//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 // Story: CPS Chronicles: Nightmares and Wormholes // by Largefish8 //------------------------------// MLP Fic pt 9 The Ponyville dam was known for how it had needed repairs several times in the past, at one point being reconstructed by a spell after collapsing and, after yet another incident where emergency repair unicorns had been needed, finally Canterlot had sent a survey team to check the area as to why a dam was constantly being cracked. Most outsiders would presume that ponies wouldn't be very good at digging. Of course, they would also assume that ponies weren't capable of building construction vehicles…boy would they be in for a shock… "Ok...all the survey spells say there's something here...something big enough to cause cracks in a three foot thick dam." said the unicorn in charge confidently while looking at an old map and back up at the other ponies either checking survey gear or running the construction diggers. His companion muttered "I don’t get it...there's been nothing here since we started making maps." "There's no fault lines around here, so there has to be something down there," said the unicorn. "It’s probably diamond dogs. Remember that trouble in hoofington last year?" said one of the construction ponies in a bored voice. On cue, one of the diggers suddenly smashed through the top of something concealed just below the surface, causing several cracks to radiate out from the hole. "Back up, we've hit something!" called the forepony, waving to the others. The cracks suddenly began to get worse on cue with a rumbling. "Sinkhole...everypony back." yelled the forepony, the digger’s driver diving out as the ground below the vehicle gave way. After a minute, everypony peered out to see a sizable hole in the ground, in an almost perfect square. "That can't be natural," said one of the construction ponies. The unicorn peered down before sending a light spell in, showing walls made of what looked like dirty crystal and metal before highlighting something...a skeleton...a human one. "Looks like this job just got a whole like bigger," said the forepony. ... Matt was trying to relax and avoid tempting fate. So far the week had included a happy lack of psycho mercenaries, alien monsters and killer bunnies (don’t ask) and he was in no mood for it to change. The only road hump on easy street was that Aria had commandeered the skyraid’s Nanoforge to make something that involved her handing control back to the ships old AI. "ETA to decontamination: 12 minutes. With respect, sir. I have been offline for 2 months and now have to run a ship AND an exterior facility. Please be patient." said the male voice of the skyraid’s computer in an annoyed voice. "I think some facilities need to be more freely open to use, PARTICULARLY THE TOILET!" snapped Matt. "Then you shouldn't have had all those tacos," muttered the AI. “WHAT WAS THAT?” Yelled Matt as the door was knocked on, swinging open. The unicorn that had just peered in through the open door jumped back in shock. The stories of the alien living just outside ponyville had more or less gotten all over equestria by now but seeing it in person and in a clear state of agitation was a whole different experience "Erm...you are Captain Lynch?" he asked, worried. "Unless someone else has moved in with the same name and title, that's me," said Matt. "Erm...I represent the Equestria Safety Department and my team is currently checking the area near the dam. We appear to have found some kind of underground building..." said the unicorn, getting his confidence back before Matt said "Not interested. Day off..." before stopping as the unicorn said "...with what appears to be a human skeleton present." Matt paused and said, "Describe this building." "All we have uncovered is a shaft leading at least 8 feet below the surface. The ponies who went down say there is a large vault-like door blocking entry. As one of...your kinds remains was present, we thought we would ask for your expertise in the matter." said the unicorn, calmly. Though he had a pretty good feeling all he'd get was a 'busy signal', Matt tried to bring up Aria on his wristcomp. "Aria, are you getting this?" he asked. To his surprise, he heard her reply, "Yes, I did, I'll be there in 20 minutes." "What? You're a program...you know what...I don’t care...just get to my location." said Matt, tired before turning it off. "Ok...let’s see your big hole. If it’s what I think it is...you came to the right alien." he said. ... When Matt got to the big hole in question, there was a noticeably large crowd of ponies gathered around it. He was pretty sure the girls were here, though it was a little hard to pick them out. Except for Rainbow Dash, who was hovering above the crowd as usual. Matt gave a wave to them as they headed over before heading over to the hole and shining a light down it and onto the familiar spread winged symbol every NSC merc and trooper was trained to spot a mile off. "Congratulations...you've dug up an Atlantean facility." he said a little sarcastically. "Atlanteans? I read a brief reference about Atlantis in a book, but I thought it was just a myth," said Twilight. “Yeah…The NSC’s never worked out what wiped them out.” Said Matt, in a casual tone. All of the ponies took several steps back at that. "Er, nothing bad is going to come out of that hole, right?" asked Fluttershy. "I doubt it...if anything nasty was gonna happen, it would already have happened." said Matt, casually "Then what are we supposed to do with this thing?" demanded the forepony. "Not much you can do...something must still be running inside it. I could go in and turn it off...but I'm not going in alone. The research corp have a saying along those lines. ‘A explorer who explores ancient facilities alone is tired of life’." said Matt, still talking casually and shining the light around the hole "Now who'd be plum crazy and foolhardy enough to jump in that there hole?" asked Applejack. "I'll go," said Rainbow Dash, "That place can't be too scary.” "I'm sure Princess Celestia will want to hear as much as she can about this," said Twilight, "I better come too." "Ok...two...anyone else?" said Matt, peering down and wondering why Rainbow wanted to come. "I get the feeling yer gonna need plenty of rope," said Applejack, "Not to mention someone with a sensible head. I'm comin' too." “I will come too, sir.” Said a new and familier voice behind Matt…Aria’s voice. Matt spun around, looking for where Aria's voice came from. He had a feeling it was coming from the African woman with her hair in a business bun, glasses perched on her nose, and wearing an archeologist's outfit. Matt immediately pulled his blaster "Hands up right now!" he yelled. Surprisingly, Rainbow Dash seemed to recognize her. "Aria? What are you doing here?" asked Dash. "Aria, how would you know?" asked Matt. "We met in the central mainframe when she was digitized," said the woman with Aria's voice. Matt glared before holstering his blaster as 'Aria' continued, "You did say I should make my own body if I wanted to get out and about." "This is what you've been doing with the nano-forge?" asked Matt. "I wanted it to make sure my body was as close to my old one as possible," said Aria, "I thought the outfit would be appropriate for this venture." "Neat," said Matt, "So how real is it?" He reached a hand forward to poke her face before Aria smacked it aside. "Hands to yourself, please," she said. Matt sighed as Aria simply stepped off the edge of the hole, landing at the bottom of the hole, feet first. "Interesting...I don’t think I’ve seen this insignia before," she said curiously, ignoring the stares from everyone. "Insignia? There were different factions?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Different divisions...guilds...warrior, research...space...similar. This is a new one." said Aria, calmly before looking at a panel beside the door. "This should be simple to bypass." she said to herself as the others climbed down. "So, what would the Atlanteans be doing here anyways?" asked Twilight, before teleporting down. "They probably came here millennia ago before you guys had even finished evolving." said Matt casually before looking at the door. "This thing isn’t gonna move. Probably stuck..." he began before the door let out a hiss and began to slowly retract. "Huh, guess this place wasn't considered very important," said Matt. Aria sighed "No...the magnetic locks are damaged...the power is off." she said, peering into the darkened messy corridor beyond. "Good, that's means all the other defenses won't have power either, right?" asked Matt. "Indeed." said Aria. ... The inside of the facility was almost pitch black, the group passing several collapsed corridors. "I know no power is good in this situation, but I think a little light would be appreciated," said Matt. Matt, applejack and Dash gulped a little at the sight of Aria's eyes lighting up like searchlights. "Better?" she asked. Matt just nodded numbly. "That’s creepy." he said. "Where else would you expect light to come out?" retorted Aria. "Anywhere that doesn’t mean you look like an extra from the exorcist?" said Matt weakly. "Can we focus on the more important things?" asked Twilight, "Like what's buried down here." Suddenly, the cave was flooded with light. Matt winced a bit as his eyes adjusted to the brightness. "Well, that's better," said Matt. "Ba thuna vatalis." chimed a female voice as what looked like crystal ornaments suddenly lit up, holographic displays appearing. At the same time a huge hologram of a planet appeared in the middle of the room, dozens of dots covering it, all but four of the dots flashing red. "What is all this?" asked Twilight, looking at the rotating image with curiosity. "Looks like a world map." said Matt, looking in awe at it. "Nala tin go-lation complete. Indigenous dialect confirmed." said the female voice again. "Well, at least it's not saying gibberish anymore," said Rainbow Dash. "Unidentified personnel detected. Please check in at security at the next opportunity." exclaimed the voice cheerfully. Matt and Twilight however were looking at the map. "This looks a awful lot like the globe at your treehouse, Twilight." said Matt, thoughtfully. "Yes, it seems to be a complete map of Equestria," said Twilight, "Though there seems to be some differences." "This thing was made over 10,000 years ago or something," said Matt, "Things easily could have changed since then." Matt looked at the dots and the runes by them "I guess these dots must be other Atlantean bases." he said. "Indeed," said Aria, "I better record this." Matt shrugged "Fine...hey, where did dash go?" he commented. Dash, meanwhile, was looking around the place. She had no idea what most of these things are, but they were neat to look at. "Please note, sectors 25, 29 and 34 are off limits indefinitely due to a internal security breach." said the computers voice as she wandered around. After a minute dash wandered into a well lit room with a glowing crystalline pillar. "Welcome Test subject, to VD Lab 2-14. Test will commence in 10 units." said the voice cheerfully "How long's a unit?