The burning land had grown closer by the time Daring Do reached the top of the plateau. Daring Do was unsurprised to see that whatever remained on the plateau had long-since been reduced to ruins. What did surprise her, though, was the ruins themselves.
Which was not to say that they were unique, at least in the feeling the gave her. The dull tingle on the back of her neck, the sudden surge of excitement that accompanied the sudden intake of breath at the surprise. It never got old to her, the feeling that came when she laid eyes on something built long ago by ancients that had remained hidden and unseen for countless centuries. Those were moments she lived for- -and the moments that were only the midpoint of her adventure.
The ruins themselves were quite old and covered in a thin, damp snow. The air up here was cooler, but not enough to keep the snow from melting. That had simultaneously preserved the ruins from freezing over completely like those of Lyskymm, but at the same time had produced water that had slowly eroded them.
The engineers- -or engineer- -who had built this place seemed to take account of that. The ground consisted of what appeared to be enormous, stone tiles. For the most part they were square, but paths had been built into them to serve as drains: thin channels that moved almost organically as they interrupted simple but geometrically perfect patterns.
Farther from them stood the remains of columns and perhaps buildings, things that were impossibly old. Daring Do paused to inspect them, only to feel herself shiver. They had an aspect that was rare in ancient temples, but one she had doubtless seen before, if only on a much lesser scale. The structures, though broken by time and water, were made perfectly of blocks- -blocks that were at their smallest the size of a pony. There was no logical way that an ancient culture could have moved them, let alone assembled them- -or even quarried perfectly cut, unblemished stone from the ground.
“Oh if only Dulcimer could see this…These are Exmoori ruins,” she said, almost whispering. “The first ever discovered. “
“And perhaps the last,” added Flock, who had been waiting patiently at the top. “Celestia scoured Equestria with surprising attention. But the sun no longer rises in Hyperborea. Her influence is weak here.”
“So this is it?” said Sweetie Drops. “I think we might be a little late.”
“No,” said Flock. “This is a readout. An old fort. Or a temple. The Exmoori probably constructed it well over forty thousand years ago, and then abandoned it.”
“But they came back,” said Daring Do, recalling what the whiteshade zebra had said.
“So it seems.”
“But why here?”
Flock shrugged. “Perhaps the infrastructure underground. Or because this place is defensible. Or maybe because it was the last place they could remember from when their race had any power in this world.”
“Do you think there are traps?” asked Rainbow Dash. The other ponies and Flock turned to look at her disapprovingly. “What?”
“There are always traps,” said Daring Do. “Always.”
“Well they had better be good ones,” muttered Rainbow Dash, annoyed at having been rebuked for her foolish question.
“I doubt it,” sighed Flock, walking across the open courtyard of carved rivers and geometric stone. “The Exmoori were a race of warriors. I don’t know if they had the intelligence for traps.”
At that instance Flock triggered the trap. Daring Do put her hoof to her face. She knew exactly what happened when a pony said something like that.
The rivers in their carved channels suddenly ignited with shimmering incandescence. A trail of light spread out, stretching from the stone that Flock had touched and running backward, far into the distance, where fog and clouds obscured a more massive structure. Several of the geometric patterns in the stone below ignited with light: circles of stone, each of them sixty feet wide.
The whole of the plateau began to tremble as the stones fell away, retracting by unseen mechanisms as intricate as they were massive. Daring Do counted the holes she could. There were at least ten.
“They’re really big,” suggested Rainbow Dash. “But maybe we can, you know, just walk around them.”
“The holes aren’t the trap,” sighed Daring Do. “I think I know where this is going.”
Daring Do hated being right. In exact unison, hooves rose from the holes. For a moment Daring Do felt a slight confusion, as though she were looking at an optical illusion, as if perhaps the stones of the plateau’s ancient court had been assembled in a way to produce forced perspective. As if the holes were not as big as they seemed. Except they were not that lucky. Daring Do was never that lucky. Her brain processed the illusion and realized that it was not one. The hooves that had come through did not belong to ponies. They were vastly larger.
The golems pulled themselves up in unison, making the ground rumble as they did. They were enormous, and although they were not the largest that Daring Do had ever seen, they did seem to be the most advanced. Their bodies included prodigious amounts of prerequisite stone, carved and placed around their bodies in plates of unyielding armor. These, however, also included metal, seen through the cracks in their armor: both additional plating, as well as mechanisms relying on gears and cogs instead of enchantments.
Each golem had a single onyx eye in the center of its forehead. Their faces did not consist of anything more than that; there had been no artistry in their design, no flair provided by a proud mage. These were built to serve a purpose, and a mundane one at that.
