//------------------------------// // XIII - As Doors are Opened // Story: Empty Horizons: Sea of Stars // by Insipidious //------------------------------// The Algol’s Shadow moved onward, following Rook further and further south, far beyond the boundaries of the known world and the “magic points” set up across the map typically used for undersea navigation. The charts the crew had of this area were spotty, inaccurate, and filled with conflicting information. Had they not been following Rook around, they would have needed to surface every now and then just to get their bearings from the sun and stars, and that attracted deepfish. They didn’t have an infinite amount of distraction torpedoes. So, while they weren’t exactly lost without their seapony navigator, they were putting a fair bit of trust into her.  The Admiral wasn’t worrying about that. If this ended up being a wild goose chase, she could always turn around. The Algol had enough air to last months, if needed, and she knew the stars well enough to find the cardinal directions in a few seconds. They weren’t anywhere close to her ship's limit. She already had something to give Silver, and that was enough for her.  If only she knew what it was.  “Okay, so, uh…” Sparkler poked the silver eye with her hair. It didn’t blink, though it did flash softly. “Yeah, I have no idea what this is, probably need Leyline to have a look at it.” Sparkler, Orange, and the Admiral were sitting in the Algol’s central map room, examining the artifact on Orange’s desk. Orange was staring, unblinking, at it. He hadn’t said a single thing since he’d started.  “Aight, so…” Sparkler tied her hair in and out of knots, nervously. “What do we know? It only does stuff to wyrds.” “As far as we know,” the Admiral reminded her, tracing the purple crack with the tip of her wing. “It might be corrupted by the wyrd for all we know.” “Yep. So… gives the wyrd a silver eye and alters their behavior.” “Still violent.” “But they have other goals… that pegasus and that dog-thing. They were fighting each other over anything else.” “I suspect that’s why the island was so strange. This eye… it was keeping it that way. Think about it, something had to keep that jungle jungle-like all these years. I wonder...” Sparkler shrugged with her hair. “Well, whatever it is, it’s an eye and it’s silver, so Silver’s gonna love it.” “That’s the plan.”  Orange spoke up, suddenly. “This is not of unicorn construction.” The Admiral raised an eyebrow. “...Oh?” “Oi, how’d ya know?” Sparkler huffed. “Most all the artifacts we encounter are unicorn-made, infused with magic through a horn. That tends to leave behind residual sparkles. I’ve seen those sparks enough times to know this isn’t part of that.” He looked Sparkler in the eye. “If I had to guess, that temple wasn’t pony either.” “What was it then?” “The ancients had ancients of their own, Sparkler. I could not even begin to fathom what society of old constructed that place.” “...Geez…” “Older than dirt,” the Admiral grunted. “Hope Silver likes it.” Sparkler shrugged. “He better. It’s basically got his name on it! And has enough power to move islands!” “It’s dangerous,” Orange said, locking it away in a box. “We should not mess with it until we return to Sanctaphrax.” “Agreed,” the Admiral said. “...Come get me if the box starts shaking. I’ll be on the bridge.” ~~~ Everyone was on the bridge when they arrived.  Rook had communicated to Granite through exaggerated pantomimes that they were almost there so everypony could get ready. The Admiral, Sparkler, Orange, and the Captain were all in their seats while Granite sat, ready to be deployed at a moment’s notice from the lower decks.  Rook swam a short ways ahead, directly in front of the Algol’s main spotlight. They had been descending to lower elevation for some time now, sticking close to the seafloor. The Admiral suspected they would have to get lower to see what Rook wanted them to see, which would require using a mini-sub.  This was not the case. The structure they came across was absolutely massive, so much so that it could easily be mistaken for a mountain; perhaps it had been carved out of one. Dark, black spires of rock rose from the seafloor, pointed at the blackness above, daring the waters to crush this bastion of earthly power. The base of the structure was dominated by a massive door. Compared to the girth of the mountain itself, this door was nothing, but it was easily large enough for sea monsters to enter.  It was also glowing a soft red. Weak, like a light that had been shining for too long… but still strong with magic.  