//------------------------------// // Into the Past Part II // Story: Legacy // by NFire //------------------------------// “No.” “No one goes down there yet. There’s a lock on that door and I need to make sure it’s not trapped.” Athena’s voice was very firm, her machines backing up the pronouncement by blocking the hallway. “But..” The pegasus turned to face Twilight, “Earth defenses and facilities were all equipped with fail-safes. You will not go near it until I have cleared it.” The castle had been evacuated, guards leading anypony out that were still left as they had set up a quick and dirty command center in a room at the top of the staircase leading down to the newly discovered doorway. Cadence lay a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder, “Listen to her, please. We don’t know about those things.” The burning need to know what was behind that door was practically making Twilight trot in place. Ever since Athena had confirmed it was Concordiat Standard writing and not Equestrian, she had to be prevented from going down and trying to open it herself. A frustrated snort and nod, “Fine. So what do we do?” Athena relaxed, “It’s got a code pad on the door. I’m not sure how anyone figured how to access it, but it seems to have been used.” She pointed to scrapes and various discoloration from use on the frame and the door itself, the linked pad showing everything the spider saw. One of the combat spiders was very slowly and gently placing sensor pads on the doorframe and on the keypad itself, making a pattern that would allow Athena to send low frequency pulses of energy through the material to find out the inner workings. This would let the Bolo get a map of the interior of the pad and door, checking for traps or fail-safe devices. “Once I get a good idea of what is going on, we’ll crack the door. I would prefer very much to use the code, but barring that or traps, I’ll use other means.” She was looking at the code pad. It was a cracked armorglass pane that had a faded outline of a human hand on it for scanning. A card was then slid through the space alongside the handprint, and finally a number code entered. It made her wonder what was behind that door, with all the barriers in place. Considering the last human probably died out a few million years ago, this might be a little tough. There was no identifier on the door to give a clue as to what kind of facility, if it was, this door opened onto. She wished there was power to the pad, that would make it easier. But a simple slap patch gave it a steady flow from her ‘spider. The sensor stikpads were in place, starting to feed data to her cores. Athena backed off the machine, letting it stay sentry, the weapon steadily aiming at the door in case anything decided it was going to make an exit now that it’d been revealed. The energy from her little ‘bot was giving the pad all it needed, the data was still there, preserved in a small bloc, waiting to be accessed. An LED light had come on, illuminating the pad. Crusader came online, his massive computing power multiplying hers as they worked slowly at the locks. Breaking enemy firewalls was one thing, they had to be extra careful as Earth Defense knew exactly what Bolos could do and always adjusted security on sensitive information or centers to allow for the possibility of a compromised unit. “I have entry.” He paused, “This door has been accessed, it used to have a trickle charge to it from somewhere Athena.” “It’s in the memory?” “Volatile memory has been erased, no power, no data. But the storage behind it is showing access after a very long span of time. I can only guess, but before the power was lost to the pad, someone gained entry.” “Not having time-lines is a problem. Could it be when Sombra was in charge they had found this place?” Athena was honestly curious. “Unknown, but from the way you found it, very possible.” “I will be extra careful then.” “Please do. Wait one.. Data is coming now, access codes from previous entries have been stored, which is unusual, but they are here.” “I see them.” Athena let him lead the way into the datawall. He was very subtle about things, never leaving even a trace he had been there. She saw him deftly manipulate the system, gently applying code-breakers here and there, teasing out the information she needed. There it was. The release numbers for the door! “Nicely done!” “Thank you, sister. Please be on guard.” “I will. Nothing goes in there without a full sweep.” “Agreed. I also concur on the plans for entry, well done yourself.” “Thank you, everyone will be as safe as they can be until I make sure.” “I shall stay online and linked until you advise. Be safe.” The link went dead, though she could tell from his looming presence he was watching everything very closely. “All right, I have the code.” Surprised eyes turned her way, everyone looking at her after only a split second of silence. “How...?” Cadence was beginning to ask when Pinkie nudged her. “It’s maaaagic!” “Pinkie!” Twilight sighed in exasperation, “Crusader and Athena can confer over distance faster than our magic can send a message most times. I’m pretty sure they can figure out anything sometimes.” She gave a smile to a stunned Athena. “How did you even know I was in conference with him?” “You always have a certain look.” The