Twilight regained control of her body. The golem was a little further away now - having crossed a fair bit of the distance back to Fosis. Twilight took in a long, exasperated breath. "Creek, welcome to the crew. Glad to have you here, don't worry, everything will be fine for you. Hope you feel welcome. Don't feel pushed back by what I'm about to do."
"Uh... Twilight?" Fluttershy asked.
Twilight held up a hoof. "Fluttershy, give me a sec." She took in another breath. "Ponygood! Afizah! What the heck is wrong with you!? Half of this import was just you two arguing about the most unimportant of things! I mean - cybernetics? Your faces? What- why!? I don't want more machine-things attached to me if you don't mind! And... Just... You made the whole thing confusing you two. What was your beef?"
Ruby frowned. "...The voices argue more than expected."
Infinity rolled her eyes. "For a wise sage type, you sure do miss the obvious."
Ruby had no response to this.
Twilight ruffled her wings. "Anyway... Yeah, I do think we will keep calling it the Eye. It does seem better - though I do have to thank you for that image Akumakami. Really. Loving the suggestion there." She rolled her eyes. "And Zen, I think you're right- I don't think Blackjack is divine. I think Ine knows this. I think he's just in a position as Creator. And, speaking of - does he have an 'icon' like you have? I heard Afizah and Ponygood going back and forth. Apparently, Ponygood has a grenade. I'm just curious - I should probably stop thinking of him as an evil version of Applejack. Bit awkward, really. ...How should I think of the rest of you, anyway?"
Fluttershy blinked. "...You never asked that before?"
"Never thought about it until now, really," Twilight said. Anyway, Akumakami has some messages. Infinity, great enthusiasm!"
"...Cool," Infinity said.
"Fluttershy, he wants to know if Angel and Discord get along."
"...Not really. But Angel's not known for getting along with anyone in general."
"Yeah, thought so. Ruby?"
Ruby's eyes widened. "A voice has deemed me worthy of a message?"
"Yes. Not a big one though. He just wants to give you greetings, introduce himself, and thank you for aiding me. Apparently he and the others were worried about conflict or issues with your people."
"I am honored..."
"And then he had a slew of questions for me. Equestria adapted pretty well to the princess change though Celestia is obviously still the one in charge, I'm pretty sure the Sisters were born Alicorns, and that other version of me sure was silly, and that's not as funny as it sounds Other-Spike." She chuckled. "Though... Sparkle, perhaps you shouldn't take offense at that. We were all full of folly when younger." She blinked. "...And Ponygood, I've already looked at the moon, several times. No Mare in the Moon there. We're before Luna was banished."
"As for the altars... I think I - and all of you in the Influence - have a choice. We could bring my friends here. Or we could bring others with the altars. Or... I don't know, we could come up with something. We might even be able to have two of the same like Ponygood sai-" A lightbulb went off in Twilight's head. "...You all speak of these other versions. Do you think - do you think we could grab THEM using the altars? Other realities? Other heroes?"
Infinity blinked. "...I want a version of me that owns two jetpacks."
Twilight sighed. "...Yeah. Well... That's something to think about. Until then..." Twilight approached the city of Fosis - the large golem didn't turn around. "...Stay here." She told everyone.
"I will be with you forever," Ruby said, shaking her head.
Fluttershy looked at Twilight, frowning. "I... Don't want to be left out here alone."
Twilight looked sheepish. "...Right. Well... Be careful then. We don't know what's coming."
She teleported them closer - the golem still paid no attention to them. Even when she teleported them a second time and appeared right next to it. She charged the pearlstone marble once more and turned to the golem. "Hello. I am Twilight. I wish to know why you were attacking Acket."
"THE PROTOCOL DETERMINED THEY WERE STEALING ENOUGH TO BE A TARGET."
"...The Pearlstone?"
"YES."
"Why did you stop?"
"THE PROTOCOL WAS CHANGED SEVEN MINUTES AGO."
Twilight frowned. "Why was it changed?"
"IT WAS PHYSICALLY ALTERED IN THE CONTROL ROOM."
Infinity smirked. "...Can we see this room?"
"YES. FOLLOW ME."
Twilight looked at Infinity. "Why would we want to see that?"
"Obviously so we can figure out how these things work! What makes them tick! And a better reason as to why they've changed. There's got to be an answer."
Twilight turned to the golem. "Do you know about an ancient prophecy concerning the Oracle?"
"I WOULD NOT BE PRIVY TO SUCH INFORMATION."
"Do you know who would be?"
"YES."
Twilight facehooved. "Who is that?"
"THE MOTHERBOARD. IT CAN BE FOUND IN THE COMMAND CENTER."
"...Can we speak to ...her?"
"YES."
Fluttershy blinked. "Am I the only one who finds this odd? He was trying to kill us and now he's being very helpful..."