“Golems,” sighed Sweetie Drops, drawing her sword. “I HATE golems. And stupid elementals. They take FOREVER to break.”
“I don’t think THEM getting broken is your biggest concern,” said Flock.
The first of the golems shuddered as its internal mechanisms ground together, and then suddenly linked. The joints between its armor ignited with phosphorescent light. Then it spoke in a booming voice.
“VORTOG. NELAG. SESXTENDESH.”
The echo died, and the plateau became silent.
“What did it say?” whispered Rainbow Dash.
“I don’t know,” hissed Daring Do, trying to run through the possible languages in her head. “I don’t recognize the language- -”
“It’s spoken Exmoori,” said Flock. “It asked for orders.”
“You speak Exmoori?”
“Only barely.”
“Well if asked for orders,” said Sweetie Drops, still not lowering her vedmak sword. “Answer it.”
“With what?”
“Tell it to stand down.”
Flock nodded, and then stepped forward. The stones glowed, tracking him where he moved, although this was probably unnecessary. The goldems’ synthetic eyes never left him- -or any of them.
“Calenach!” he cried in return.
The eye turned toward him, and the mechanisms that surrounded it turned. Daring Do could almost feel its gaze moving between them- -and stopping at Rainbow Dash’s chest.
“DEL,” cried the golem. “MORLACH FANAG.”
It charged. Daring Do did not know how it moved so quickly, or what even was powering it- -let alone what it made of. Not that any of it mattered. It was fast, strong, and heavy, and when a ten-food wide hoof came down on the group she grabbed Rainbow Dash and rolled, barely avoiding being flattened.
White and Sweetie Drops both flew back as well, with Sweetie Drops striking at the hoof with her magical sword. It sliced deeply, far more deeply than any normal sword- -except perhaps for the blades of the Questlords themselves- -could have cut. Yet the wound did not even penetrate the golem’s armor.
“BUCK!” cried Sweetie Drops, leaping into an acrobatic sideways dodge as the golem moved its hoof sideways. Flock was struck in the process, and he burst into a plume of crows.
The golem did not pay attention to the crows, or to Sweetie Drops and White. Instead its attention stayed purely on Rainbow Dash, and the dial in her chest. It charged again, and Rainbow Dash took flight. There were no turrets on the upper level, and the golem was too slow to catch her.
What she did not see, though, was the gargoyles that had been placed on the tops of the ancient ruins. They had been configured to blend in, as if they were almost meant to be part of the structures. That was until their single onyx eyes turned to Rainbow Dash, though, and until their mottled wings separated. They leapt forth, flying through the air in hot pursuit.
The larger golem count now focus its attention on Daring Do and the others. It rushed forward, and the internal lights of a second ignited. And a third. Their booming voices filled the emptiness, and Daring Do knew that this time they were not waiting for a response.
“We can’t fight these!” said Sweetie Drops, rolling out of the way of another impact.
“Yes we can!”
“We’d need an entire army!”
Daring Do smiled and reached into her coat. She removed a bag from her pocket and tore away the string binding it closed with her teeth. It rattled as she did so, as it was full of the dragons teeth that had before landed in her mane and coat when Caballeron had dropped them on her. It was not the first time his lack of foresight had proved a benefit, and Daring Do hoped that it would not be the last.
She threw the bag. The teeth spilled out and clattered to the ground. On impact with the stone, they ignited with magic and the germinating process began. Even through the stone, they drew up the elements of the earth, forming bodies and armor- -and arising with strange, ancient weapons from those who the golems had ended here long ago.
The dragon’s-tooth warriors looked around, confused as to their existence and whom exactly they were meant to serve. They did not need to wait long for an answer.
Daring Do charged forward and struck a pose. “FOR THE GLORY OF THE DRAGONLORD! CHARGE!”
The warriors roared in response, suddenly charged with conviction and purpose- -and the desire to smite their genera’s enemies. They did as they were told and rushed into battle.
The golems were immediately confused. They did not seem to comprehend how so many soldiers had appeared from nowhere, and they paused for a moment. Enormous gears inside them shifted with loud clanks, changing their fundamental program.
By then, the dragon’s tooth warriors had already reached the first golem. They struck at it and tore into its armor, but realizing that doing so was ineffective they began to climb. Before the golem had finished adjusting is program, the warriors had gotten into its armor and were tearing away at internal cogs.
“NOW!” said Daring Do. “MOVE!”
She ran forward through the fray, as did Sweetie Drops. White took to the air, and although her flying ability was limited, she did her best to assist Rainbow Dash.