pegasus eyed her for a long moment, “One day you and I are going to talk, Twilight.” “Sure!” A lavender hoof waved airily with a smug grin accompanying it. Athena narrowed her eyes at the smiling Alicorn who blithely ignored her. “Okay, the code. Though I still wonder how any...oh that’s right.” Magic, used with a stick or quill, could easily punch those numbers. There were no fail-safes on the lock, the one they did detect was degraded to uselessness. It had to be a fluke that someone actually got in. She gave the command, seeing the ‘spider lift one leg and slowly poke out an eight digit string of numbers onto the pad. The LED light blinked twice, then the door cracked open with a hissing of escaping atmosphere. Still sealed after so long? That might be a good thing. Meaning nothing might have escaped into the wider world. A ‘spider leaned forward, one leg gently pushing the door open as a light flashed on, drenching the yawning portal in actinic white, weapon snapping into place. Sensors started searching for anything living. Athena shut the view-pad down, anything alive and hostile would get taken care of violently and all over the place. A small room was revealed, scans picking up a short stairway leading down into the ground, beyond the range of what little the ‘spiders could image. It seemed to be a secondary exit from somewhere. The stairs narrowed abruptly, part of the wall had shifted in some long ago temblor maybe, or perhaps when earth fell? There was more than enough room to move one of her combat rigs around it, slowly peeking into further darkness. Athena noticed the walls were covered with a slight sheen, even the shifted parts. Someone sealed this place after it was wrecked. A hoof pressing her shoulder brought her out from her thoughts. “What’s going on? What do you see?” Twilight was looking at her eagerly. “Nothing so far except an entryway and a short flight of stairs leading further down..wait..” She held a hoof up, concentrating on her ‘spiders that had managed to make it around the blockage. The stairs ended, opening up into a larger room covered in pitch black. Not a problem for scanners as they switched over into various frequencies, mapping and looking around themselves. Another hallway, short, made of materials that Concordiat engineers were known to build with. Definitely man made. More hatches dotted the short length of hall. Standing open in the darkness, as if someone had just left. The ‘spider peered into the nearest one. Maybe an office? A desk that had fallen into shards, a twisted frame of rust that could have been a chair, remnants of possibly cabinets that once held files maybe? Information disks?. The weight of ages pressed down in here. Plastic shards that could have been a screen of some kind lay on the floor as if someone had tried to piece them together. All had been disturbed sometime in the past, she could see the leavings of other unidentifiable things swept to the side. A thinner layer of powder covered the pile. The dust lay thick and heavy, probably before who or what-ever had sealed this place did so. She had the camera sweep slowly along the floor, switching through different filters to get a better view. There were hoofprints. ----- “What?” Twilight’s face was puzzled, “Hoofprints!? Whose? Where? How?” She grabbed the pad, trying to get it operating to show her pictures from the inside. Athena was tracking the slow progress of her ‘spider, keeping it nice and easy as she tried to answer questions, “I’m not sure. They are a little larger than normal, and there are a few more sets accompanying them. A guess is that three to four different ponies were in here at one time.” The pad lit up, showing the prints in the heavy coating of dust on the floor. “Larger? The only one I can think of..” Twilight’s violet eyes got wide, “Sombra!” Cadence raised her eyebrows, “Now, we don’t know that Twilight. Don’t go making assumptions.” Shining agreed, “It could have been somepony long past, even before Sombra.” “But what if it was? Oh my gosh this is SUCH a discovery!” She was practically hopping around, “This could add to what we don’t know about those days! Even after talking to all the Crystal Ponies that came back from the curse, there’s still so much we don’t know!” A pink hoof on one shoulder stopped her springing along the floor, “Twilight. Bouncing is my job.” The calm voice was offset by the sparkling humor in two very blue eyes that caught Twilight off-guard, seeing the others choking back laughter. A roll of the eyes, “Agh! Don’t you see! We could..” “...learn so much. Yes, dear, we know.” Rarity was gazing gently at her friend, the well and oft-used phrase coming smoothly from her smiling muzzle. Cadence and Shining hid smiles as they watched Twilights’ friends catch her out. Athena was concentrating on the data coming form her ‘spider, seeing it proceed to the next door. Peering around the frame, she caught sight of..tables? Wooden tables, covered in electronics. Instructing the little robot to get closer, she saw they were headbands of the sort Bolos used for neural interfacing. Was this a research facility? Agh! So much went on during humankinds’ time on earth. Secrets stacked on more secrets, little facilities buried everywhere doing who knows what. No..that wooden table was more