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Query not reqognized...please try again." said the computer as the others came into view. "There you are...are you nuts, wandering off like that?" said Matt, annoyed as he and aria walked in. "Guys, you know how long a unit is?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Why do you ask?" asked Aria. "Because the voice said the tech will commence in 10 units, whatever that means." On cue the voice spoke again. "Test now active...sealing chamber." it exclaimed before a blastshield shot down in the doorway. "I'm guessing a unit's not very long," said Matt before he started banging on the blastshield. "Commencing charging sequence...scanning for source material." said the voice before a translucent cone came from the pillar, passing around the trio. "Er, any idea what's going on?" asked Matt. "In my experience, countdowns are typically bad, so..." Matt redoubled his efforts to force the blastshield open. "5...4...3…2...1...firing." said the computer before the pillar flashed...and the room was empty again. "Jump complete...beginning VD program..." said the computer... ... The next thing Matt, Aria, and Rainbow Dash knew, there were standing in a big white expanse of nothingness. Rainbow looked around and said, "I'm getting this weird feeling I've been in a situation like this before." "Deja vu," said Aria. "Geseundheit," replied Dash. After a minute there was a flash of light and the trio were in the middle of a crouded street. "Ok, where are we?" asked Matt. Rainbow Dash looked around "I dunno..." before she stopped, apparently spotting something in the crowd. "What? What is it?" asked Matt, looking around. The more he looked, the more this place reminded him of an Arabian town. There were stone buildings, stalls with clothes hanging over them to keep out the shade, and the ponies he could see were wearing stuff that was close to what you'd expect from a suburb in Cairo. "She went that way." said Dash urgently, flying off down a side street. "Wait...dash...oh, come on. Lets go, aria." said Matt, annoyed before following. "This is not how I wanted to spend my first day with my new robot body," said Aria to herself before following after the two. The duo finally caught up with Dash after a minute "For smegs sake...why all the running?" panted Matt. "IT'SDARINGDOO!" squealed Rainbow Dash. "Uh, pardon?" asked Matt. When no responce came, Matt tried again. "Who the hells Daring Doo and why should I care?" he said darkly. "Daring Doo, the most awesome and amazing archeologist who's ever been a book series!" squealed Rainbow Dash. "Book series." said Matt dully. "Book series? The logic of this does not compute." said Aria. "But she's right there!" said Rainbow Dash, pointing towards a pony who looked a lot like her, only with a different color scheme, a compass cutie mark, and an archeologist's outfit. Matt looked at her "We're in a book...we're in a frigging book." he said in a disbelieving voice. "Wait a minute," said Rainbow Dash, "I read this book. This is 'Daring Doo and the Sphinx's Treasure'! We're in the city of Mareaco!" "Is there any city here that isn’t ripping off ours?" muttered Matt. Aria looked thoughtful and said, "I think I know what is happening here." "Please, enlighten us, o'talkie toaster." said Matt sarcastically. Aria ignored Matt and said to Dash “I am guessing from your reactions that you have read these ‘Daring Doo’ novels.” "Read them? I know them by heart," said Rainbow Dash. "I thought so...the device probably scans memories for ‘source materials’. The NSC always had theories that the atlanteans tried to make dimensions as well as contact them. The device that got us must have been a recreational device based off the research." said Aria. "So...this whole thing's like a holoshed?" asked Matt. "More then that...this is probably an actual universe...created by the device and now independent." said Aria, before thinking "The exit will probably appear at the 'books' conclusion." "So what are we supposed to do, follow the story and keep up with the protagonist throughout her adventure here?" asked Matt. "Precisely," said Aria. Matt stopped at that "Didn’t the machine say it was 'modifying content'?" "It did," said Aria, "This might not be an exact replication of the book's plot. Some changes may have been added to accommodate our presence." "Ok, dash...what happens after Miss Doo leaves the market? You read the book, you're our map." said Matt, confidently. When Dash didn't respond, Matt looked around to see she was gone. "Where'd she go?" he asked. Aria pointed to a doorway. "She followed Miss Doo into there." she commented. Matt rolled his eyes "Fine...lets get this over with before my head explodes from logic deficiency." he sighed. Aria and Matt walked into the building, which was evidentially a tavern of some sort. The room they were in appeared to be the lounge and had several cushions scattered about for customers to sit on. Matt immediately spotted Dash in the corner, walking over to her. "Can we try to stay together?" he said sarcastically before waving a hand in front of Dash’s face. "DASH...WAKE UP!" he yelled after a minute. "There she is!" squealed Rainbow Dash, pointing across the room to where Daring Doo was sitting at another table. Matt sat down and said as calmly as he could "Dash...we don’t know when or even what the exit portal will be...we have to stay together." Aria said after a minute "She's not listening." "Oh, look, she's getting the map to the sphinx's lair now," said Rainbow Dash. A wizened diamond dog had been talking with Daring Doo and was now unrolling a sheet of parchment on the table. Matt however was looking at the heavies that the dog had brought along. "Thats alot of security for an antique." he muttered to Dash, pointing them out. "An antique?" said Rainbow Dash, "That map leads to a fortune. You have an idea of how much treasure that sphinx has stored in its lair?" "Oh please...don’t you think its a bit wierd?" said Matt, looking at the other tables. "...that almost all the tables are taken up with these doggies?" "Well, the jackals have been looking for this treasure too," said Rainbow Dash, "So they had their agents here and ready to attack Daring Doo as soon as she has the map." "Good...cause I think they just slipped something in her drink." said Matt, concern in his voice. ... Daring Doo studied the map. She had been searching for weeks for the sphinx's lair and now it was at her hooftips. Still, something wasn't quite right. "You're asking for a pretty small price considering how much this map is worth," said Daring. "First, toast to...good profits," said the dog before taking his drink and passing one over to Daring. Daring shrugged and took a drink as well. But there was something odd. Her drink had a bitter aftertaste to it. The diamond dog and his bodyguards grinned at that "Is pony feeling strange?" asked the lead dog. "Strange, what are you-" started Daring before starting to feel woozy. "Is sad...dago weed make drinks nice for diamond dogs but nasty for ponies...we give cure for map. Aniba pay better for map." said the dog gleefully. "You...dirty...dogs..." growled Daring as she struggled to remain conscious. "Now give map, little pony." said the dog, all glee vanishing before a voice said "Barney...I haven;t seen you for a dogs age." and some kind of hairless monkey, apparently drunk put his arm around the dogs neck, much to the dogs surprise. The dog gave the newcomer an annoyed look and said, "Get off me, ape. I don't know you." "No...no...you're definitely the guy...right, aria?" said the ape with a happy grin. A female version had silently appeared behind one of the bodyguards "Thats right, captain...I believe I remember him." "I never saw you before! Now go away! I have busi-" snapped the dog before a clicking sound stopped him. Daring was sure it was the dago weed but she thought she heard the ape mutter "What I have pointed at you is the XR-220 plasma magnum...if I pull the trigger…well, it can go through a tank so I doubt that where I am aiming will present any problem at all." There was a yelp as one of the bodyguards tried to grab him and was held in the grip of the apes partner, who was apparently holding the arm of a fully grown diamond dog as if it was nothing. "You don't have grapes to-" started the dog. "Any more than you do to poison Ms. Doo here?" retorted the ape. "Give miss doo the cure and we'll say no more about it and you'll leave with a normal sounding voice and your bodyguard won’t have his wristbones reduced to powder by my associate here." said the ape with deadly calm before calling out "Dash...why don’t you grab the vial off our new best friend here?" A brightly-colored pegasus trotted over and grabbed a bottle that was in the dog's belt. She poured the contents into one of the drinks on the table before giving it to Daring. "Here you go," said Rainbow. The ape grinned triumphantly as Daring gulped it down before looking at the diamond dog. However, the dog had noticed the ape's shift in attention and managed to kick him away into another table that was occupied by more dogs. A dozen or so dogs got up and glared. "Aniba pay lots of gems for map. GET PONY!" said the dog angrily before a stun blast made him judder in place before falling over. "Matt, I think we have overstayed our welcome," said the female ape as the arm that had changed into some kind of projectile weapon charged up again. The dogs looked at each other before charging at once. Aria sighed and aimed her blaster arm at the wall. "Seeing as we cannot use the door..." she muttered. … The ponies outside jumped back as the tavern wall suddenly exploded outward. Matt picked her up and said, "You're probably still weak from that poison. Just tell us where to go." Daring glared and said "Not a chance. I’ve been searching for this treasure for months. I'm not gonna give up now." "I didn't say that," said Matt, "I'm saying that until you can walk or fly in a straight line without crashing into something, I'll be carrying you. Which way to the edge of town?" Daring sighed "Ok...lets just get somewhere where I can look at this map." she said. "Any suggestions?" asked Matt to Rainbow. "We can head back to Darings hotel." said Dash. Daring gave Rainbow a suspicious look. "How do you know where my hotel is?" she asked. "Long story, miss doo...and you wouldn’t believe me anyway...I just hope the others are ok." said Matt casually. … Meanwhile, Twilight and Applejack were trying to figure where their friends had disappeared to. "Ya think they woulda told us if they were goin' somewhere," said Applejack. "Test program now in effect...Alert: software damage detected. Safety protocols: offline. Emergency logout: offline." said the facility voice. "That doesn't sound good to me," said Applejack, "Any idea what