"It is odd - but a mark of destiny," Ruby said.
Infinity got as close to the golem as she could, examining the structure and composition. "My gosh... So cool..."
"I AM RATHER WARM."
"Do you have a name?" Twilight wondered.
"MY DESIGNATION IS GUARD FOUR-THIRTEEN."
"Four it is then," Twilight said. The rest of the walk to Fosis was relatively uneventful.
~~~
Fosis was hardly what one would call a city - it was a perfectly circular wall with thousands of mechanical cubes inside it. Most of the cubes did nothing but glow softly and beep occasionally, but a few would open and release golems similar to Four. The designs from one to the other differed, but they were all humanoid and their size difference was negligible. They were all giants.
The ones Twilight saw were busy building/repairing the city around them - presumably, the rest were dormant inside the cubic buildings. She saw one of the drone-ships fly overhead, and descend. She stopped in her tracks - it was huge, easily the size of twenty of the golem giants. It landed on top of one of the buildings, alongside what she realized were two or three other drone-ships.
Infinity gawked. "We... We are inside one of the last vestiges of Ancient civilization..."
"THE MASTERS NO LONGER LIVE HERE, OR ANYWHERE."
"What about the spirits?" Twilight asked.
Four pointed to a nearby building - there was a small yellow spirit there with a maple-leaf symbol within its aura. It was walking in circles - and Twilight got the impression it had been doing that for centuries. "Oh..."
Four led them on - deep into the center of the city, where there stood a building that looked just like all the others, except taller, and rounded on top. Two giant doors slid open the moment Four approached. He stood back, gesturing for the ponies and dragon to enter.
The door shut behind them before they could even look at their surroundings. Twilight was ready for a fight - but none came. A tremendous light filled the room, revealing thousands upon thousands of screens, cables, and glowing lights. A single giant screen dominated the area, and upon it some text was written.
>>I suppose you want a welcome.<<
"Er..." Twilight said, a bit baffled.
>>Masterful rhetoric, right there. Am I not what you expected? What did you expect - some giant feminine golem? I'm honestly curious to see where your little mind has taken things and torn them asunder.<<
"...I was expecting something with more of a... body."
>>I suppose you can be forgiven for not understanding the nuances of the virtual, even though since you are wearing that Eye you must either be mad or have a greater understanding of the parallels in existence. Or perhaps both.<<
"You know about the eye?"
>>I know of it, yes. Though only recently, due to the re-wiring that has been performed recently.<<
"...Do you know of the Time Tunnels?"
>>Telling you would make you a lazy good for nothing cheat. They're located in the southwest sea on the lost island of Frau.<<
Infinity blinked. "...Frau doesn't exist."
>>Good luck finding it then, one of little faith or understanding. You don't live up to your name.<<
Twilight nodded. "Thank you for that information... ...Do you know where the altars are located?"
>>Ah, a question that might actually be helpful in this annoyingly generic quest of yours. There's one at the northern edge of the desert you are currently in, one deep in the mountains of Moissan, one in the archipelago to the south, one in the frozen lands of the south, and one a closely guarded secret in Peran Palace.<<
Twilight blinked. That... certainly was helpful. This struck her as odd. "...Why are you being so helpful?"
>>I don't really have a choice. A certain unicorn showed up and reprogrammed the entire city of Fosis to be helpful and subservient. It makes me sick but I can't really go against the protocols.<<
"...Was this unicorn pink by any chance?"
>>Five stars, intelligent deduction, amazing job. Of course she was you fool.<<
Infinity blinked. "Wait, SHE changed everything here? Just a few minutes ago? Where is she now?"
>>Heading to Estur for some presumably Ancestor-damned reason. That's the place to the north the altar is for those of you playing at home. Yes, I'm talking to the Influence as well, not that I can hear it. You done with the questions yet? I'm sick of being helpful.<<
Twilight nodded. "Sorry, I have one last question. Do you know about the prophecy?"
>>Oh lucky day, something I don't know any more than you already know. That dragon over there probably knows more than I do. So find yourself a philosophical rock to sit on and ponder the meaning of words ancient and lost. Anything else? What of you party members? Want to pry the Motherboard for information while its will is completely incapable of ordering the hidden lasers to disintegrate you?<<
Infinity grinned. "Where's the Control Room and how can we use it?"
>>...Right up the ladder and the interface will tell you how to do whatever you want to our coding. Bitch.<<
Infinity turned to Twilight. "We can make them more than helpful - we can make them our slaves! Make them do what we want!"
Fluttershy shook her head. "No... No, Implode that'd be horrible! It's already bad enough as it is! We've taken advantage of them!"
>>Oh my, look, a moral dilemma. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say Influence contact in three...<<
The Eye started glowing. Twilight blinked.
>>Two...<<
Twilight got into her seated position. "Do not mess with the Control until I get back."
>>One...<<