recent. Someone had been fooling with this stuff. Leaving the items where they were, she had her spiders look for traps, anything that might compromise the area. She wanted very badly to get into those rooms, pore through all that and find out what was going on.. Oh no... Another room, tables again, stains covered the floor as she saw something lying on the top of the wooden construction. Long it had been there, undisturbed as the spider lifted up along the wall, turning its camera to get a full view. A glittering in the light from a quiet form that shone in the arc of the spiders’ beam told her it used to be a Crystal Pony. The seal on the rooms had kept it from decaying all the way a thousand years and on. No ability to do a proper scan, we’ll get to that later. Scuttling out of the main door, one spider came back and Athena requested a cover, a sheet or anything to take with it. When questioned, she could only look at them sadly. Nothing more was asked as the ‘spider tumbled back in, gracing the still shape with a dignity it had lacked over the last millenia by gently placing the coverlet over it. The metal door was closed by a combat ‘spider after the room had been checked. A few tools, some miscellaneous electronic pieces, a lot of dust and rust again. Some prints of something that had been in here. Another pony maybe? Everything was scuffed, hard to really track. Easing down the corridor, there were more offices. A metal cabinet had somehow survived in one, there looked to be file holders actually sticking out of a drawer. Browned by the press of time, she kept the spider well away. Perhaps Twilight had a spell for helping to keep anything from falling apart. A red beam of light illuminated a room filled with shelves and cabinets that looked to be stuffed with electronics. After so long she doubted they would work, but the precious metals they contained would be so welcome! The ‘spider took its time with the camera, moving from one shelf to another, it was a treasure trove of psychotronic parts and modules. There was enough in here to salvage that Crusader and herself could have a very small reserve without scrounging for the rare earths they needed so much. Jackpot! Though one thing that caught her as strange, the shelves were wooden, scraps of rust and plastic shards were in a pile near the far wall. It seemed someone had built these and found items to put here. Where did all this come from? Something had hit this little place hard. The ceiling was falling to pieces, drifts of tiles crumbled even under the light step of a ‘spider. Pipes and energy conduits were exposed from the walls where the ‘crete had crumbled. It was all covered in a sealant though, something that wasn’t familiar to her, glittering in the beams from her ‘spiders. It was everywhere, coating the walls, everything. I pop back into my avatar, “Twilight?” She’s far too eager, hopping right up with another hopeful look on her face, “Yes?” “Is there some sort of magic spell that.. Seals things? Like rooms and whatnot? Seals them from leaking or anything like that?” I turn the pad back on, pointing to the screen and showing her what I mean. “That..is odd. We have spells that preserve, but nothing that leaves a coating like that.” Faces crowded around as Athena showed them what she’d discovered so far. “Paper? Didn’t you use all that technological stuff?” Athena laughed, “We did, very much so. But some humans were very stuck in their ways and preferred hard copies to seeing it on a screen. There might be some information there.” She eyed the Alicorn, “Can you keep it from falling to ash?” Twilight nodded firmly, “That, I can do. We have spells now that can preserve writings for centuries.” Athnea felt hope, “When we get in there, that’s the first thing I need you to do. Preserve that cabinet and the contents. Please?” A salute with a lavender hoof brought a smile to Athena’s sable face, “Can do!” “Good. Let’s finish this up so we can get in there.” ‘Spiders peeked into the last few doors, saving the one at the end of the corridor. Nothing but remains of furniture probably, or storage, gone to dust and more rust over the eons. The door at the end of the passage was another mystery. It was heavy, and looked to be hermetically sealed from what Athena could tell. A simple door panel was to the side, one slap after entering a code and it would open, usually, if there was any power to be had. If not, she had ways to bring in a few power cells, something easily hooked up to open that hatch. She kept looking at the door, seconds ticked by until she realized why she was doing so. It was a vault. Not just any room, with steelcrete and the normal building materials, no. This was a vault, something meant to pass the ages in complete timelessness. She could tell by the sheen of metal that shone through a steelcrete covering, falling off it revealed what was truly underneath. They were made of the most solid, impermeable materials man had devised. To keep safe that which was thought irreplaceable, or so valuable it had no number. She wondered what could possibly be in there. Art? Treasures? Old 2D films someone thought worthy. Any number of things sprang to mind as her eyes kept themselves pinned to the screen, looking at that one door. Her ‘spiders finished their tour, ending