it means?" "I'm not sure," said Twilight, "But I bet it has something to do with where the others have disappeared to." "Program is in effect...unable to log units out. Please try again later." said the voice. "Uh...from what little I can make out of that, wherever they are, they're stuck," said Applejack. "Warning...weapon fire detected at surface level...please stand by." said the computer... ... Darius stepped through the camp with his men. The Icarus had picked up a energy burst from this area and Darius had decided to come personally. The cowardly locals had fled as soon as his men had fired a few rounds into the air. "Spread out. I don’t want any interruptions." he called out. It was pretty easy to tell where the energy was coming from. The crystal-lined hole was a dead giveaway. "Payday...NSC pays top dollar for stuff from these places." said one of the troopers cheerfully. Darius however was looking at the grapple at the rim. "Lynch...Team one...with me. Team 2...you're on overwatch up here." he called out before grabbing the grapple line and shooting down the rope. "Uh, sir, what about the defenses?" asked a trooper. Atlantean ruins were infamous for the deadly booby traps that made an Egyptian crypt seem like a funhouse. "If Lynch is down there, the defences are probably already down...NOW I GAVE YOU AN ORDER, CORPORAL...GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE!" said Darius before yelling the last part angrily. The troopers quickly got their own grappling lines set and started sliding down into the hole. ... "Warning...Intruders detected in access corridor theta. Going to alert status 2…Hacking intruder comms……Leader identified: One Colonel Anton Darius in command." chimed the computer, a holographic view appearing on a wall, showing Darius and his merc team walking in. "So that’s the Darius guy chasing Matt." said Twilight, spotting the nametag on the groups leader. "Figures a no-good varment like him will come snoopin' around," said Applejack. "Uh, computer, is there anything you can do to make those guys go away?" asked Twilight. "Stand by. Attempting to uplink to nearest warrior guild facility...failed. Attempting to uplink to secondary site....failed. Attempting to uplink to tritary Shield System site...failed. Warning: Ragnarok class alert now in progress. Entering emergency lockdown and deploying countermeasures..." said the computer in sequence, finishing ominously with "Thank you for your cooperation." "Uh, 'lockdown' means we ain't gettin' out, right?" asked Applejack. On the screen, the door that had so happily opened to allow them access into the building could be seen slamming shut with a certain finality, a secondary door slamming down over it for good measure, causing the two troopers guarding it to turn in silent surprise. "I'm pretty sure it does," said Twilight. ... Meanwhile, Matt, Dash and Aria had helped Daring back to the hotel she had been staying at in town. "So what so awesome about this treasure?" asked Matt curiously adding "...that has people wanting to kill you." "Are you kidding?" asked Daring, "Sphinxes are as big at hoarding as dragons and this sphinx has been around before Equestria was founded. Can you imagine how much stuff is in its lair?" Matt stopped as his brain did the mental maths and melted when its internal calculator ran out of big enough numbers. "Once you've cleared the vision of dollar signs out of your head, I suggest we acquire some rapid transportation," said Aria, "Doubtlessly those dogs will be after us." Matt shrugged "Those guys? I doubt they have enough brain power to light a bulb. I think we're s....no....nononono...NOT gonna say it." he said, stopping and covering his ears before going 'Lalala...can't hear myself'. Daring just stared puzzled “Is he ok?" she asked concerned. "He's...been out in the sun too long. His brain is cooked," said Rainbow Dash. Aria said "You have no idea...I've read his last psyche report. Now, shall we review this map?" "Oh, right," said Daring Doo. She took the map out from under her hat. She was about to unroll it when she paused. "Wait...how do I know you guys aren't trying to trick me into taking you to the treasure so you can have it all to yourselves?" Aria said "Mr Lynch may be a mercenary but the CPS prides itself on the honor of its employees and the policy of ruthlessly hunting down those who betray that trust." "I don't know, I've been backstabbed by traitors before," said Daring Doo. Rainbow Dash nodded "Like in Daring doo and the griffons goble-mmmph." she said before Aria slammed her hand around Rainbows muzzle. "Miss Dash has also been in the sun too long too." she said with a worried smile. Daring gave the group an even more suspicious look. "What are you two anyways?" she asked, looking at Matt and Aria. "Mr Lynch is a human...he is from.....overseas. I am also human and definately not a combat grade android." said Aria a little desperately. "A human?" asked Daring, "I've never heard of those before." "I can safely exclaim that if I told you all the facts you would either think I was insane...or you were." said Aria with complete truth before looking at the map. "Well, you got me out of there, so I guess I owe you," said Daring, "But I've got my eye on you." Aria said "Take it from me...we're professionals..." before looking at where Matt had a manic look, expecting his precious tempting of fate to come back on him any second “...despite appearences." she added after some thought. She turned her attention back to the map. "Hmm...it seems we will need to cross a considerable expanse of desert." Aria peered before noticing several circles marked "Sandworms? Really?" she said skeptically. What is this? Arrakis?" she added. "They're pretty nasty," said Daring, "They're either big enough to swallow you in a gulp or smaller but can shoot burning acid." "Oh...goody...I presume thats why the map maker plotted the dotted line through the middle of that area." said Aria a little sarcastically. "Big deal, we can fly over them," said Rainbow Dash. "You and Dash can...I cannot...and Mr Lynch cannot either." said Aria pointedly. "Besides, the supplies will be too heavy to let us fly that fast," said Daring. Dash growled in fustration to herself as Aria looked at another section of the map. "We will need extra water...you most likely stocked for yourself alone, miss doo." she said. "Yeah, and we're gonna need more food and I'll probably have to get a bigger tent," said Daring. "I will not require a space...Mr Lynch however...maybe you should buy the extra large version?" said Aria. "I'm not that big," said Matt before he whacked his head against a rafter, "Stupid miniature horse dimensions." Matt sat down a little uncomfortably. "So who's Aniba?" he asked. "The leader of the biggest jackal tribe around here," said Daring, "She's just as nasty and greedy as Ahuitzotl. She'll stop at nothing to claim the sphinx's treasure all for herself. "Ah...a smeghead." said Matt knowingly. "A what?" asked Daring. "It pretty much means jerk," said Rainbow. "Big jerk." corrected Matt. "Which means her forces will be moving in on us the longer we stay here," said Aria. Matt was looking at a newer map he’d grabbed from the hotel reception desk shortly after they’d arrived. "Bingo. There's a train that goes through the area on its way east. We can ride it till we pass the nests then jump out and go the rest of the way." he said triumphantly. "A train? Anubi's minions are bound to catch us on it," said Daring. "Yes but it is defendable...and will be too public to risk an attack. Attacking a public transport will almost certainly end with the local government taking decisive action." said Aria before turning to Matt. "Are you feeling ok? That was actualy a good idea." "What? Just because I prefer a 'blow them up' approach doesn't mean I always go with it," said Matt. Aria ignored that and added "And if they are stupid enough to attack us...they will find us very tough to subdue." … The train itself was surprisingly comfortable, travelling through the desert at a decent rate. Aria was staring out the window in thought while Dash and Daring had gone further up the train to get some food. “There is something…strange about this situation…surely you have noticed.” Aria said finally. "What?" said Matt a little sarcastically as he tried to work out what she found wierd in this situation. "I have an internal clock logged into NSC temporal speed...it has only logged a single minute change in all the time when it has been nearly a day." commented Aria. "So...this is one of those Narnia things were time moves faster in here than it does in real time," said Matt, "That's convenient." "It is probably similar to the phenomenon you encountered in the Z class you encountered in the dragon eye nebula...probably artificially induced so users do not end up losing days during programs." said Aria. "Hey, how would you know about that?" snapped Matt, "That was top-secret classified." "Exo Gene has more connections than you think," said Aria. Matt glared "When this is over...we're gonna talk about that." he said before Dash and Daring came into view. "I could get into this treasure hunting...getting halfway there by train is quite peaceful." Matt said to them cheerfully. "Don't get used to the luxury," said Aria, "We'll be walking the rest of the way once we've reached the halfway point." Matt nodded before looking out the windows. "Oh look...talk about omens. Vultures." he said darkly. "I don't like vultures that much," said Rainbow, "They really stink." Daring however headed to the window and peered out. "Great...this isn’t good." she muttered. "What's so bad about a bunch of vultures?" asked Matt. "All the vultures here work for Anibu." said Daring in a worried voice, looking at where the vultures were keeping pace with the train as best they could. "So, they're just vultures," said Matt, "It's not like they're eagles." "They're probably following us to see when we get off." said Daring before what looked like a snake slammed against the window...a juvenile sandworm. "At least they won’t land." said Matt weakly as the sandworm slipped back down, leaving a translucent green goo on the window. "But they will swoop in once we're off the train," said Aria. "I think they're already doing that." said Matt nervously, pointing to where a trio had broken off and were heading for the train. "We can take those mangy buzzards," said Rainbow Dash. On cue a small rock came smashing through the window, its thrower peeling off with a caw. "That's going to make things a little more difficult," said Matt. "I think this is close enough for us to get off." commented Aria, readying her arm cannon and firing a few bursts. Matt pulled out his blaster and took a few half hearted shots as another wing of vultures flew at the train. "Are we far enough away from the sandworm nest?" asked Matt. Aria glared "If we stay here, these birdbrains will derail us. All it will take is one hit on the ponies pulling the train." she