Sparkler gawked. “That… hooooly weasels. That’s the biggest enchanted thing I’ve ever seen.” “A seal,” the Admiral observed. “That door would not be able to withstand the pressure, otherwise.” The Captain grunted. “So… any idea what this place is?” Everypony shook their heads. Even Orange, who was regularly a repository of shockingly specific information, had nothing to say in response.  “Helpful…” “Hey! Rook!” Sparkler jumped to the main observation deck and waved to the seapony. “What do you want us to do?” Rook pantomimed opening a door.  “Open it?” Rook nodded.  “Can we…” Sparkler used her magic to send her hair out in all directions, punctuating the motion with a “ker-splooshy-boom!” Rook thought about this for a moment before grinning and nodding again.  “We can blow the door open!” Sparkler cheered, running back to her station. “Oooh, let’s shoot it up!” “That’ll alert deepfish to our position,” the Captain grunted. “It’d have to be quick…” Sparkler sent out a ping, frowning. “...Can’t see through the doors. The closest deepfish is twenty minutes away. We’d have to move fast, if we’re going to do this.” Everypony turned to the Admiral.  “Load a torpedo. Let’s test this out.” The Algol pointed itself at the dark doors as the crew below calculated a firing solution. With a rush of bubbles, the weapon flew true, hitting the door directly in the middle. There was a mixed green and orange flash as the enhanced warhead exploded, decimating some of the rock around the door.  When the smoke cleared, the door was unharmed.  “...Well,” the Captain said, rubbing his eyes. “That’s a strong door.” The Admiral closed her eyes. Wait for it… “OOH! OOH!” Sparkler raised her hoof, jumping into the air. “Can we…  can we…” “Sparkler…” the Admiral warned. “Can we press The Button!?” The Admiral was about to respond in the negative, but Orange interrupted her. “This seems to be an appropriate moment to use it.” “...It is?” The Admiral cocked her head. “We aren’t in any danger, it’s just a door…” “But it is proving impervious to our standard attack. We don’t wish to expend unnecessary resources. So let us use… ‘The Button’, as you are so fond of calling it.” “YES YES YES YES YES!” Sparkler cheered, jumping around the room. “Oh can I push it? Please please please please pleeeeease?” “Sure,” the Admiral said, stifling a chuckle at Sparkler’s childish antics. “Orange, activate it.” Orange took a key out and placed it in one of the console’s receptacles. The Admiral placed her own in as well. The moment both keys were in, The Button started glowing a brilliant red.  “Are we still on target?”  “In the green,” the Captain reported.  Sparkler heard this and jumped on the button, hitting it with all four of her hooves at once.  The pointed front of the Algol popped off, revealing a cylindrical shaft that ran down the submarine’s center. A truly massive triple-pronged harpoon constructed of a pinkish metal poked out of the hole, aiming directly at the doors. The shaft began to glow with white, runic markings, creating a series of rings that ran down the harpoon’s length. The soft color of the harpoon intensified, rising to a blazing hot-pink inferno. “Let’s see if Leyline’s life’s work really holds up to expectations,” Orange said.  The Algol shook with a thunderous noise. A burst of heavenly light cascaded from the interior cylinder, focusing into a precision laser. A mechanical spring in the back of the shaft engaged, launching the harpoon forward with the light. The supposedly impervious door was struck with the force of both light and an enchanted harpoon at the same time, focusing as much damage onto one point as possible.  This weapon was designed to skewer deepfish skulls and take out ships of war—be they submarines or low-flying airships who thought the Algol was defenseless near the ocean’s surface. It was meant to end conflicts quickly, before the Algol could take heavy damage. In theory, this was useful seeing as the Algol was often far from places it could restock and repair. In practice, it had never been used because the Algol never got into firefights and it was a much better to use trusted torpedos to fool deepfish. Really, it was a mad experiment the Algol lugged around because the designers thought it would be cool to make.  In any case, this weapon was not designed to break down reinforced, enchanted doors.  But it did anyway.  The ancient doors had been holding back the ocean’s pressure for too long. Once, they could have taken a blast from the legendary Princesses and remained standing. Now, this haphazard toy cobbled together by mad scientists was all it took to bring it to ruin.  