up at the same area she was looking at. The command given, one placed a row of sensor pads along the door and the doorway trigger. Dead, no power at all. Nothing would open that hatch except maybe shaped charges. Even then it would most likely destroy what was inside if she wasn’t careful. No. This would take time. One more sweep and the area was cleared. She brought her war ‘spiders out and turned to Twilight who was hovering over her shoulder like a demented parrot. She blinked, backing up slightly at the excited look. “Twilight,” She placed a solid hoof on her friends chest, keeping her in place, “It’s clear..” She felt the surge of movement from the Alicorn and stopped it dead. “Please. Follow me first and preserve those papers?” At a nod she removed her hoof, turning and hearing Twilight and the others following her to the hatch. The ‘spiders preceeded her, lighting up the area softly now, giving her a chance to look around. “This feels so old.” Twilight’s voice was hushed as she stepped across the threshold, “You can sense it in your bones.” Her violet eyes were wide as they went down the short flight of stairs, taking in everything as fast as she could glance around. Athena nodded, “It is. It was made by humanity, that’s for sure.” “So.. Humans once walked here?” Pinkie’s normal exuberant tones were almost a whisper, as if the place would crumble were she to talk normally. “They did Pinkie. So very long ago.” “I’m amazed it survived.” Shining had come up beside them as they stood in the hallway, the doors, the sealed vault at the end. Squeezing around the blockage was a little tight for ponies. It did let them appreciate the age of the place. Athena nodded, “Me too. I think it might have been part of a bigger facility. I can’t be sure, we’ll never know I guess. But they could have had emergency stasis.” “How do you know that?” Cadence was eyeing the lit hallway. “The door we entered was not the main entrance. I’ve seen many of those for secondary areas of secure military facilities and research labs.” She paused at an open door, looking at the wreckage inside, swept to the side as someone in the long past had tried to clean a little, “It doesn’t feel like it was only a lab.” Guards pressed past, allowed by Athena to make their way to a certain room. Bringing a litter out, gently carrying a silent form which they all watched leave it’s prison for the first time in who knows how many years. Cadence and Shining assured them all that there would be a place of rest made for the unknown pony. The Prince and Princess left with the escort, leaving them to their own devices. No one knew quite what to say, except a personal hope from each of them that they wouldn’t discover anything more like this. Twilight sheared off, heading into another room along the corridor. A flash of light came from inside, the Alicorn trotting out with a triumphant look on her face, “Got it!” Athena shot into the doorway, seeing the file cabinet glow for a moment, then subside. The file folders looking as if they’d break into a million pieces if she even breathed heavily. Her sable hoof reached out, tugging on a drawer, flinching when it squealed with long, long un-oiled rollers. A file folder flopped loose, the paper inside old, yellowed and browned by age, the writing almost nonexistent. She gently touched it, expecting a cloud of dust but seeing it spring back and forth as if encased in a plastic covering. “YES!” She leaned near the doorframe, seeing a hopeful Twilight peering back in. Sable hooves reached out and hugged her friend, giving her a warm kiss on the cheek before going back inside the room with a yell, “You are AWESOME!” The Princess of Friendship stood there for a moment, one lavender hoof raising to touch the cheek that still tingled. She flipped around with a deep reddening of her cheeks when she heard the sounds behind her, seeing nothing but innocence on all the faces, Applejack whistling and looking at the ceiling interestedly. For some reason, none of the five were looking at her but at something in the distance, or nearby, that had garnered their attentions. Violet eyes narrowed as she glared at them for a moment before turning back to lean in the doorway, not seeing the nudges and winks the second she was not looking. “Everything okay?” Athena nodded, “Yes! More than okay!” A hoof pointed to a few pieces of aged paper, “Something here called Project Overture. They were experimenting on how to cure mental illnesses by using the psychotronic nets of Bolo units.” “Really?” She stepped in, seeing Athena riffle through a stack of folders she had pulled out of the one drawer that still had them. “How can you even read those?” She looked closely, seeing very faded markings. A glance upward showed the pegasus gesturing to one eye, making her nod. “I forget. Is this important?” “It is. Anything from the past we can use is helpful. Curing mental illnesses with a neural network was pretty advanced even for us.” Ponies had a suspiciously low occurrence of any type of mental problems. Mostly because Equestria was a little loopy to begin with she supposed. That brought a bubble of humor to her face, the lips slowly curling in a smile. But what a wonderfully loopy place it is. Another paper, closely eyed as she slowly brought the writing out through