said, firing another shot that sent a vulture spinning to the ground. "Seriously, they haven't discovered steam power yet?" said Matt. Another rock shot through, hitting aria between the eyes and knocking her down. "Ok, fair point," said Matt, "Rainbow, Daring, get ready to fly." "What about you?" said Daring in concern. Aria, getting up with a dent on her forehead commented "He'll be out shortly. I...know a spell that will help." "Spell, what do you mean 'spell'?" asked Matt, giving her a suspicious look. "Trust me, sir." said Aria as the two pegasi flew out. Matt turned to look out a window. "Ok...this had better..." he began before Aria clonked him on the head and, as he fell over, grabbed his wrist computer "This is for your own good," said Aria as she interacted with the wrist comp. "Reality generator disengaged..." said the computer's voice. "Warning...subject unconscious...encoding imminent." chimed the wrist computer as Matt began to stir. Matt shook his head and asked, "What just-" "Encoding commencing," said the computer. Matt glared as reality energy crackled "I hate you so much." he managed... Aria shielded her eyes for a few seconds before looking at the glaring new pegasus. "Welcome back, ‘Spark’." she said. "I REALLY hate you, you.....tin can." said Matt angrily, once again stuck as the pegasus, Spark. "Hate later, fly now." said Aria primly, grabbing Matt and throwing him out the window. Matt panicked a bit before remembering how to operate his own wings. He started flapping them in time to keep him from crashing. After a minute he managed to get the other two in sight, looking down to see the vultures too focused on Aria's weapon fire from the train to notice the pegasi flying away. "Ok, this should be simple," said Matt, "Just catch up with the others. It's not like it's a race in a dangerous environment." After a minute he had managed to get close enough to call out "Hey...slow the hell down in front." Daring looked at Matt with amazement. "Matt, how did-" "Talk later," said Rainbow, "We need to keep moving." "Lets just go before they realize Aria's alone in the train. She'll catch us up." said Matt, panting from effort, adding to himself "She doesn’t need to sleep for a start." "Ok, we need to make up for lost time," said Daring Do, "Keep an eye out for any more vultures." Matt and Dash nodded before keeping pace. "If we get out of this, I'm gonna dismantle Aria permently." said Matt annoyed. Some time later, the three pegasi stopped for a rest. "You think we should go back for Aria?" asked Rainbow Dash. "I'm sure she'll be fine," said Daring. As if to prove her words, Aria came walking over the rise of a nearby dune. However, she was covered in sandworm goo that they could smell from their distance. "If I EVER see another sandworm again." she was muttering darkly before coming towards them. "I HATE this pla...country." "Consider it karma for that little 'spell'," said Matt smugly. "Bada do tisama, Matt." swore Aria, angrily in splitter. "Let's get back to the treasure hunt," said Daring before looking at the map. Matt, Dash and Aria walked over to look at the map. "So where too from worm town?" commented Matt. "Well, it says the temple should be here," said Daring, pointing to a spot on the map. "Great...and from the looks of things, we've lost these vultures." said Matt, confidently "Still, it'll take a while for us to get there since we have to slow down for Aria," said Daring. Aria said "I'm faster then I look. I don;t tire for a start." Daring glared at Aria "What the hell are you? You know...never mind. We should move at first light. The last thing we want is Anibu catching up." ... Meanwhile, the vultures were flying their way back to where their masters waited for them. They could see the tent pitched between two dunes. They glided down and landed at the entrance. The two jackels on guard glared at the group before letting them in. There were two more jackal guards inside, each standing beside a pile of cushions on which sat Anibu. Although she was slimmer, shorter, and wearing comfortable Arabian-styled clothes instead of armor like her guards, there was a definitive air of power around her. "Well? Where is it?" said Aniba coldly. The vultures looked nervously at each other before pushing one of them forward. "Er...we ambushed the train like you said as it was passing the sandworm dunes...but..." he began nervously. "You have returned in failure?!" snapped Anibu. "The two newcomers had advanced weapons. Three of our flock were lost attempting to attack them before they escaped." said the vulture desperately. "I will brook no failure," snapped Anibu, "That treasure is more valuable than all your carcasses put together. A hundred times more valuable. I will not let that winged mare get it to it before me." One of the vultures dropped Matts blaster, disgarded when Aria had gotten him encoded "Her companions used these." he said. Anibu gave the blaster a long look. "What sort of weapon is this?" she asked to herself. "It shoots fireballs of some kind." said the vulture, pointing to one of their number who had a neat half circle burnt from his tail feathers. "Interesting," said Anibu, "Does this companion have more of these devices?" "Her arm was one...we had her cornered when she blew out the wall behind her and jumped out. She must be a mage where she comes from." said the vulture. Their leader said "We want double...you said this pegasus doesn’t use weapons or use hired warriors." Anibu glared at them and said, "You're lucky I don't have you beheaded right now. Your failure has cost me precious time and my time is worth more than any of you." "Hey...what about our payment?" said the vulture leader angrily, as anibu looked at the blaster before working out how to grip it. "You are allowed to leave with your lives now. Don't be greedy," said Anibu. "How dare you..." began the vulture leader before anibu blasted him out the tent. "I think I like this device...are the rest of you still here?" she said, amused, before snarling the last part at the horrified vultures. The vultures quickly turned tail and ran out of the tent, taking to the air as fast as they could. Anibu put the blaster on the small table next to her seat and turned to one of her jackels. "Send out the scouts. They will not have gotten far." she ordered. … Meanwhile, Darius had found out that the facility wasn't quite as defenseless as they had thought. His men were busy clearing out the various machines that were attacking...even atlantean medi-bots from the facilities sickbay were joining in. His temper wasn’t helped by the fact that he knew he was on a clock...no doubt the ponies that had fled were getting help. Still, he had managed to get far enough. There was still quite a bit of base to cover, but he was able to see a very interesting map of this world. "This place musta been an administrative hub...or flight control or something." said the tech next to him. "These red dots must be destroyed facilities...dunno about this yellow one here...but two of these other dots are marked with the rune for 'vault'." "I should make a copy of this," said Darius, "It'll be simpler than coming back here every time I need a refresher." "Already done, sir..." said the tech. Darius nodded before his radio crackled "Sir...we spotted the last two runners...its that purple smeg that wasted echo." ... Meanwhile, Applejack and Twilight had found out that the lockdown wasn't as secure as they though, seeing how they were running away from Darius' men right now. The computer calmly stated "Alert...unauthorized energy weapon fire detected." as blue stun bolts bounced off the walls behind the duo, a hatch opening to allow a four armed machine to roll out on caterpillar treads to distract them. The two ponies ducked into a side room. "You know, I'm startin' to not like this place," said Applejack, "I don't mind the runnin', it's all the doors that are rubbin' me up the wrong way." Several lights came on in the darkened room, showing rows of raised platforms along the walls...and rather creepily, one of them still 'occupied'. The two ponies stared at the clearly human skeleton slumped down before Twilight said, "Um, maybe we should find another place to hide." A voice outside said "Hey...I thought I heard something in here." Another saying "Check the rooms...stay together...that purple one wiped out echo in under 2 minutes." The computer spoke up "Powering up neuro-training systems...preparing previous program...Magi series stasis training." "Trainin'? What kinda trainin'?" asked Applejack. "I think it's talking about magic training," said Twilight. "Uh, I don't think ya'll want to learn any magic from these guys," said Applejack, "It probably ain't the good kind." Banging was heard on the door, a voice saying angrily "They're in here...damn computers grav locked it. Get a sonic cutter." before a white dot appeared on the door and began to move down it. "I don't think we have a choice," said Twilight before saying, "Computer, begin magi training, maximum learning speed." She looked at Applejack and asked, "Does that sound right?" "One compatible subject detected...please step onto the platform." said the computer, another platform lighting up and what looked like binoculars attached to a robotic arm lowered down. "You sure you wanna do this?" asked Applejack. "If I don't, those guys will get us and I don't want to imagine what they'll do with us," said Twilight before stepping onto the platform. "Indigenous lifeform detected. Rescinding clearance in light of ragnarok class attack. Please stand by." said the computer, several mechanical arms reaching out and carefully but firmly holding twilight in place before the goggles moved forward. "Please note...discomfort will occur." said the computer calmly as a whine began "Beginning in 3...2...1...engaging..." The next Twilight knew, it was like she was being hit by a lightning bolt, about 20 times, at the same time. Her body twitched and shuddered as all her hair stood on end. Applejack could only watch as Twilight juddered in place, lights flickering on the goggles covering her eyes before she finally slumped down as it finished. "Program complete." said the computer calmly. Applejack ran over immediately. "Twilight, are you okay? Twilight?" she called. "Urrrgh...I feel like I;ve been holding the moon up." groaned Twilight before a cracking noise got their attention. The door was giving way to whatever Darius's men were using. "Well, I hope your legs are workin', cause we're gonna be usin' them real soon," said Applejack. The door gave way at that and two troopers ran in, rifles raised. "Freeze." yelled one of them. Applejack would have applied her two back hooves to their abdomens, but she knew those rifles would hit long before she could lift them up. Twilight however glared before her horn blazed and there was a flash of light. Applejack was braced for the imminent response when she noticed the troopers weren’t moving. She walked up to one and poked him