The door crumbled inward from the harpoon’s force. Everyone expected the massive pressure of the ocean to rush into the cavern on the other side, compressing the air inside considerably, but nothing happened. The door was gone, but the opening kept the water out with a soft red shimmer. Some kind of magic field... Rook swam up to the door and waved for them to follow her. She poked her hoof through the barrier, showing them that it would let solid objects through. It reminded the Admiral of the occasional preservation spell they ran across while on certain dives, though significantly stronger. None of those would have remained standing after the doors were bashed down.  “Retract the main harpoon,” the Admiral ordered. “Granite, prepare Trinity for an outing, we’re going in. Take Rook’s tank with you.” “I’m coming too!” Sparkler chirped. “No, I need you here.” The Admiral put a hoof on her shoulder. “I know you’re excited, but that will have drawn deepfish, and I need you to keep the Algol safe while the ruin is explored, no matter what happens. We don’t want to chance the radio going out.” Sparkler was clearly disappointed, but she saluted nonetheless. “Yes, Admiral.” “Good. Granite can handle it.”  “You sure…?” “Yes, I’m sure.” “Issue retracting the main harpoon,” Orange reported. “The chain’s jammed. We’re going to have to load it manually.”  The Admiral sighed in annoyance. Unreliable hunk of junk. The chain’s the simplest part of the entire thing! “Send a team…” “Right away.” “Setting off, now!” Granite’s voice called through the radio. “It’s me and some of the boys again. I wish I could take Wiffle along.” “He’s recovering,” the Admiral reminded him. “You’ll be able to show him whatever you get. Now… make your way to the door. Slowly.” The Admiral watched as the Trinity approached the door, connected to the Algol by the usual air hose. She saw it set down at the door itself, gingerly poking the magic barrier.  “I think we can make it in. Going slow…” The Trinity all but scooted along the seafloor, passing through the barrier. There was a soft thunk as it passed to the other side, falling the inch to the ground. The Admiral couldn’t see much from her vantage point, but that was what the radio was for.  “A lot of cages,” Granite reported. “Most of them filled with bones. And there’s a three-headed skeleton sitting here outside a cage. Cheese and crackers, that’s a big dog.” What is it with this trip and big dogs? “Is it safe to enter further?” “The structure itself seems steady. Getting Rook in her tank and then we’re off.” There was some commotion as they unloaded the tank, pushed it through the barrier, and then pulled it back through with Rook in it. The Admiral was relieved the radio still worked as they went deeper into the structure.  “More cages, more cages, more… woah. This thing’s still alive.” “What?”  “It looks like some kind of sea serpent? It’s looking at me out of a giant lake.” The Admiral gawked—a sea serpent!? “Get out of there!”  “It’s not corrupted! Not even like Rook, it’s just… not. Real eyes and everything. Rook’s currently waving her hooves at it excitedly.” The Admiral leaned back in her chair. “An uncorrupted sea serpent…” “This place was sealed,” Orange suggested. “The corruption never got in.” Nodding, the Admiral accepted this explanation, though she prepared to throw it out at a moment’s notice. “It’s leaving now,” Granite said. “Jumped out of the lake and is slithering your way. I don’t think it’s dangerous, but be on guard anyway.” The Admiral nodded to the Captain, who armed a torpedo—but didn’t fire. The sea serpent arrived at the barrier in a panic, flopping like a fish out of water, which it might well have been. It poked its head through the barrier and took in a massive breath of water before comically glancing to the left and right with fearful eyes. It looked at the Algol for a solid ten seconds before bolting into the dark waters above.  “Rook’s directing us upward, now. And… woah! There’s mountains in the mountains! And… unless I’m crazy, that’s rivers of lava below.”  “Go ahead and ascend,” the Admiral said. “Careful, do not fall into the lava.” “Roger roger,” Granite said. “I’m seeing a lot more cages with bones in them, and some with fancy restraints. Some kind of monster zoo?” “Or a prison,” the Captain said. “How many legends do we have of monsters sealed away in ancient times? Maybe they’re true.” “Man this is a steep incline…” Granite said nothing as his team pushed Rook’s tank along, nothing but grunts reaching the Admiral’s ears. “We made it! And Rook’s pointing at… oh, well, that’s alive.” The Admiral was about to say something, but she thought she heard a distant voice on the feed.  “Admiral, you’re not going to believe this, but it’s talking. It—he—wants to talk to you.” “Who is… ‘he’?”  The Admiral heard the voice on the other end this time. “I am Lord Tirek.”