different filters. This is definitely interesting. It was part of a larger Earth Defense Node. This was a secondary lab attached to the main one which did ..weapons research. Pretty normal actually, most things done under Concordiat eyes were near the Defense Nodes. Unless...that’s what I thought.. Experimental Heavy Weapons Research. Oh pits. There could be any number of things here. It’s a wonder Sombra didn’t get his hooves on them. But..if there was..what prevented him? Athena’s sable face got a sly grin. Probably, because like any tyrant, he was too full of himself deciding he couldn’t be bothered figuring out complicated things. Self-important little wanna-be kings. She wished there was a way to see what kind of smack down the Princesses put on his stupid butt way back when. Darn, why couldn’t they have found us back then! We’d have advised or something...Who was she kidding, they’d have launched a pre-emptive strike and nuked his ass. Well..maybe not nuclear weapons...gotta think of the poor ponies enslaved by him. Could at least have rolled over him with a Dragon. Serve him right. Athena tried not to laugh out loud as her imagination got the best of her. ----- Luna’s armor gleamed in the golden sun, the spells woven into the scale and plate provided a soft glow even under the rays of her sisters day. The halberd she carried stabbed into the ground haft first as she gratefully accepted a cold drink from a trooper. The engraved weapon gave off a chilling wave of magic and foreboding, but every pony knew that it was for the enemies of Equestria only. Her cyan eyes glanced over towards her sister. Celestia was standing tall and strong in her own protection. The halcyon plate and scale providing a beacon even now to the armies massing on the plains. A sword of legend was floating in the air beside her as magenta eyes took careful note of all that was happening. She stood silent a few seconds more before looking at the dark beauty that was the younger of the two rulers, “What news, Luna?” Finishing the drink with a final sip, she smiled, “Our armies move into position, but we are to be hard-pressed as it seems the Minotaurs have thrown their lot in with Sombra.” Magenta eyes rolled softly as the tall mare’s horn lit up, testing her sword as the magnificently wrought blade flashed and sparkled, cutting through the air before sliding into a decorated sheath along her side, “Always the way I think. I’m sure they suppose Sombra will win this?” Luna’s lovely face laughed from under her helmet, “Under flag of truce they assured me his would be the winning side. They advised me we should have made more friends in the quest to secure own land of Equestria.” Celestias’ brows raised in surprise before they both laughed, the general staff ponies behind them looking at each other as if the rulers had taken temporary leave of their senses. “I believe we have made friends enough.” Celestia winked at the grin from Luna as she tapped a very odd gem on the armor covering her fore leg. “Have you heard?” A strange but soothing voice whispered into her ears, “We have Your Highness.” “All is in readiness?” Another voice replied, eager and fierce, “Oh, yes.” “If you would be so good as to await our command then?” Celestia tried to ignore Luna raising a hoof and chuckling behind it. “Of course, Your Highness. You never need ask.” A click was heard as Luna laughed out loud, prompting the tall mare to glance her way. “Yes, sister?” Luna coughed, clearing her throat, “They are always listening ‘Tia. You need not be so formal.” “It is only polite.” A lift of the royal nose and a ‘hmph’ followed, with more chuckling. Luna stamped a hoof, seeing everything in place, “Make more friends indeed, we shall show them ‘friends’.” Her face took on a feral mien as she leaned forward, horn lit, magic telekinetically pulling her halberd from the ground and brandishing it. Celestia could not help but join her, the normally calm face wanting to enjoy this as Sombra had those poor ponies under the chain for far too long, “All is in readiness?” The question was tossed over her shoulder as a General of the Pegasus Corp stepped forward. “Yes, Your Highnesses. We are ready to move anytime.” “Please tell our ponies to stand firm, we will let them know when to move.” A nod and messages magically sent carried out the orders. Celestia grinned, “But let us see if we have enough friends to accomplish this without needless harm. Luna, please give the word.” The younger Alicorn was mightily pleased, tapping a gem which matched the same one on Celestia’s armor, announcing a single word. The halberd rising up and pointing towards the enemy. “Fire.” Two voices answered immediately, “Acknowledged, shot out.” The staff ponies stepped forward, nervous as the Princesses did nothing at all except say a few words and watch the battlefield. “Highnesses? Shall we move?” A brief shake of the head and a warm smile from the taller mare, “I think we should be trusting in our friends. Don’t you Luna?” “Oh, of course we should!” They both shared a look, telling the commanders gathered around that they knew something know one else did. A whistling sound from behind the army made everyone turn, multiplied by many times it filled the air. A crack of thunder as things flew past them at tremendous speeds. Ponies