with her hoof. Nothing happened, even when she bucked him hard in the chest. It was like kicking a granite statue. "Twilight, what did ya'll hit them with? They're they've just loss a starin' contest with a cockatrice," said Applejack. "I...I don’t know. I think I..." began Twilight before the computer butted in. "Temporal stasis magi weapon test complete successfully." "Temporal? You mean I froze them in time?" asked Twilight. "ConfIrmed. Designed for mass riot suppression." said the computer calmly. "Wow, that'd be useful if there were another stampede in town," said Applejack, "It does wear off, right?" "Neuro training implants knowledge directly into the neural cortex." said the computer calmly before saying "Alert...intruders approaching neuro-training lab." "Well, Twilight, looks like you'll be tryin' out that new spell of yours a lot more," said Applejack. "VD program 58% complete. Danger...external object corruption detected..." said the computer before saying "Alert: Unauthorized download in administration block." "What does all that mean?" asked Applejack. "I don't know, but it sounds serious," said Twilight. "Alert: Contact with Atlantis secondary ‘Ark’ command confirmed. Initiation of countermeasures authorized. Countermeasures will engage in 10 units." said the computer calmly, all the light crystals turning red. "Ok, now I'm really lost," said Applejack. "Arming implosion charges 1-9. Countermeasures will engage in 9.9 units." said the computer, gravely. ... After a brief rest and a long journey through the night, the small team of archeologists/treasure hunters found themselves facing the sphinx's temple as dawn was cresting over the horizon. Matt whistled at the sight, impressed. "Miss sphinx sure knew how to live it up." he said, looking at the large temple, the remains of a ghost town surrounding it. "The hard stuff's not over yet," said Daring Do, "According to my research, this sphinx was a bit on the paranoid side." "Oh, goody. Traps, monsters, undead. As if I don’t get enough of this in my dayjob." muttered Matt to himself, darkly. "And I don't think we should subtract the jackals confronting us from the equation," said Aria. "Oh...thanks for that reminder, Aria. Nothing but a ray of sunshine." said Matt, sarcastically as the group walked down towards the town. Rainbow was looking at the buildings. "People lived near a sphinx?" she said out loud. "Just because the sphinx was overly-suspicious doesn't mean she didn't look out for other people," said Daring, "A lot of people felt safe near her temple so they built up a town around it." Matt looked at one of the buildings, that looked like a wrecking ball had smashed through it...and then burnt it. "And I'm guessing some other people would have just wanted to loot this town in spite of the sphinx," he said. Daring doo nodded "Yeah...young dragons would love to try and raid sphinx hoards if they had the chance too." she said. "But no one's been here for centuries," said Rainbow, "The town's been picked clean long ago and only we know the secret entrance to the sphinx's lair." Daring looked at the ruined hut. "Some young dragons tend to have tantrums...especially if they don’t find what they wanted." she said, worried. "I suggest we reserve our concern for the jackals," said Aria, "They're more likely to be an imminent threat." Daring nodded "Yeah...the dragon that did this probably left months ago." she said a little more confidently. Suddenly, Rainbow paused and said, "I think I'm getting that 'been-here-before' feeling again." "Deja vu," said Aria. "Geseundheit," said Rainbow. "Like what...a dragon round the corner?" said Matt jokingly before noticing the terrified stares on rainbows and darings faces and Aria's amused look. "Its behind me, isn’t it." he said dully before a deep voice said "Oh good...breakfast in bed." Matt glanced over his shoulder at the large yellow dragon that had been lying in the ruined remains of the hut and was now right over him. "Pardon me for shouting any obvious cliche, but...RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" yelled Matt. The group ran for it as the dragon roared and took off, circling and waiting for a good chance to swoop in for his 'lunch'. "Why couldn't it have been another sandworm?" griped Matt. "Believe me, this is a welcome change," said Aria. A blast of flame shot down, blowing a empty hut apart on the side of the street. "Really? This is better?" glared Matt, galloping for his life. Daring skidded round a corner and saw salvation in the form of the temple doors...the heavy temple doors with the pony sized open hatchway. "Guys, through here," she called. "Please tell me you have the secret key or something," said Matt. Daring reached under her hat and pulled out what looked like a ankh amulet. "Of course." she said, smugly, before pushing the amulet into a indentation in the gates frame. There was a slight rumble before the hatchway opened a crack. The dragon was heard roaring overhead as it spotted their intent. "Everyone in the creepy temple." gibbered Matt, flying through the hatchway. The others quickly followed. "Wait, if we leave the amulet in-" started Daring. "It's not like the dragon can use this door, CLOSE IT!" snapped Matt. Daring took one look at the amulet before following the others inside...just in time as the angry dragon landed and tried to reach through. Matt grinned “Nyer nyer. Can’t get us." he taunted cheerfully before a blast of flame singed his mane. "The cropped look suits you, sir," said Aria mockingly. Matt gulped as the dragon peered in before rolling its eye and taking off again. "I prefer avalarians." he said weakly. Since going back out through the door wasn't an option, the group moved inward, deeper into the temple. Daring and Dash looked around for possible windows they could use for exits, but they didn't spot any. "Hey...we’ll get out of here." said Matt, spotting their worry. Hell, he was already feeling confined...stupid pegasus instincts. "The sphinx would have had more than one point of entry or egress," said Aria, "It shouldn't be difficult to locate a useable one when the time comes." "Good...I wonder how close Aniberk is?" commented Matt. ... The jackals had not wasted their time. They had gone through the night and had arrived at the ruins just as the sun had cleared the horizon. The dragon could be seen circling the temple before giving up apparently and flying towards the nearby mountains. "Is it safe to go?" asked one of the jackals. "That flying lizard could return," said another. Anibu looked as the dragon flew out of sight. "We'll be fine. The dragon should not worry you...I should if you fail." she said darkly. The jackals then headed over to the temple. "You have to admit, they did an excellent job in building this place," said one of the jackals, "The sands and winds have barely damaged it after all these years." "Earth ponies probably...or a zebra tribe. I don’t care. If daring beat us here, we'll have enough trouble getting..." began Anibu before seeing the open hatchway and finishing in shock "...in?" "Daring must be here already," said one of the jackal guards. Anibu smirked "And she kindly left the door open for us." "And maybe she'll spring all the traps for us too," said another jackal. ... Meanwhile, Aria and the pegasi were progressing further into the temple, keeping an eye out for any trap. "Ok...so...what kinda traps can we expect?" said Matt, trotting ahead, a pendulum axe swinging past him as he went. "Oh, the usual kind," said Daring, "Spikes, pits, darts." Matt turned, a spike shooting up just in front of him as he turned "I haven’t seen anything." he said, turning back just after the spike had retracted. "Is he always this lucky?" muttered Daring to Aria as Matt trotted on, oblivious to the fact he was walking through a death trap. Aria shrugged "Usually...you should read his files if you think this is impressive." "I'm rapidly losing a bet with myself over him," said Rainbow Dash. "A bet over what?" asked Matt, turning his head just in time to avoid some darts hitting it. Aria burst out laughing at that "Ten credits says he makes it to the end without noticing." she said amused. Matt vanished a second later as the walls of the section he was passing sandwiched together...before retracting to show they had missed him. "What the hell was that crash?" he called. "Probably the sound of my expectations being smashed," said Rainbow a little numbly. "Oh please...why are you guys being so cautious? All the traps musta rusted up." he said, turning and almost getting a terminal haircut when a spinning blade shot over his head and sliced through a pillar. "Nnnngfh...maybe....not." he said in a weak voice. "Finally! I thought he was going to ignore all the traps," said Rainbow Dash. "Spinny...steely...death." said Matt in a distant voice, Aria finally resorting to picking him up and carrying him, his pose not altering statue style. "We can't be far from the treasure chamber now," said Daring. "Good...I think Mr Lynch needs time in the prescience of calming materials...like large amounts of currency." said Aria in a matter-of-fact voice before looking at the others "He’s a mercenary...what do you expect?" Not long after that, the group came to a huge bronze door, though time has made it green. The door had carvings depicting a sphinx sitting on a pillar. Dragons decorated the bottom of the door, with heads jutting forward and mouths wide open. "Hmm...It seems that showing off is a aspect not limited to mercenaries." said Aria, leaning the petrified with terror Matt against a wall. "I've heard about this door," said Daring Do, "It's the sphinx's last line of defense. The only way to open it is by answer its riddle correctly." Aria looked at the door skeptically. "A talking door? This I have to see." she said amused, leaning against the wall next to Matt who was finally moving again. The eyes of the carved sphinx suddenly glowed red as a deep feminine voice boomed out; “No matter where you go, No matter what you do, You will always need me, And I will be there for you." Matt looked over at Dash and Daring, Dash shrugging. Clearly the riddle had been changed as well. "Erm...sister?" he tried cautiously. The dragon heads at the bottom of the door let out a snarling sound as their mouths started glowing a familiar red. "Uh oh," said Matt, before the dragon heads each shot out a fireball at him. Dash and Daring were impressed at how Matt managed to do what looked like a tapdance to avoid the rapid fire fireballs before the voice said a little sarcastically "Wrong." Matt glared "Really? I'd never have guessed." he said, shakily. "Hmm...you will always need me..." muttered Daring, looking thoughtful. Daring opened her mouth to speak when Matt butted in "A partner? " he said before shrieking as another burst of fireballs shot at him. After narrowly avoiding the fireballs, Matt spoke up again, "A big gun?" Another wave of fireballs was shot towards him. "If you cannot think of a sensible