The program-cogs inside the gargoyle golems were less advanced but lighter. They shifted easily, and a formation broke off from the rest. They descended past White and into the mass of tooth warriors. They tore at them with their stone-plated wings and smashed them, but the dragon’s teeth simply rebuilt the bodies they inhabited and continued. Many gargoyles were lost in the attack.
The rest followed Rainbow Dash, who outpaced them easily. Although the golems did not tire and did not need to worry about g-forces from intense maneuvers, they were still far heavier than a Pegasus. What Rainbow Dash could accomplish, though, was limited- -until she spied the supports of the ruins. She turned sharply, leading the gargoyles into the columns. They followed, and it was already too late. Rainbow Dash suddenly retracted her wings and fell through a slit between two rock structures. The golems were too heavy to do the same, and entered with their wings open, sheering them off in the process.
“HA!” cried Rainbow Dash, opening her wings and slowing. “Take- -”
She was interrupted as one of the gargoyles slashed past her, extending its talons. They tore through Rainbow Dash’s coat, and while she dodged fast enough to save her softer innards, the force of doing so knocked her out of pattern. She began to spiral, and before she could correct another gargoyle was back.
White descended from overhead and landed on his back. With a silent cry, she jammed the blade of a pocket knife under the creature’s onyx eye. The gargoyle golem struggled and protested, screaming words at her in Exmoori. She did not hesitate, and wrenched the blade forward, tearing out the black sphere.
The gargoyle’s flight was disrupted, but White managed to at least turn it so that it was able to fly in a long arc- -directly into the head of one of the larger golems. It hit with a tremendous explosion, and the golem took a step back, revealing the fact that part of its own eye had been badly damaged by the impact.
“HA!” cried Rainbow Dash. “TAKE THAT!”
The golem looked up at her. Then it moved.
They all did, charging against the army. Their program had been reconfigured and they attacked with exacting precision. One of the golems slammed its hoof into the army of enchanted soldiers, and the force shattered their bodies against the stone- -and broke the teeth that they contained. Their magical fire went out and they were no more, even as their comrades crawled onto the hoof and began to overtake the golem.
“We don’t have enough!” called Sweetie Drops.
Daring Do knew that she was right. She had gotten at most twenty dragon teeth, and she had just three of them. The army she had remaining was far too small.
“Daring Do!” cried Rainbow Dash from overhead. “The eyes! Aim for the EYES!”
Daring Do looked up at the nearest golem, the one with the broken eye. And she understood.
“ARCHERS!” she cried.
Her soldiers obeyed. They leapt back and drew bows, notching arrows of earth and rusted steel.
“LOOSE!”
Arrows whistled through the air. They struck the nearest golems. Most of the rods were turned with little effect, but several pounded into the onyx spheres in the center of the golems’ heads. The one whose eye had already been cracked lost its eye completely as it shattered, falling in pieces of black semi-precious gem and trailing wires behind it.
This was beneficial, but only partially so. The golem could no longer see, but its program compensated. By causing it to frenzy. It thrashed out in every direction with wild precision, destroying everything it touched. This included one other golem, which was damaged and pushed back into one of the underground silos it had come from. Daring Do could not help but think that it was confused, although she doubted any golems were advanced enough to even understand the concept.
Four golems had been lost, and one was partially incapacitated, but that still left five, as well as whatever gargoyles were remaining. One of them attacked its incapacitated comrade, shattering it and destroying much of what was left of the dragon’s tooth forces that were at the time inside it.
“FLOCK!” cried Daring Do. “If you’re going to do something, do it NOW!”
As if on command, the crows swooped downward and swarmed the nearest golem. Its eye twitched, turning in confusion, as if it did not understand the threat it was facing- -or perhaps it just did not know how to deal with birds.
Its program began to change, but by that time the large gear began to turn, the crows had already gotten into its internal mechanisms.
The golem suddenly slumped but did not fall. Daring Do sighed with relief, thinking that Flock had damaged it from inside- -until its body once again ignited with light and it stood.
“Flock, what did you- -”
The golem charged. Daring Do covered her head, and Sweetie Drops threw herself over her, raising her sword in a block to defend them both. Not that it would have done much good- -and not that it needed to. The golem bypassed them and instead charged toward the oncoming others, slamming one of its hooves into the eye of one of its identical siblings.
Crows rushed out of it and reassembled into Flock. “We don’t have much time,” he said.
“What did you do?”
“I reconfigured its programming, but I don’t know how long it will hold! I had to strip a core regulator gear, so- -”
“Don’t care MOVE!” cried Sweetie Drops, shoving Flock forward. “WINGS! NOW! Both of you!”
Daring Do spread her wings, and Flock generated a pair, momentarily assuming the form of a black alicorn.
“Sweetie Drops!”
“I’m right behind you! I’ll cover the- -STOP!”