ducked or covered their ears as the sky blossomed with shapes and sounds. “H..Highness..es?” “Just wait.” A silvered hoof was held up as the voice raised louder to be heard over the racket. On the battlefield the Minotaur legions were bracketed by explosions, holes blown into the frozen tundra that were deep enough to create a moat where they could not possibly cross. A chuckle from Luna as she saw the entire force stopped and rendered ineffective, the bright light and auditory assault from the strange devices felling them to the ground. Weapons dropped as they looked around fearfully, wondering where it all was coming from. The things that had come over the horizon slammed into the castle where Luna and Celestia knew only the die-hard loyalists were, and Sombra himself. They would never surrender, nor give themselves over to imprisonment. Explosions as big, or bigger than the previous took chunks from the castle which stood as a blight on the land. A black crystal spire which radiated evil in all directions. The ponies down below in massed ranks stood in shock, seeing the opposing forces neutralized without even a spear thrown. They could do nothing but stand as more things came flying from nowhere and slammed into the castle, bringing the spires down around the base in chunks of rubble and debris. A tremendous rumbling brought frightened cries from everypony, turning and seeing two huge objects come rolling over the horizon. Bright metal, they practically dwarfed anything that anyone had ever seen, even the future plans for Canterlot Castle did not do justice to how large these things were. Huge tubes snapped around, faster than the eye could take in, spitting beams of light far over the heads of the opposing armies, the blast itself as they passed through the atmosphere flattened ponies where they stood. Carefully and very well aimed, they did not even come near the allied armies which stood against Sombra’s darkness. One split to the left, coming to rest on the side of the small hill where the Princesses stood, the other on the right as they came to a halt, the giant forms coming to a slow stop that showed where they stood in this battle. Silence reined, the only sound was chunks of the Black Castle falling to the ground and shattering into a thousand pieces. Celestia raised her fore leg once again, tapping the gem and speaking into it. Her voice came from the huge battle forms to the left and right, shaking the ground with its ferocity. “SOMBRA! Surrender yourself and release our ponies!” A black form, floating on a wrecked balcony, lifted itself high into the air. A voice came back, magically magnified. “NEVER!” The word was not even finished echoing when two bright shots of plasma burned through the air, one from each titanic machine on either side of the Princesses. They formed two sides of a triangle whose apex was on the black form and blowing it to ashes that drifted away into the slight breeze that had sprung up. Down on the plains weapons were dropped as ponies cheered, the roaring resounding through the city as troops who had been forced to fight because of families held in bondage realized it was over. “Make more friends, indeed. Stupid Minotaurs.” Luna barked a laugh out loud, sheathing the halberd along her armored side as she gestured, wanting to go down to the battlefield where no battle was to take place, now or hopefully ever in the future. Celestia couldn’t help but laugh along with her sister as they all trotted down to reassure everyone the threat was over. The Crystal Empire was free. ----- “Would you like me to tell you everything wrong with that fanciful story Athena?” Crusader’s voice, filled with good humor, came crackling over the communications bands. “First off, you’re having them speak in present day Equestrian...” “Oh shush! It’s my imagination!” “Quite a good one it is. The list will be waiting for you when you get home.” The link went silent with a chuckle. “It was a good story!” “Of course.” A final click, the link went quiet once more. ----- What a twit, I swear. Nothing wrong with a good story. So I didn’t use all my resources and thought it up on the fly, yeah, got some things wrong. But it’s the drama! The action! Oh forget it.. Twit. A Ferret arrived with heavy duty power cells for testing and bringing equipment up to specs. Athena figured she could wire them into the pad fairly easily so they could see what was in that vault. Her bots trooped out, coming back in with the cells and connecting equipment plus tools for the ‘spiders. They would do the work, she would just direct them. But whatever was in there had to be pretty important for the use of those kind of resources. While the ‘spiders were doing that, she’d finish looking through these papers. “Anything new?” Twilight and the others were crowding into the doorway. “Well.. It was part of an Earth Defense Node that was buried under the Rocky Mountains.” She scanned another paper, “Really deep.” Twilight watched for a moment, “They buried important stuff?” “Yep. Protected from attack, it kept things safe.” Lavender eyes glanced up, seeing the question on her face, “Earth was always under threat Twilight. Alien races, particularly the Melconians, wanted the home world bad. Especially once the Final War started.” Rarity huffed, brushing away