answer, don't speak," said the voice, angrily. "Bite me, you sorry excuse for a catflap." returned Matt, angrily before sniffing "Does anyone smell smoke?" Rainbow nodded, pointing to Matts tail where a little pilot light was visible. "Ah...that....ARRRRRGH!" said Matt, pleasantly before shrieking and running off. Rainbow turned to Aria and asked, "Do you have any idea what the answer is?" "Oh, I think I could guess, but it's more fun to watch Matt do the fire dance," said Aria. There was a distant splash, followed by a hissing noise before Matt trotted back into view with as much dignity as he had left (which wasn't much). "Ok, you girls answer the stupid riddle now," snapped Matt. Seeing Matt wasn't going to interrupt now, Daring finally spoke up, "Air!" There was a long pause before the door slowly started to creak open. "You have got to be kidding." said Matt, dully, following them in. "Don’t even say a word, Rainbow Dash." he said as he passed the smirking cyan Pegasus. The hallway within was very dark, but they could see a light at the end of it. "We're almost there," said Daring Do. "We better be," said Matt. Matt followed the others before stopping. Despite appearances of being a gung ho psycho who's response to a problem could be measured in megatons, he liked a good book and it occurred to him that they were getting to a good point for the villain to suddenly pop up and spoil things. He continued on, keeping an eye out for any sign of the jackals appearing. After a minute though, he rolled his eyes and trotted to keep up. "It wouldn’t be that cliche.” he muttered to himself. Then the group walked into a huge chamber, one that had a skylight shining above illuminating the room. The entire chamber was filled up with treasure, mainly gold coins covering the floor. There were plenty of jewels and pieces of jewelry. Not to mention a few chests and some ancient-looking artifacts. And at the back was a huge ovoid marble statue that bespeckled with rubies and topazes. Matt just stared, the mercenaries internal calculator attempting to work out the value of a 1/4 share of the treasure and failing due to not finding a large enough number. "Its...beautiful." he said in awe. Aria would have pointed out that Matt couldn't take any of it with them when they left this 'story', but she doubted he would even hear her. Rainbow looked around and said, "He better not get comfortable. The bad guys are gonna be here soon." Daring, not noting the certainty in dash's voice nodded "Yeah...Anibu is probably right on our tails." before a plasma burst shot into the room and impacted Aria in the back, knocking her into a pile of jewels. Daring and Rainbow spun around to see the jackals coming through the doorway, Anibu holding the smoking plasma gun. "Many thanks for finding the treasure for us," said Anibu, "We'll take it from here." Matt glared "HEY...THATS MY BLASTER!" he yelled angrily. "Finders keepers is the law of the desert," said Anibu. "If I had fingers right now, I’d be giving you the middle one." said Matt darkly before slowly trotting over to join Daring and dash. "Good, now, don't do anything rash. We'll need as many workhorses as we can get to haul all this treasure out," said Anibu. "I find that insulting." said Matt, sulkily. "Do I seem like the kind that cares?" asked Anibu. Another jackel ran in at that "Anibu...the dragon...its coming back. We spotted it on the horizon." he said out of breath. "Well, that certainly is problematic," said Anibu, "I guess we'll have to use these ponies to divert the dragon's attention now." The ponies looked at each other at that "Erm...who'd haul the treasure then?" said Matt, nervously. "Well, I suppose we could get some more diamond dogs to take it all out, though it'll take longer," said Anibu. "I hate you, you...dog." sad Matt, darkly. "Dog? Dog?!" snapped Anibu, "How dare you compare me with those dirt-shoveling mongrels! I am a jackal, a far-higher breed of canine with a distinguished lineage. To even think of me being anywhere close to be related to those curs is...is..." Apparently Anibu couldn't think of any proper words to express her outrage and settled for shooting at Matt. Matt yelped and dodged the plasma burst by sheer luck. "Tie their wings and take them outside." she said annoyed. "What about the other one?" asked a jackal, indicating Aria's still form. "Leave her...I doubt she's any trouble now." said Anibu dismissively, gesturing to the fatal looking scorch mark. The three pegasi would have put up a fight, there were way too many jackals to deal with. In less time than they would have like, they found themselves with their wings bound and being carried off. "Does this happen often?" asked Matt to daring. "You'd be surprised," said Daring. Matt stared before saying with absolute truth "I know exactly how you feel." before the jackel carrying him snarled "Stop talking." Matt glared at the jackal before saying, "I'm sure we'll get out of this. Me and Dash have some friends waiting for us. I hope they aren't kept waiting too much longer." … Another two mercs froze in a flash of light s Twilight used her new spell again before knocking a third trooper over with a blast of red energy "There's too many of them," said Twilight, "I can't freeze them all if they come at me at once." "Let's hide in here," said Applejack, pointing at a door, "That seems a safe enough place." The room inside looked to be some kind of storage room, rows and rows of identical crystals stacked carefully. However, while the other rooms had all shown some form of decay or damage, this one had no damage at all, looking almost brand new. "What kind of fancy gems are these supposed to be?" asked Applejack as she looked at the shelves. All the crystals had a marking on them, applejack noticed as she peered before double-taking on one, sure she’d seen movement inside it. "I bet these crystals are enchanted somehow," said Twilight, "If I could only figure out how to use them." "Unless they show us how to get out of here, get rid of those guys, or bring Matt, Aria, and Rainbow Dash back, I don't think we have time for that," said Applejack. Twilight however had trotted round a corner to where a crystal was mounted on a plinth of some kind, a holoscreen coming from it. The view was already resetting, a line of runes obviously the title of the recording being shown before flickering to a large room where three tables had been set up around a central one. Four humans that were clearly guards standing to attention as a container was brought in. "Oh my, what's this?" asked Twilight. The container was opened and two people pulled three recognizable objects to the two. "Wait a minute, I've seen those things before," said Twilight, "It was in 'Lost Legends of Lost Treasures'." Applejack looked as the artifacts were placed on the three plinths before the people placing them ran to get out the way. "Whut are they?" she asked, getting a bad feeling about how they were starting to glow red. "According to legend, each of those three artifacts had the ultimate power of each of three races of ponies," said Twilight. “They belonged to the three tribes before Equestria was founded.” "Hey...that helmet looks a bit like the prop rainbow wore at the hearts warmin pagent." said Applejack, now noticing the helmet properly before the three artifacts fired beams into the center and the screen whited out before resetting. "So these Atlanteans must have known where the artifacts were," said Twilight, "You think they're still here?" "All class 12 artifacts were evacuated to backup facilities to await evacuation. Evacuation is overdue by 42,426 solar orbits." said the computer, calmly "Then this place has something that knows where those artifacts are," said Applejack, "We better find that before them thugs do." "Scans indicate backup facility 12 and 24 are still active...all other facilities were destroyed internally or via orbital bombardment. Alert...countermeasures will engage in 4 units." said thee computer calmly, a mini version of the map planet appearing, two of the white dots highlighted. "Twilight, you think you can remember those spots?" asked Applejack. "File was downloaded to ranking personnel mobile storage device." said the computer calmly, footage of the group when they first came in appearing, a circle around matts wrist computer. "Ah, that's great," said Twilight, "Now we just need to find out where Matt and the others had gone." "Program is still in effect...warning...emergency shutdown inoperative." said the computer. The footage showing the accident flickered again, this time showing something different. The viewer had been knocked down, smoke visible before a familiar yellow and red eye peered at the camera before resetting again. "Now why does that ring a bell?" asked Applejack. "I'm not sure, but it seems familiar," said Twilight. "Ah just hope we don;t meet him. That eye didn't look a mite friendly." said Applejack, in a worried tone. A voice sounded "Ok...this thing working? Good...ok, guys...something bigs coming from that city nearby...we are bugging out. I repeat...get the fuck outta here." "Alert, unauthorized use of intercom system," came the female voice. "Dammit...ok, everyone out. Now, dammit, now." said the other voice, clearly a merc. "Whew, looks they're all leavin'," said Applejack. "Hostile units have evacuated. Commencing shutdown of countermeasures...stand by." said the computer calmly, causing the two ponies to breathe a sigh of relief. "Great, now all we have to do is wait for Matt, Aria, and Rainbow Dash to come back," said Twilight. "Danger...shutdown failure. Countermeasures will activate in 3.4 units. All personnel evacuate immediately." said the computer urgently. "Uh, what was that?" asked Applejack. "I think it's what Matt would call a 'computer bug'," said Twilight, "But I've never seen any insects like that." "Main charges now primed...detonation in 3 units." said the computer gravely. ... There are times when a person thinks 'Where did my life go arse end up?' For Matt, it was now, after he, Daring and Dash had been pushed out into the open for a ravenous dragon. There was a small mercy that the jackals weren't the 'gloating as you die' type, since they'd rather not end up as the dragon's second course. "So...anyone got a plan?" asked Matt, innocently. "I'm working on it," said Daring. Matt looked up as a shadow passed over them "Daring? Think faster." he said, agitated. "Wait, my magnifying glass," said Daring, "If I can get out of my pocket, I can use it with the sun's rays to burn through the ropes and get us free." Matt looked up "Someone has to run distraction..." he said before seeing the others looking at me. "Fine." he said dully before trotting out into the main street. "Free lunch...come and get it.” he called. The dragon spotted Matt and flew down to enjoy his first helping of pegasus. At that instant, every survival instinct in Matt, both human and equine, seemed to be going off at once. After a few microseconds, Matts body