East Everfree Forest
“We’ll put her down here,” Kara intoned as she and Sunset as her co-pilot, landed the Gauntlet on the small space of land in the middle of the forest not far from the temple. Thanks to R5’s memory storage on navigation coordinates, they had managed to find their way closest to Arkuntal temple without any difficulty. However, Sunset was unfamiliar with the surrounding environment, having found the temple on her own before. “Are you sure this is the right place ?” Sunset voiced out her harboring doubts to Kara. “ I’m very sure this is the right place.” Kara continued, “R5 has one of the best and precise memory banks I know of. Now let's go get your friends.” Kara said as she headed for the cockpit, followed by the astromech droid. R5 stopped for a moment and responded with a crude joke at Sunset over how her master trusts a droid more in binary. “Very funny, R5,” Sunset responded in a sarcastic and unimpressed manner as she followed the droid and Kara to the common area. Back behind in the Common area, her friends were by the couch, with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy engaging in the holographic chess game known as dejarik.Sunset had briefly shown them earlier the basic rules of this new game and the playing technique . Rainbow struggled to keep her defense against an offensive Fluttershy in the game, before eventually losing to her. Twilight Sparkle and Rarity who were seated beside Fluttershy gave their timid friend a pat in the back and repeatedly congratulated her for her triumph. Rainbow Dash, in her defeat, fell back against the couch and moaned in frustration for losing. It was rarely her style to lose.
“How is it that I am losing to you even in space chess ?” She moaned in frustration over her loss. “Come on, Rainbow Dash, be a good sportsman and stop yapping about it.” Applejack said in response to her wailing. “You still played very well, Dashie.” [1] Fluttershy said, feeling sorry for her friend. Just as Rainbow Dash got over her defeat, Kara, R5 and Sunset came from the cockpit. “We’re here.” Said Kara to the girls as she proceeded towards the boarding doors and opened it. The girls got up from their seats and followed Sunset to the boarding doors. Kara pulled a lever beside the doors which opened them, revealing the forest outside as the ramp extended downwards, which they used to walk to the ground below, however sans R5 who stayed back in the ship. “Stay with the ship R5, and keep an eye on the scanners in case we have any unwanted visitors.” Kara told R5, to which the droid beeped in the affirmative before disappearing from sight in the ship. “You guys can wait back in the ship with R5 if you want.” Sunset said to her friends, very much hoping that they would take up the offer. “ I don’t think so sister,” Pinkie Pie shot down her suggestion instantly. There was no convincing the girls of otherwise and Sunset had finally given up on doing so. “ This is the way to the temple,” Kara said as she pointed in the direction ahead as she led the way forward. “I hope this isn’t gonna be a long walk. My feet aren’t exactly built for tracking.” Rarity lamented mildly as the sight of the ship slowly disappeared behind them, replaced with bushes and tall imposing trees, covering the moonlight that brightened up the night sky.
“ The forest was certainly no place for a fashionista,” Rarity again rumbled furiously to herself as almost tripped on an overgrown tree root, much to the irritation of the others who had to tolerate her constant grumblings. As the girls continued trekking through the forest to this supposed temple, Twilight could not help but wonder how Sunset Shimmer had found this place in the first place given that she had been there before. “Judging from our geographical position and given how secluded this temple is, how did you find it in the first place?” She asked curiously. “Well it's a bit complicated but the Force kinda led to this temple the first time.” Sunset answered, leaving out the vision she had in the mall. It's probably for the best that they don’t know that it came from a nightmare in which she ruthlessly slaughtered everyone they knew of. “Uhh, you mean to say that this ‘mystical’ Force guided you to this place ?” Rainbow Dash asked in an incredulous manner. Despite having seen magic at its work with her own two eyes, she found it a bit hard to believe that a mystical energy had guided her friend to some place in the middle of the wods. “More or less,” Sunset said in a middling manner. “ I didn’t know the Force could do that,” Fluttershy further added. “Among a great many other things.” Kara said to Fluttershy as she continued leading with a flashlight to light the path forward. As they followed Kara’s lead, Sunset felt some kind of pull from the Force, as if a magnet nearby that attracted Force Sensitives. It was a feeling she had felt before, the call. Kara turned towards her, and from her expression, she knew that her master had felt the same call she did. “Can you feel it ?” She continued, “We’re close by.” “I can feel it too.” Sunset answered. “Uhh, we’re a bit lost here. Care to explain what’s happening ?” Applejack called out to Kara and Sunset, seeking some clarity on this feeling of theirs. Kara’s answer was short and simple as she pointed ahead, “We’re here.” Right ahead lay the large ancient temple, its facade covered with overgrown vine as before with the moonlight shining directly at it, giving it an almost mystical appearance for a naked eye.