a speck of dust from a formerly immaculate hoof, “I can’t imagine living like that.” “It was life then Rarity. The galaxy was not a friendly place.” Athena finished up, putting the papers into a storage box she had had brought down, sealing them carefully. “I’m just glad things are different now.” Fluttershy was gazing around at the interior of the cramped room before everyone backed out. A ‘spider taking the box back up. “Me too, Fluttershy.” A wing nudge as they walked down the now bright hall, portable lights already brought down and hooked up gave enough light to see by. She looked at Rainbow, “Yeah?” “What do you think is in that thing?” A cyan hoof pointed at the vault door. “I don’t know. They stored valuable stuff in them. Could be artwork, irreplaceable records, pretty much anything. Though I’m pretty sure we won’t find that in a facility like this.” “Art? Pictures and stuff like that? Anypony can do that with the right magic or Mark. Not like you need a guard or anything on it.” Athena chuckled, “Rainbow, a lot of humans couldn’t make art. There were a special few whose works had lasted and made impacts down through the centuries. Don’t ask me why, I just blew stuff up.” She stopped for a moment, “Though I’ve seen some of the works, they were truly beautiful.” “Oh, wouldn’t that be lovely!” Rarity was gazing at the door, “Do you think we could maybe keep a few things? Just to show it off of course!” The last was hastily said as Twilight glared at her. “It’s up to you guys. Crusader and I could always store images of them if it’s nothing we haven’t got in archives. Of course Dusty may put up a pretty good fight.” They all laughed, thinking of the myopic Unicorn and Rarity going horn to horn about who got what. “I’m sure he’d see things my way,” Rarity batted her eyelashes coquettishly. A nudge from Fluttershy made her turn, “You’re just bad Rarity.” Accompanied by a soft laugh, it made the Unicorn smile. “I am, I admit it, but having a work of art that nopony has ever dreamed of, imagine it!” She pressed both front hooves to her chest and gave a happy sigh. Athena laughed, watching her ‘spiders closely, “I honestly do doubt it. But it was the end, so who knows.” “Kinda sad, don’t you think?” Everyone turned to look at Fluttershy. The buttery mare gestured with a small movement, encompassing the area, “All so long ago. Hardly anything left to tell us about them.” Athena nodded, “It was. Sometimes..I’m glad. We do try to show you only the best actually, but a lot of the human story is horrifying.” “How can you say that? Crusader..” Twilight’s reaction was stopped by an upraised hoof. “He clings to what he knows. He worked alongside them for far longer than I did. He knows the history, but he tries to see the better side of things.” She sat down, an artificial sigh coming from her, “All I can say is the conflicts, the greed and other darker things, would not be welcome here.” “It would be interesting to meet one,” Twilight caught Athena’ who was looking at her dubiously, “Not like the ones across the mirror, but ones that lived her, on our world.” The sable pony laughed, “Oh..it would. I bet Katherine Hark would just loooove to meet ponies.” A hoof reached out, poking Pinkie in the side, “Especially you.” That got a loud giggle. Even Twilight and the others joined in, knowing about the fierce Marine leader from stories. A signal drew her attention, it was time. Walking slowly down the corridor, she stood far enough back from the heavy doorway, “Please stay back there, in case something happens.” Power from the cells trickled into the doorpad, a single light illuminating the keypad once more. Slowly insinuating herself into the limited memory of the entranceway, she was shocked to discover it was all fried inside. The circuitry burned to uselessness on the pad. Reaching out, she pressed the door lock button and stepped back quickly as a depressurization occurred. Ancient air whistling out from around the vault door, bringing with it a stale odor. The door vibrated with the sounds of bars being withdrawn from the interior, a loud chunking sound as first one, then two..three and four were pulled into the door itself. She could hear the sounds of tumblers clicking, like a huge wheel being turned and then ..silence. The door slid backwards just an inch, slowly raising itself up into a slot in the wall as it revealed the interior for the first time in an age. Two combat ‘spiders zipped forward, weapons and lights aiming for the interior, bringing the contents to Athena’s attention. A third stood fast in front of Twilight who found herself stopped from rushing down the corridor, a single leg waving in front of her as if to say ‘no’. Athena looked in awe as the overhead glow panels flickered, drew more power from the external cells, then finally came fully on. She started recording immediately, sending emergency updates to Crusader who came on line with her, peering through her eyes into the wonder before them. A room, extending into the distance a hundred meters from what her ranging could detect, and just as wide. It was clean, scrupulously so, as if made just that day. Not a speck, nor hint of dust was anywhere. This was, or used to be since the door was opened now, a sealed environment. The energy flow told her it was also self-contained