came to the consensus that his brain was currently dead weight and turned him to make with all speed for the nearest intact building. Matt ran up to the door and banged on it, yelling, "Let me in, let me in!" He pauses and said, "Oh, wait, this house is abandoned." He then opened the door and quickly went inside. Matt slammed it and breathed a sigh of relief. "Ah....that was easy." he said relieved before there was a granite ripping noise and the entire roof was torn off. Matt looked up to see the dragon looking down at him. "Er, I think I need to find another house," said Matt before quickly going back out the door. It was just in time as the dragon breathed straight down into the house. "Why me? Its not like dragons usually hate me...one of my best friends a dragon.” he yelled as the dragon gave chase. Apparently this dragon wasn't much of a conversationalist as he just shot another fireball at Matt. "Asshole." retorted Matt angrily before realizing he had slowed down too much. The dragon took advantage of this to aim a slash that caused Matt to stumble when he tried to dodge. Matt rolled across the sand for a while before hitting a wall. He got up again, a bit shaky, and quickly headed to an alley between two buildings just before the dragon landed there. This time he didn’t hang around to gloat, given how the dragon had made short work of the hut earlier. It was good too as the dragon began ripping the alley up to try and catch him. "Get back here..." the dragon snarled angrily. ... While the jackals had the sense not to gloat, there were still a few who wanted to watch the dragons tear the ponies apart. "Ten bits says he lasts another few minutes." said one of the jackals in an amused tone as Matt was seen running screaming across streets, the dragon demolishing the area behind him. "Twenty bits says that dragon will end up smashing all of those old huts down before its done," said another. Another of the jackels came up. "What are you idiots doing? The fourth ones vanished. Anibu says to be careful...she could be anywhere." she said angrily. "I think a hairless ape would stand out pretty clearly," said the first jackal. "Really. She could be right behind you and you wouldn’t know it." said the new jackal, only for the others to turn their backs on her. "I wonder where those other two ponies are," said one jackal. "Maybe the dragon already- Wait a minute, didn't Anibu chase out the last female three months ago?" said another. They turned to the jackal and one of them was blasted out into the street by the jackals new plasma cannon arm before the other was grabbed and lifted up. The remaining jackal whimpered as the fake jackal shimmered and changed to be the ape from earlier, the hole in her chest sparking. "Normally, I would have just knocked you out with a loose brick, but this was a brand new robot body," said Aria. The jackal whimpered before Aria said coldly "Goodbye." before she threw him out across the street and into a hut. A roar got her attention and she turned to see the dragon. "Work, work work." she muttered to herself before striding in the direction of the dragon. Matt was rapidly running out of hiding places to use, seeing how the dragon kept smashing everything in its path to get to him. It didn’t help that he was having to avoid an entire block of possible covers to make sure the dragon didn’t find the others. "Sucksucksuck." he gibbered to himself before groaning out loud as the dragon tossed some masonry to block the next alley before landing behind him. "Right...you...really made me...work for my...meal." he panted, growling. "Well, I think it's important to getting plenty of exercise before eating," said Matt. "Then I think I've earnt this." said the dragon, reaching out to grab Matt before a white orb of plasma slammed into his side. Matt turned to look at Aria. "I knew you couldn't be kept down for long," he said cheerfully. "Oh, shut up and get moving." yelled Aria as the dragon got back up, barely singed from the blast only to be knocked on his tail again by another blast. "I'd be going a lot faster, but I still have this stupid rope around my wings," said Matt. Aria glared and fired another blast at Matt, it skimming over the ropes. Ignoring his horrified gaze, she said "Well? Get moving." Matt flapped his wings a bit, mainly to make sure they were still there. After that, he quickly took to the air. He looked over his shoulder to see the dragon now fully focused on Aria before he turned to fly down to where he left the others. Matt landed near the building and called, "Rainbow? Daring? Have you got those smegging ropes off yet?" He looked in to see Daring pulling the ropes off Dash. "Ah...good...Aria's keeping the dragon busy...and I'm in a really bad mood now...so lets go trample Anibu into a greasy smear.” he said, furiously. "But she still has that weapon," said Rainbow. "How did she get it anyways?" asked Daring. "She dared nick a CPS mercenaries weapon...I'M GONNA INSERT IT DOWN HER THROAT AND TAPDANCE ON HER SPLEEN!" sad Matt, starting to shout as a little internal dam of frustration gave way. The duo watched as Matt snapped and ran in the direction of the temple, screaming wordless angry defiance. "Uh, is he always this on edge?" asked Daring. "You should see him when he's like this in his normal form," said Rainbow. "Huh, and people say I run into danger without second thoughts," said Rainbow and Daring at the same time. They looked at each other before Daring said, "I better make sure he doesn't damage any artifacts." The two ran forward, noting a dazed jackal in a hut, luckily too dazed to be bothered about or even notice a pegasus...except for the fact that he was in matt's path. One buck later and he was out cold again as the others went by. ... Anibu wasn't quite as happy with her treasure as she thought she would be. Mainly because it seemed less secure now. "How can a clearly dead ape get up, walk away, and take out my two guards?" she snapped. "I don’t know, matriarch. We didn’t know she was up till she was hitting hako." said the guard, rubbing a bruise on his face. "Don't call me that!" snapped Anibu, "It makes me sound old." The ground shook, a rumbling heard from outside "And what the hell was that?" yelled Anibu furiously before a sound was heard getting closer. It sounded like someone screaming "SMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEG!" "What the-" started the guard before a grey and black blur suddenly shot through the doorway and knocked him flying. Anibu stepped back to watch with amusement as the blur, one of the pegasi went to town on her best guards, clearly so marinated in fury that he wasn’t even noticing the hits he was taking. "Wait, if he's here, then where's the dragon?" asked Anibu. "He's got a bigger problem, anibu." said the voice of Daring as she and Dash came in, both parties giving the ballistic Matt room to vent on the luckless jackel guards. "You're very difficult to dispose of," said Anibu, clearly irked. "Its take a little more then a dragon to deal with us." said Dash a little cockily, both sides wincing as one of the guards landed with the thump and was dragged struggling back into the melee by Matt who exclaimed "Don’t start what you can’t FINISH!" "I see that once again I have to take care of business myself," said Anibu before pointing the blaster at them. She aimed before being shocked at the ballistic scream of "MINE!" and Matt tackled her, trying to pull the gun out her grasp with his teeth "Get off me you walking piece of glue!" snapped Anibu as she hit Matt. "Not till you give me back my blaster, you sorry excuse for a b-movie villain." yelled Matt, before she kicked him across the room. "I'll give it to you alright," said Anibu before firing at Matt. Matt was sent flying into one of the treasure piles with a crash. "Ok...being shot sucks." he muttered. "Not so tough now, are you?" sneered Anibu before suddenly some of her remaining guards came in. "Ma'am, I think we have a problem," said one. "That dragon's acting peculiar," said another. "What?" said Anibu angrily. ... Aria staggered as the dragon tried to fry her again before returning fire to no effect. "Right...enough of this...STOP IT!" she said to herself before yelling the last part at the dragon. "Why should I?" growled the dragon. Aria muttered to herself "Daring'll be pissed...but its better then being dead." before saying out loud "Because we're both being played for fools...while you've been chasing me and my associates, a jackal warband has been looting the temple dry." "What?!" roared the dragon, "I've been waiting to get inside there for 300 years! I will not let anyone, let alone a pack of filthy jackals, get that treasure except me!" Aria held up a hand "Allow me." she commented before aiming at the doors. ... Inside the temple, everyone was knocked to the floor as a boom shook the room. "What was that?" demanded Anibu. "I think the dragon may be trying to get in," said a jackal. "Sounds like its already in." said Matt. "That's impossible. If it had been able to get in, none of this treasure would be here," said Anibu. Anibu snarled before resuming blasting at Matt. Matt yelped and dived for cover before Anibu noticed that Daring and Dash were rushing her, too late to avoid being knocked over and the blaster being sent sliding away. "I've been looking too long for this treasure!" snapped Anibu, "I won't be denied!" One of the other jackals grabbed the blaster only for a metal hand to grab him by the scruff of the head and lift him into the top of the doorframe at speed. Aria, part of her robotic bodies covering gone from scorch's came in shortly after, stopping briefly to retrieve the blaster. "Miss Anibu..." she said coldly. Anibu stared at Aria with shock. "What kind of monstrosity is that?" she asked. "I'm the person you shot. I've only had this a few days." said Aria, casually, ignoring Darings and Dashes horrified stares as she walked forward. "St-stay back, you freak!" shouted Anibu. Aria just smirked before she was nose to nose with the terrified jackel. "Make me...I'll even give you a free shot." Anibu quickly tried to punch Aria in the face. Of course, the clang of metal being hit and the pained look in Anibu's face made it clear that it didn't work at all. Aria smirked and grabbed Anibu's wrist as she tried another punch. "Now then...what to do with you...if this was the NSC, we'd be perfectly at leisure to kill you." said Aria, conversationally before looking over at Daring and Dash. "Ladies...any suggestions?" Just then, there was a loud roaring. "Uh, I think she might have to wait," said Rainbow. Aria looked over with a bored expression as the vault door was smashed down by the dragon from outside. "Ah, I was wondering where he went." she said. Unlike Matt, the dragon wasn't able to walk around all the traps, thus resulting in his hide being covered with scratches, scorches, and darts. It also reflected in his killing gaze "Where is that jackel who played me for a fool?" he snarled. Aria