//------------------------------//
// Exile: New Powers 
// Story: Jak and Daxter: Children of Eco 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

When Jak and Pinkie returned to the temple, after traveling through the volcano in the middle of the Wastelands and learned a new Dark Eco power, they took a few minutes to rest, as they were sure that there was no need for them to burn themselves out just yet. After five minutes had passed the two of them got up and approached the Dark Idol that was resting on the other side of the room, while at the same time keeping their eyes on the glowing white eye that was guarding the path that they needed to follow next. They touched the Dark Idol and allowed the Dark Eco to wash over them, causing them to turn invisible once again, to which they headed towards the glowing eye and walked over the floor that was beneath the eye... where the eye phased out of existence as the door it was guarding opened in front of them.

Jak and Pinkie punched the three small spiders that were waiting on the other side of the door, getting rid of them as their invisibility faded, though at the same time Jak recalled that he had seen the same spiders in Mar's Tomb, making them all wonder if there was some sort of connection between the two locations.

As they followed the path down into the earth, and walked down the stairs in front of them, they heard the sound of the door closing behind them, which made them hope that there was another warp gate that would allow them to leave this place when they finished exploring it. They also had to contend with some more spiders, which were easily put away with a single blast from the Scatter Mod, though at the same time they kept their eyes open for any enemies that would be more like actual guardians instead of pests. Experience had told them that temples always had some sort of trial, be it in an actual fight with some creature or a puzzle that was meant to test their wits or their skills, so they already knew not to let their guard down while they walked.

Of course that changed when they rounded a corner and found a small chamber that had an Eco Vent in the middle of the room, though instead of the other colors that they were used to they found that the Eco in question was actually Dark Eco, which meant that there had to be a puzzle ahead that involved their new power.

"I had no idea that there were Dark Eco Vents as well," Jak commented, though at the same time both he and Pinkie ran their hands through the Eco that was flowing towards the ground, restoring their Dark Eco stores before they found whatever puzzle was ahead of them.

"Neither did I." Pinkie replied, but even as she spoke she turned towards the other path that they could take, which she assumed would lead them right to where the trials were located, before she turned to Jak, "Come on, let's see what sort of trials we have to deal with this time around."

They followed the path in front of them and entered a round chamber that had a button right in the middle of the room, though floating around it were several small robots that Jak and Pinkie guessed were security drones or something. They briefly wondered how they were supposed to get passed the little robots, and move further into the temple, when Pinkie spotted another Dark Idol they could use, though this time she touched it and disappeared before Jak had the opportunity to touch it himself. Jak patiently waited for Pinkie to do something, which came a few seconds later when the button sank into the floor and the nearby door opened for them to continue, though at the same time the invisibility wore off and Pinkie appeared where the button was located.

Jak would have thought that Pinkie would have used one of her other Dark Eco abilities to get away from the drones, but instead of doing that she raised her hand into the air, which was surrounded by Red Eco, and threw her palm at the ground, releasing a wave of red energy that tore all of the drones to pieces.

"Oh right, she absorbed the Wave Concussor into her bracelet," Daxter commented, remembering when Jak and Pinkie had gotten the mods from Damas, where Jak had attached his to his gun while Pinkie turned hers into Eco and absorbed it into her bracelet.

Pinkie grinned as they walked through the short passage that she had unlocked, where they had to open fire on more of the spiders that happened to be waiting on the other side of the passage, though when their enemies were dealt with, and they could actually enter the next chamber, they were pleasantly surprised. As they stepped into the chamber several grates erupted out of the floor on the left and right sides of the room, indicating that they would have to use the Dark Idols and turn invisible so they could use the poles that rested between each side of the room. Instead of going at the same time, and maybe screwing the other up, Jak went first and Pinkie waited, to which she watched as something touched each of the poles before landing on the other side.

The glowing eye didn't disappear when Jak landed, which made Pinkie assume that it knew that she was there as well, so she touched the Dark Idol and spun her way through the poles in front of her, though when she landed the eye went out and they continued towards the next set of poles. They then repeated the same tactic three more times, making sure to time their jumps accordingly, before they were on the other side of the room, though once they started moving towards the open door the grates that had been blocking their way lowered. Jak and Pinkie looked at that for a moment before deciding that it wasn't worth investigating, though as they entered the next passage they found more spiders in their way, but once again the spiders proved to be no match for their might.

When they entered the large chamber at the end of the passage, and discovered one of the largest Precursor statues they had ever seen in their entire lives, they spotted what appeared to be Count Veger shouting at Seem, to which they ducked behind a pillar so they could see what was going on between the two.

"I want no excuses!" Veger snapped, though the tone of his voice made Pinkie want to emerge from where they were hiding and get rid of him, but Jak held her back, because as much as he hated the man there was no reason to engage him when there was useful information to be gained, "You told me this could be done. Now make it so!"

"But we have so little time." Seem countered, though at the same time both Jak and Pinkie could tell that the normally composed leader of the monks was annoyed, which meant that she disagreed with whatever Veger had been talking about before they walked into the chamber, "The Day Star approaches! You know what it brings."

"Unfortunate, yes." Veger stated, almost as if he was trying to make Seem agree with him, though he was still fighting a losing battle by the sounds of it, "We will deal with that as soon as I have full access to the catacombs. Just continue your work, and I'll deal with those idiots in Haven. I promise you will meet your makers!"

"They have already chosen their representative," Seem replied, nearly causing Jak and Pinkie to fall out of their hiding spot, though at the same time she locked her eyes with Veger, "They have both Darkness and Light inside of them... it would take too long for them to turn their attention to another."