It had been apparent that Sweetie Drops did not intend to make it all the way. There was no way she could run that far. Rainbow Dash had understood this, and so had White. They descended at the same time and grasped her by the rear legs.
“Not a chance, Bon Bon!” shouted Rainbow Dash. “Ponyville loyalty!”
Some of the last of the gargoyles charged. Sweetie Drops cried out and drew her sword, putting both Rainbow Dash and White off balance.
“Stop moving!” cried Rainbow Dash.
“Stop interfering!” Sweetie Drops raised her sword and slashed across the gargoyle’s face, slicing the front of its body in half into a plume of gears and wires. “Either drop me or fly harder!”
Rainbow Dash did not drop her, but flying harder was not really an option. White was doing admirably but had not been trained to carry weight; as her wings beat faster and faster, her altitude began to decrease.
“There!” cried Daring Do. In the distance, a squat building had manifested from the fog: wide, but large, seeming to rise directly from the stone below as a rectangular shell. A simple opening led outward and to the courtyard of the golems.
The distance was not short, and the golems were gaining. The one Flock had reprogrammed had destroyed itself, as well as two others. Of the remaining two, only one was capable of walking- -and it was gaining.
Daring Do took a breath, and descended, pulling her wings back against her body. With the lack of drag, she accelerated. Behind her, Rainbow Dash did the same, as did White, holding Sweetie Drops below herself as ballast. They were young enough that this might even be standard flying for them, but Daring Do was old, and knew that at her age this was going to hurt.
She slammed against the stone ground and bounced, turning as she did. The wind was knocked out of her, but she did not allow herself to be dazed. Instead, she landed on her hooves and skidded across the smooth stone. Rainbow Dash did the same, now with Flock clinging to her side. White landed with Sweetie Drops against the ground and skidded across on top of her as though she were a sled.
All of them skidded into the entry way. Just as they did, the hoof came down. Parts of the entryway collapsed, nearly squashing White and Sweetie Drops and catching Rainbow Dash in the tail. Rainbow Dash’s shield bubble activated, and with a cry she was shot forward into the opposing wall.
The hoof remained for a moment, and then retracted. For a moment there was nothing, and then an enormous onyx eye moved in front of the door. Several arrows protruded from it, and it swam in its socket, staring blankly at every angle.
“No you don’t!” said Sweetie Drops. She leapt up and with one slash cut through a support column. The already damaged entryway collapsed, blocking the golem’s view. For a moment there was silent, and then a thundering sound- -but a sound that moved away from them. Apparently, the last golem had given up.
“Oh wow, that was close,” sighed Rainbow Dash, dropping onto the floor. “Wow this is intense. Cool but really tiring.”
“And that’s not even the first part,” chuckled Daring Do.
“Clearly.” Sweetie Drops brushed herself off, and then lifted her sword, turning it and lightly tapping the pommel onto White’s head. White winced and probably tried to swear, although no words came from her. “Warn me if you’re going to do something like that next time! And unless you’re a teal unicorn, don’t ride my back! I’m not a sled! If I hadn’t been an earth-pony, my bones would be as broke as Trixie the magician!”
White responded with a rude gesture, one that actually made Daring Do gasp. Sweetie Drops, though, apparently found it hilarious.
“Yes, yes, touching,” growled Flock, “but you just closed off our only exit.”
“So?” said Rainbow Dash. She poked at the thing in her chest, and Flock swatted away her hoof before she could damage it. “We still have this dingus.”
“It’s not a ‘dingus’- -”
“She’s right,” said Daring Do. “We can jump whenever we need to. Go back to your castle.”
“It’s not a castle,” harrumphed Flock. He seemed to puff up, and the feathers inside his coat became visible. “I still don’t like it! Don’t point things out to me!”
He continued to bristle, but walked off into the hallway, where his sphere was already waiting for him.
“Right,” said Daring Do. “We’re in. Now we just need to find the Hand.”
“And when we do?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“I take it back to Equestria. To the Royal Archeological Institute headquarters in Canterlot.”
Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened. “But you hate the institute!”
“I don’t hate them. They hate me. And true, they’re a bunch of pompous, paper-pushing windbags who have never once seen a tomb like this one. But they’ll know how to keep an artifact like this safe. And study it.”
“Why not give it to Flock, though?”
Daring Do did not answer. She instead proceeded forward after Flock. Sweetie Drops watched her go, her sword still drawn. White looked back at her, confused, but with an expression that Sweetie Drops was not sure if was knowing or not.
Not that it mattered. Sweetie Drops sheathed the blade, knowing that she would need to draw it at least one more time by the end of this mission. Even to do something she very much did not want to do.