turned to look at Anibu with a cold smile. "Whoa, whoa," said Rainbow, "You're not thinking what I think you're thinking, are you?" "That would be going way too far," said Daring. "Yeah, she might be a smeghead, but she doesn't deserve that," said Matt, "Well, maybe she does, but that doesn't make it ok." Aria looked at them "Miss Anibu here was willing to do the exact same to us less then 10 minutes ago." she said conversationally, before looking at Anibu who was trying to pull her wrist free. "I'd stop that if I was you..." The dragon though was glaring "Thats the jackal?" he growled. Just then, Rainbow jumped up and said, "Forget her, you're about to get a big hoof of Rainbow." She then flew at the dragon at high speed. However, just before she could hit, the dragon swatted her away, making her shoot back and hit against the large elliptical statue in the back. She slowly slid off the statue's front and fell onto the floor. "Hmm...good reaction time, I;ll give him that." said Matt to himself before trotting over "You ok, there?" "I'll be fine, as soon as the rooms get back together," said Rainbow Dash, her eyes spinning in her sockets. Just then, a cracking sound was heard. They looked up to see the statue rapidly cracking all over and shaking. Matt looked as it cracked "Hmm...you know...I'm sure I saw this in a movie a little like this." he said conversationally before noticing how the cracks didn’t stop at the statue and kept spreading out. Suddenly, the statue shattered into several dozen pieces. However, it soon became very clear that wasn't a statue. Mainly because right in the center of where it stood was what looked like a lion cub with fledgling bird wings. "Hmm...crap." said Matt, as evenly as he could. The dragon looked at the sphinx cub and snorted. "Is this supposed to be some kind of joke?" he said. The sphinx cub stared up at the dragon before suddenly a pair of beams shot from its eyes and into the dragon's. The group watched as the dragon seemed to shrink, while the sphinx got bigger until a surprised looking dragon hatchling fell to the floor. Matt gulped, not really wanting to look behind him to where he just knew a angry, fully grown sphinx was almost certainly sitting. "Wow, I didn't see that coming," said Daring. "I did." said Matt weakly "Something like this always happens." The sphinx glared, looking around "Right...who are you...who dares to barge into my home..." he said, looking briefly at the demolished vault door "...and breaking half of it?" The ponies quickly pointed at Anibu and said, "She did it." The sphinx turned to see Anibu now desperately trying to run while Aria held her in place, resulting in her simply running on the spot. Aria grinned "I like this idea more." she commented, pushing Anibu in front of the sphinx. The sphinx glared down at Anibu and said, "For this sacrilege, I should tear you limb from limb. However, since I have just been reborn, I am feeling merciful. Therefore, you and your tribe shall work until this temple and the town around it are restored." Anibu, despite everything snarled "I will not do such menial..." she began before yelping when the sphinx pinned her in place with a single paw. "I'm sorry?" he said in a pleasant voice. "Er, we shall begin reconstruction immediately," said Anibu. Aria nodded "Good dog." she commented, finally letting go. "So, I guess this treasure won't be going to a museum then," said Daring. The sphinx turned to look at Daring "This is my treasure. There are things here too dangerous to leave," "Well, now that you're back, there's no need for them to be removed," said Daring, "They're perfectly safe here." The sphinx nodded "I presume I can trust you not to reveal this place." he said, sweeping his gaze over the group. "No problem about that," said Rainbow. "As good as forgotten," said Aria. "Like anyone would ever believe me if I did tell," said Matt. The sphinx nodded, apparently satisfied "Don’t worry about the jackel...when she has completed her task, she won’t remember a thing." "I don't know, I bet she'd make a good guard dog," said Matt. Anibu glared "How dare you?" she snarled, running at Matt only for Aria to grab her and toss her into a wall. "What? She shot me...I should at least get to be even." she said, at the groups annoyed glares. "Well, it looks like this adventure's just about wrapped up," said Daring, "Now I just need to head on back to Mareoco." Matt sighed "We still got more?" he muttered before a crackling noise was heard from the side of the room. "Nope, I think our train's just pulled in," said Rainbow. Matt and Aria turned to see a glowing arch appearing before shimmering to show the room from the facility, though Matt noted with worry that it seemed to be lit by emergency lighting. "Well, I guess we'll be going now," said Matt, "Goodbye folks, I'll remember you all in therapy." Daring looked confused before saying “Who are you people?” "Let's just say I'm your biggest fan," said Dash before going through. Daring just watched as the archway shrunk back down before vanishing. "Ok...noponies gonna believe this." she said, before the sphinx said sagely "You'd be surprised." ... Dash landed neatly, the portal closing again and was immediately greeted by the computer saying gravely "Alert...countermeasures will engage in 1 unit." Just then, Twilight and Applejack ran in. "Guys, you won't believe what we've-" started Twilight before noticing Rainbow had sand in her fur, Aria's skin was half burned off, and Matt was Spark again. "What happened to you?" she asked. "Don’t ask...what happened here?" said Matt, annoyed, adding "And please tell me the computer didn’t say 'countermeasures'...cause if it did...we should start running...about now." "I think it said something about needing you to turn it off," said Twilight, "But I'm not sure." Matt was already in the corridor looking both ways, saying "A unit is one minute...RUN AWAY!" "Oh..." said Twilight and Applejack at the same time before the group started running. "45 microns to countermeasure." said the computer calmly, a faint humming now auditable. "RUN AWAY FASTER!" yelled Matt. The group ran as fast as they could, running out into the pit to see that Darius’s men had, ina fit of pettiness, cut the grapple line. "Uh, Aria, does that robot body have super strength in all the limbs?" asked Matt. Aria nodded, grabbing Twilight and Applejack. "I'm very sorry for this." she commented before throwing them up the shaft. "How's she's gonna get out?" asked Dash. "No problem, she can jump like a flea, right?" asked Matt. A second later there was a whomph from the pit and the ground around it seemed to lift up a few inches before sinking down several feet. A few seconds later, Aria climbed out of the pit, looking even more disheveled and severely disgruntled. "'She can jump like a flea, we don't have to carry her'," she grumbled mockingly, "Stupid winged horses." "...and that, kiddies is why atlantean facilities are dangerous." said Matt, a little sarcastically before the sight of a dozen or so armoured pegasi came into view, being led by Celestia. "Oh boy...here comes the boss." muttered Matt. Celestia looked around before spotting Twilight. "Ah, my favorite pupil," said Celestia, "Do you know what has been happening here?" Matt slowly slipped backwards, looking for anywhere he could run to, envisioning a free trip to the dungeon of his choice if the days events came out. "Well...it's all very complicated," said Twilight, "I'm not sure if I can explain it all." Celestia nodded before spotting Matt. "Ah...Spark." she said in a friendly voice, causing Matt to yelp. "Uh, Princess Celestia," said Matt, "It's a honor to actually meet you in person for the first time." Celestia smiled before saying in a quieter voice, "I know who you actually are, Matt. Fluttershy told me about you in her friendship report." Matt gave an annoyed look and thought, 'Never trust a woman, even if she's a horse.' "Thats nice." said Matt, his grin a little forced before calming down enough to add. "Its nothing to worry about...some kinda VR machine the ancients left behind." he said, quietly. "Then why would those other humans be after it?" asked Celestia. "What?" said Matt, puzzled. "Yeah, those guys who came here before were all over the place," said Applejack, "Don't know what they were lookin' for." "Dammit...must have been when the place powered up." said Matt, scolding himself. One of the guards looked at Celestia. "Princess? Whats he talking about?" "It's nothing for you to worry about," said Celestia, "Please go make sure the area's secure and I think the construction ponies can start working again." The guards nodded before taking off to get some pegasus-eye views. Matt sighed "Ok...places like what that...was. Its priceless to the NSC...to any of the Nullspace factions. Hell, almost all the stuff I use is reverse engineered from tech that was dug up. They probably didn’t know or care if I was there. They just wanted to strip the place to the bones." he said, looking at the hole. "You think he was after the room with all those crystal recordings?" asked Twilight. Matt turned at that "What? You saw some Memory Crystals?” he said before sighing and continuing “I doubt it. All the tech woulda been in the computers...what, did you see something?" he asked. "I'm pretty sure it was a recording about the three Prima Artifacts," said Twilight. Matt stopped "Wait...what?" he said, confused. Celestia also looked puzzled "What did you see, Twilight?" "Well, it looked like the Atlanteans were using the headpieces that the ancient tribe leaders wore," said Twilight. Matt said "If the atlanteans were playing with them...thats probably not a good thing." "Then it's probably for the best that this place was destroyed," said Celestia. Matt nodded "Yeah...you're probably right. Darius can keep whatever he got...fat lot of good it'll do him." he said, before saying in a tired voice "Now...I'm gonna head back...and reset my wrist computer....again." ... Meanwhile, Darius was in the Icarus' lab, looking over what they had managed to take from the Atlantean facility. "Whatever this is...its extremely conductive. We've ran enough charge through it to melt a hole in the hull and its sucked it all up." said a tech, looking at the readout in front of him. Darius looked at the item in question, which looked like nothing more than a chunk of metal. "How malleable is it?" he asked. "Its the same stuff as that armor we recovered several weeks ago." said the tech, adding "If its the same stuff, we can’t do shit to it." "Then what good is it?" asked Darius before poking it. However, the metal responded by sending a shock that caused Darius to fly across the lab. "I'm fine, a little tingly, but fine," said Darius. The tech nodded and headed back to the intercom to cancel the alert...as a result he failed to see Darius's eyes glow for a second. Editors note: Sorry it took so long to update but I have had real life issues...I'll try to update more regularly from now on.