"You had best hope it doesn't," Veger growled, his tone indicating that he didn't care for Seem's faith in Jak and Pinkie, though at the same time Seem didn't seem phased by Veger's anger, "unless you think you can actually count on that foolish boy, his evil sister, and their pets!"

"A long time ago, back when I became the leader of my order, the Precursors told me that Laughter held the key," Seem stated, causing Veger to raise an eyebrow at her, almost as if he thought she was going insane due to the time she spent out in the desert, "At first I didn't understand what they were talking about... now, after meeting their representative, I understand what they were trying to tell me."

Veger glared at Seem for a moment, as if trying to come up with something that could counter what she had said, before he finally turned around and walked out of the area that they were in. Seem appeared to smile for a moment, making Jak and Pinkie wonder if she had made up that line to get the Count to leave the sacred place, before she turned to the statue and bowed her head a tiny bit. Seem then turned around and departed from the chamber, though Jak and Pinkie waited for a few minutes, and the sound of the door closing, before they emerged from their hiding spot.

"Why are the catacombs so important?" Jak wondered out loud, because sometimes that was the best was for them to come up with ideas and guess at why something was so important, before another thought came to mind, "And what did Seem mean when she mentioned that 'Laughter held the key'? Is there some sort of Precursor artifact that's called Laughter... because if so I don't know if its worth getting our hands on it."

"Jak, Pinkie, the platform in front of us is glowing," Daxter commented, to which he gestured to the raised platform that was resting in front of the statue, the same one that they had been staring at when they entered the large chamber that they were in.

Jak and Pinkie looked at the statue and the glowing platform for a few seconds, as it appeared that something wanted them to step onto the platform, to which they walked forward and decided to see what the statue had to tell them... though once they were actually on the platform the statue's eyes opened with a blue light in their centers.

"Greetings, great warriors." the statue intoned, its voice echoing like all of the other Precursor oracles that had spoken to them over the years, to which Jak and Pinkie braced themselves for whatever it had to tell them, "Your return brings us great hope. This planet's future is at a critical juncture. The Dark Ones have found your world again, and fate hangs in the balance where the past and the future collide."

"Great, so Seem wasn't kidding when she mentioned that the planet was in danger," Daxter moaned, because he had been hoping that the monk's warning about the Day Star had been meant to spook them, though now it appeared that he was incorrect in his thinking.

"You will need all the power you can muster," the statue continued, actually surprising the group due to the fact that it had actually let Daxter speak instead of cutting him off, which made them all wonder if something different was going to happen this time around, "however, the Darkness inside two of you is out of balance. Allow us to restore that balance... and grant you both the power of the Light."

Jak and Pinkie found themselves being lifted into the air by a pair of Light Eco beams, to which Daxter and Raven jumped onto the ground and watched them with a look of curiosity in their eyes, as they were interested in whatever abilities the two of them were going to receive. Jak could feel the Light enter his body and wrap itself around the Dark Eco that he had been carrying in him since the Baron's experiments, though at the same time he actually felt a better than he had been in months. It was like the Light Eco was undoing some of the torment and anger that he had latched onto when he was being experimented on, allowing him to be kinder and more friendly, like he had been before he and the others entered the Rift Gate all those years ago.

Pinkie felt her own Darkness being balanced by the glorious Light, though even as that happened she felt some ancient memories stir in her head, but she paid no attention to them at the moment, because there was something else that the Light was latching onto. Something else, locked away deep inside her body, had been keeping her bound up and locked in place, but as the tendrils started to burn, however, she found herself becoming whole once more. It was an odd feeling, as she had some pain on her legs and feet, her spine, and on the top of her head, though the Light simply comforted her and told her that everything would be okay.

When the light faded, and Jak touched the floor again, he glanced over at Pinkie and draw a breath, because it appeared that taking in the Light Eco had changed her once more, as that had been something that none of them had been expecting to happen. Pinkie's feet had changed into hooves, with the leg structure to match no less, though oddly enough the coloration of her skin had shifted into a pink color, one that was lighter than her hair color. In addition to that there was a tail growing out of her spine, as if it belonged there and had been there her entire life, though the tail had the same fluffed up nature as her hair. The last thing Jak noticed were Pinkie's ears, as they were now poking out of her hair like a horse's ears, though they twitched every now and then as his sister opened her eyes and looked at herself.

In a few seconds Jak could tell that Pinkie was confused by what she was seeing, as it was something that she hadn't been expecting, though oddly enough she wasn't screaming or shouting at the statue to turn her back to normal.

"Wh... what happened to me?" Pinkie asked, though at the same time she hugged her new tail, almost as if she was reuniting with an old friend, and Jak watched as her ears indicated that she was happy.

"We have restored a fraction of your former self," the statue spoke up, causing the group to look at it for another moment, though at the same time Pinkie nodded, "In time you will know why this has come to pass, but for now you should return to your friends and aid them once more."

Jak had no idea what was even going on with Pinkie anymore, but at the same time he decided that it was time he stopped trying to make sense of what she did and what all the types of Eco did when she connected with them. So his sister was actually part pony, according to what the statue was trying to make them believe, so he was just going to have to accept that fact and move on with his life. They still had to stop the Day Star from bringing about the end of the world, so he grabbed Pinkie and headed towards the warp gate that was near them, where they jumped through it and returned to the entrance of the temple once more.

Once they were back above ground they walked out to where the Dune Hopper was waiting for them, climbed back into their seats, and headed back towards Spargus... because they were sure that Damas would be very interested to hear about their latest discoveries.