a holoporn star.  Now I really need to get to know her better.”  Moving past the earth stallion, she walked over to where Sunset was picking the dazed Archon off the ground and was flanked by a trio of Guardians, all pointing their guns at him.  As she approached, Vaksis snarled at her, barking something in the incomprehensible language that dogs spoke.  “Nice to see you, too, Vaksis,” she said offhandedly.         Sunset looked at the diamond dog and his look of utter hatred at Lily, then said, “She’s not important.  I am.”  The dog suddenly looked at her, his face full of contempt, then spat a gob of spittle at her, laughing and jeering in its language.         ⌠You know, you’re just about as ugly to me as I am to you, so cut the crap and pay attention!⌡ Sunset snarled in his language, and to everyone’s surprise – Vaksis included – she merely gave a smile.         “You speak the dog language?” one of the Guardians said with shock.         Vaksis was no less surprised.  “Pony speak Eliksni?” he asked in English.         “I speak many of Equus’ languages,” she told him, “and do I look like a pony to you?”         “Bah, human, pony, all same thing.  Is Eliksni food, is resource for Eliksni,” Vaksis laughed, especially at the body language of the Guardians.  “You just smart pony, is all.”         “Eliksni?” Arv Crossack spoke, intrigue in his voice.         “Eliksni is their native term for themselves,” Sunset explained.  “Diamond dog is the pony term, based on their love of gems.  Humans adopted the term, and that’s just how things are.”  She then turned back to Vaksis.   “Okay, fun’s over.  Now, you’re going to tell my why you’re here.”         “Vaksis no tell pony nothing,” he insisted.  “Smart pony is smart but not that smart.  And ponies not ruthless like Eliksni.  No can make Vaksis talk.  Vaksis Archon of House of Devils, not easy position hold.  Only strong hold and Vaksis strongest of strong.  Vaksis so strong, Vaksis not fear that pony,” he said, pointing to Lily.  “Vaksis no fear you.”         “Oh, I assure you, I can and will make you fear me.  Last chance to do this nice way, Vaksis.”         “Hah.  Stupid pony,” he told Sunset as Lily drew her gun.  “Only thing stupid pony can do is friendship and die.  One is useless, other is food.  So do Vaksis favor and kill pony self.  Vaksis feeling hungry.”         “Why, you….” Lily said, angrily pointing her gun at the Archon.         “You had your warning,” Sunset said, exploding into power.         The area went into pandemonium as Vaksis was brought muzzle-to-muzzle with an alicorn.  It shocked all present, save for Safford, who behind his mask had a wide smile of pride.  Meanwhile, the alicorn looked at Vaksis, her wings spread proudly, standing ramrod straight and her eyes burning with power.  “NOW DO YOU FEAR ME?” Sunset intoned, her voice ringing through the concrete canyons that used to be this town.         Vaksis merely whimpered.  “Alicorn!  No!  She-Who-Rules-All-Alphas said you all dead!  She said she only alicorn!”         “The Taken Queen is wrong,” Sunset told him.  “We alicorns live … and we are angry.  Our people and our allies, those from Equus and this world, have been hurt, and we will not countenance this.” She fixed a baleful stare at him.  “Your life is forfeit, Vaksis, Archon of Devils.  You now live at my whim.”         Looking at Safford, Lily stammered.  “You knew?”         As if on cue, Safford spoke up.  “All, you are in the presence of Princess Sunset Shimmer, she who is the Wandering Princess, niece of Princess Luna and daughter of Princess Celestia.”           “WHAT?” someone shouted and it wasn’t easy to tell whose surprised gasp that was.         Sunset looked at all of them, the folded her wings back.  “I am here to fight for humanity, for ponydom, for Awokenhood and all the other races allied with the Light,” she said firmly.  She then bent her head down, so that her horn was pointed at Vaksis’ remaining eye.  “And I will do anything to protect my allies.  So unless you want me to discover a new and improved way for you to suffer as horribly as possible – because death will be a mercy I will not grant you – then talk.  Why are you here?”         Vaksis was silent for the longest time, as if weighing his options whether it was safer to commit to betray his people or to suffer whatever horrific punishments a pony with the same power as the Taken Queen could inflict.  Finally, he said, “Scouts report magic source here.  Powerful magic source, only strong when ponies present – real ponies, not other ponies.” “Real ponies?” Arv asked. “I think he means the True,” another Guardian suggested.  “If we’re all just ponies to him, then the True must be ‘real ponies’, quote unquote.” As if not paying attention, Vaksis continued.  “Magic react to real ponies, powerful magic.  Alpha decide wants magic for House, make House stronger.  So makes deal with Kings to share magic with King Alpha, send force to take over Pony Practice Area.” “The Temple!” Sunset said aloud, and looked at Safford.  “The Temple has to be in the Crucible Zone.” “Yeah, but the only thing in Widow’s Court is the Lutheran cathedral….” Safford began, then stopped.  “You think?” “What is going on here?” Lily asked. It was Dawn that answered.  ⟪Sunset found an item in one of the old buildings that talked about the Temple of Seven Seraphim.  We don’t know what it is, but it was clearly something of prominence here.  And if this dog thinks it’s in the Crucible Zone, then the only logical place has to be the cathedral.⟫ “How so?” “I feel like an idiot for not piecing it together at first,” Sunset said, “but now I do.  You see, there were six Bearers of the Elements of Harmony – two pegasi, two earth ponies, and two unicorns, though Twilight Sparkle eventually ascended to become an alicorn.  But the Elements require balance – they are Harmony, after all – and Princess Twilight selected her pupil, Starlight Glimmer to wield Friendship even as Twilight remained the focus of the whole magic aspect.” Her words caused a moment of insight in Safford.  “And the Bearers were considered holy ones, just as you and your fellow alicorns are our goddesses,” the earth stallion stated.  “And there were seven … seven holies!  Seraphim is a type of angel in the Christian religion, so….” She nodded.  “So the cathedral has to be the answer,” Sunset insisted, changing back to her human form.  “Alpha Team, continue to make sure our guest goes nowhere.  Bravo Team, follow us.”  To her surprise, a member of Alpha rendered her a salute, and the others drew their weapons and moved to protect her. Meanwhile, Vaksis laughed.  “Go and leave, pony.  Vaksis kill your ponies, escape.  Then he come for you.” “I don’t think so,” Sunset replied, and lit her hand with witchfire.  She tapped Vaksis on the forehead, and he suddenly fell into a deep slumber.  “There,” she announced. “That should make your jobs easier.” “Yes, ma’am!” one of the Alpha members said, her voice sounding with relief. ⟪All ships returning to the area as per protocol,⟫ Dawn announced.  ⟪Bacon Princess standing by.⟫ Safford looked at a Bravo member.  “Nguyen, contact the Tower and tell them what’s going on – or as much as you know; we’re still figuring it out.  Have Zavala send out a Shrike so we can take our new buddy to the stockade.  And have Ikora and Rahool send research teams; I think we’re gonna need some.  Lastly, tell Shaxx that the Court needs to be shut down until further notice.” “He’s not going to like that,” Arv noted. “True, but he’ll like destroying something that we could use to win the war even less,” Safford replied.  “Besides, he’s been looking for a reason to reopen the Memento Zone, so now he has an excuse.”  Nguyen laughed, nodded and started to contact his ship for a relay to the Tower. The rest of them looked at Sunset.  “Well, you’re in charge here, Sunset,” Safford told her.  “Make the call.” “We get in there and start looking,” the alicorn-as-human told him.  “We get in there.” ~*~ “Wow, it’s a wonder this thing is still standing,” Sunset said as she got her first good look at the cathedral.  The inside was blasted through and through, with almost nothing left of the floor or the pews, save for the opposite end, where a portion of the altar and dais remained, most of that as destroyed as the rear wall was.  Centuries of lakeside weather had eroded much of the exterior and the exposed interior, yet some of the majesty remained.  Curiously, the majority of the stained-glass windows still remained intact, including massive round one near the entrance.  As for the remainder of the internal décor, that had long been replaced by Crucible recording devices and the remains of dog computers and other equipment. “It’s a beautiful place,” Safford said, his respect for another faith clear.  “Shaxx considers this a perfect area for training, but personally I hope we can turn this back over to the people someday to restore its grandeur before our weapons complete what the dogs did to it.” “That it is,” Sunset admitted.  “I remember the cathedral in Canterlot – the Canterlot here on Earth, that is.  It was designed in the style of the old European ones and was a vast thing of beauty.  One thing about it was the great round window, which told the story of humanity in such a small space.”  She looked up at the window and its depiction of the crucifix, clouds, and the holy spirit floating above in its representation as a dove, holding a scroll upon which Latin was written.  But it was the symbols at the seven topmost frames that caught her attention: seven cutie marks, of which one she knew very well. That’s Twi’s mark, Sunset thought.  And if I had to guess, the rest are the other Bearers.  I think we hit jackpot.  “Dawn,” she asked her Ghost, “can you float up there and take a look at that window?” ⟪On it!⟫ Dawn assured her.  The Ghost headed upwards, poking at the window several times before it started to flicker with arcane energies, becoming a pool of light.  ⟪Sunset, this thing is a miniature portal!  Looks like minotaur technology, too!⟫ “A portal?” Sunset asked.  “Can you see where it goes?” Without answering, the Ghost started to poke at it again.  Several minutes passed as Dawn continued to tinker with it.  ⟪I think it’s safe,⟫ she announced.  ⟪Like I said, it looks like it was made from minotaur technology, but it’s entirely made from Earth equipment, and the location is pointing about a half-mile under the Earth.⟫  When everyone gave her odd looks, she added in a sort of verbal shrug, ⟪That’s what the data says.⟫ “Think we can trust it?” Safford asked Sunset. The hunter nodded.  “Yeah, I think so.  I’m going, and I have a feeling you’re going as well.” “Not even if you told me not to, Sunset,” he said, a grin evident in his tone. “I’ll go as well,” Arv added.  “The rest of Bravo can lock down the place and notify us if something comes up.” “I’ll go as well,” Lily commented.  “Might be a place Sunset and I can get to know each other a little better, right?” Sunset seemed to deflate.  “You do know I’m not interested, right?” “All nos are just delayed yeses,” Lily commented.  Sunset and Safford shook her head and she merely shrugged. “Okay, looks like there’s a slight ledge over there,” Arv pointed.  “If we boost up there, we should be able to scuttle over the ledge and into the window.”  To demonstrate, the titan hit his boot’s jumpjets, flying up towards the ledge, then began to shimmy down the walkway until he was on the other side of the portal.  “I’ll go in and set up a rally point,” he said. “That walkway’s not going to work for my body,” Safford grumbled.  “I’ll see if I can get some of the others here to help me push enough boxes in place that I can just jump directly through the portal.” “Means I’m next,” Lily commented.  She blinked, her body turning into a brief comet of violet energy, and a second later, she appeared on the ledge.  She then blinked over to the portal, coming out of her quantum phase just long enough to dive through the window. Sunset helped the others push enough boxes for Safford to get through and the two looked at each other.  “Ready for this, Saf?” she asked. “Been doing stuff like this for a long time, Sunset,” he commented.  “The unknown doesn’t get any easier.”  With that, Safford hopped up to the top box, then queued his armor’s jumpjets to push him through.  Sunset followed suit, her enhanced jump letting her jump halfway up, then through the portal. ~*~ As Sunset came through the portal, she saw the others looking around.  While their weapons weren’t ready, they were out in case something was wrong.  Arv and his Ghost, Scholar, were studying the place.  And as inexplicable as it could be, there was much to study.   The four were in a massive chamber, painted with the colors of the sky and bathed in light and warmth from sunstones, magically-imbued gems designed for that purpose.  They stood on a tiled walkway that sliced its way between grassy areas that teemed with lush foliage and vibrant flowers, all seemingly well-tended.  Birds from both Earth and Equus flitted through the area, singing merry songs as if they didn’t seem to realize that they were essentially prisoners in this massive area.  As for the walkway, it split halfway down where a beautiful fountain made water dance and burble.  The pathway continued on towards a large acropolis in the distance, like something from long-lost Cloudsdale, only solidified in stone.  The whole of the place looked like utter paradise, something none of them had seen in a long, long time, if ever. ⟪Initial scans indicate that this area is a kilometer in each direction,⟫ Scholar stated, firing scanning beams to and fro.  As the other Ghosts appeared, he said to them, ⟪I could use some assistance in scanning the area for anything … untowards.⟫ Everyone caught the implications of that.  “Corner, you go with him,” Safford told his Ghost.  “We’ve dealt with enough dog electronet mines and laser tripwires that he’ll know what to look for.” “Good idea.  Persia, please render whatever assistance you can,” Lily told hers.  “We can rely upon Sunset’s Ghost if anything comes up.” Dawn nodded at that.  As her fellow Ghosts headed off, she told the three, ⟪Air is completely breathable.  No traces of any unusual gasses, foreign objects or traces of dark miasma.⟫ “Yes, yes, everything is absolutely fucking perfect,” Lily commented.  “That’s what worries me.  It’s like something out of the Golden Age or before the Fall of Equus.  This is storybook bullshit.”  She turned to Dawn.  “Are you sure nothing’s wrong?  There could be something in the air affecting you as well, as hard as it is to believe.” “Dark magic doesn’t play by the rules,” Sunset voiced, repeating the old mage’s mantra.  “Still, there’s nothing here that feels wrong.” “We’re not going to get answers standing here, folks,” Arv told them.  “Need to go check out that temple.” He brought his pulse rifle to the ready.  “We ready?” “I promise you, that won’t be necessary,” a new voice said.  The four turned around to see a figure walking towards them: a large lavender alicorn, wearing a mixture of armor and white fabric, giving her the look of a warrior princess, which was apt.  She wore a spiky golden crown on her head, and the look in her purple eyes was warm and friendly.  Her mane was of a deep eggplant color, with violet and fuschia highlights. Sunset looked at shock, as if seeing a ghost – the literal kind.  “Twilight?” she asked, as the others bowed.