as to energy requirements. Nothing was traveling anywhere except in lines around this room. Power cells of unfamiliar design stood against the left side wall, carefully racked they could have provided immense energy requirements to anything here. Beside them, further down were sealed containers, of a type she didn’t recognize either. Lines leading in and out were the only things that broke the immaculate look of the durachrome sides that gleamed in the light. One was burned, showing that something had crisped whatever was inside one of sealed columns, leaving a blackened hole. Desks stood in front of the power setup, made of plastics that were common, they had multiple drawers, and standing upon the shining tops were screens like she had in her own hull, large, but thinner in design. Keyboards were below them, shiny and new-looking, waiting for the touch of fingers long gone. This was all at least a generation or two advanced from what even she and Crusader had installed. How fast technology moved in the Concordiat. Lines ran along the floor, leading into other shining boxes along the left wall, the entire face covered in some sort of system works. The back wall was decorated with hanging pictures, some framed, some not as she gasped, recognizing a few works of art that had been irreplaceable in her own time. They had been hastily put up there, as if someone slapped them in place just to cover the bare metal. Shelves sat below them, also looking to be hastily assembled out of scraps of plastic. They contained items neatly placed and labeled, as if someone had all the time in the world. The right side wall was lined with more desks, screens sitting quietly on top of them as if waiting for input. Eyes dark and silent, holding the ages within their selves. Lights gave them a haunted look, as if they were staring back at her, making her shiver inside herself. Breaking her eyes away from them, she looked left and right, the walls alongside the door bare, except for a few crates that contained unknown items. Locked and sealed against the press of time. She could detect no traps of any kind, no drop down panels from the ceiling that would reveal powerguns. She guessed they felt secure being in the middle of a Defense Node. “Is it okay? What’s in there?” Twilight’s voice came from back along the corridor. She snapped out of her observation, moving the spider and letting the ponies come down and peek inside the vault. A chorus of oohs and aaahs accompanying them as they entered the room. “Please don’t touch anything. I don’t know what would happen.” She saw the nods as they wandered around, looking at the spectacles. As they did, she noticed the power draw on the external cells was getting larger, being pulled into the vault lines at a tremendous rate. She ordered her adjuncts to connect more into the series just in case. She kept watch as nothing happened so far, except the lights retaining their soft glow, easy on the eyes. Walking towards the back wall, she gazed upon a sight which had tortured philosophers for centuries. A simple painting hung from within a thin block of armorglass that protected it from the ravages of ages. Nothing would touch that gently smiling face now or forever. “Is..that..” Rarity’s voice was quiet, as if in awe. “It is Rarity. Human art. The likes of which will never be seen again.” She smiled at the Unicorn, “It seems you got your wish.” “It’s amazing.” She was peering at the small painting, taking in its depth and artistry as no human ever could. “It is. How it got here I will never know.” Azure eyes kept looking over every inch of the hanging art, “Is it special?” “Rarity, that little portrait is one of the most priceless pieces of art Earth had ever known. One of so very few that survived the centuries.” She paused for a moment, “Earth went through many turmoils, much was destroyed before they reached into space once more.” “Why the smile?” Applejack had come up behind them, looking at the item hanging there. “No one ever knew Applejack. It was theorized about, discussed for centuries. Only she truly knows.” A sable hoof pointed at the gentle face, “She’ll be the only one who ever knows now.” “It’s pretty.” Fluttershy’s voice added to their sense of awe and wonder. Something flashed in the corner of Athena’s eye, making her turn. One of the screens by the left hand wall was scrolling code! Rushing over, she lifted herself up and planted forehooves on the desktop, looking closely at what was rolling down the monitor at such a pace it was even hard for her to keep up with. It was odd, some type of program was running. But it wasn’t like anything she’d seen before. What was this? A few fast seconds, then everything went black on the screen, the lights flickering for a brief moment. She could suddenly feel a slight breeze from recirculating units as something went live in the vault. She could not detect what was going on other than a massive power drain. “Out, everyone out. Now!” There was no argument as the six headed immediately for the door, only to be stopped in their tracks. A storm of sound thundered through the room, overwhelming them as ears pinned back, eyes narrowed against the force of the words they could barely make out, feeling the rage in them. “WHAT DO YOU WANT NOW, SOMBRA! To be continued.....