The girls gasped in awe at the sight of the magnificent ancient structure that was in front of them, with 2 statues of large masked figures facing each other in opposite directions. “This is it, “ Sunset continued, “The ancient Temple of Arkuntal.” It took a couple of moments for the open mouthed expressions that came from the rest to subside as they slowly comprehended the large primordial temple in front of their eyes. “This temple looks extremely ancient, even older than the structures we’ve learned of in history class.” Twilight said, somewhat fascinated and curious over the structural appearance of the temple. “You can say that again,” Kara concurred with her as she continued, “This Jedi temple is much older than you could ever imagine.” “Could you be a little more specific please ?” Rarity further asked about the exact age of this large temple. “ About twenty five thousand years, give or take.” Kara causally answered her, much to the astonished faces of Rarity and the others, sans Sunset. “That’s even older than the entirety of our known history.” Twilight exclaimed mildly, apparently mind blown by this revelation that this structure had been here even prior to any civilisation they had learnt of. “ If the Jedi Order built this temple, how is it that there are no records of it at all ?”Sunset asked Kara. Kara turned her attention back to her padawan, “ I suppose it has been forgotten in time.” She intoned.
“That still doesn't explain why they built one out here in the first place?” Asked Applejack. “I guess we’ll soon find out.” Sunset said as she took a step forward and headed to the entrance which she remembered from her last, unpleasant encounter. “ And how are we going to do that since there’s no entrance to enter?” Fluttershy asked in a slightly louder voice.. “You see that doorway over there, ?” Sunset pointed out ahead to what appeared to be a door that was covered with vine, “ I just have to place my hand on it, focus a bit and it will open up.” Sunset took a step forward before she was stopped by Kara, who had placed her hand on her shoulders, “Not this time,” She said, much to her confusion. “This time we must open it together, as master and apprentice.” Kara further added. The last time she was here, Sunset managed to unlock the temple entrance by placing her hand onto the markings of a hand within a circle that had smaller lines branching out of it, connecting the other similar styled paintings on the door. Kara’s latest revelation was confusing to say the least, especially since she had opened it before even knowing about the Force. “But the last time I opened it myself. Why not now ?” Sunset asked, unconvinced of Kara’s reasoning. Kara’s expression remained indifferent to the question posed to her before used her boots to the dirt covered ground below, revealing to everyone else a granite-made walkway to which there were two much larger circles, not far apart from one another in which both Kara and Sunset were coincidently standing in the middle of it. These two large circles were of similar shape and design to the ones crafted on the sealed entrance, with two straight lines that extended out of the circle, running parallel to each other before merging as one line that led straight towards the sealed entrance, disappearing right at its doorstep.
Sunset’s eyes were fixed at the outlines with disbelief that laid beneath her feet, with both she and her master standing, beside one another as if it was coincidence, but it was no coincidence, the two Jedi were standing in the middle of two circles on the ground in front of an ancient temple, she just knew it, and Kara did too. Kara saw the disbelief and incredulous look on her padawan’s face before she explained the meaning of it, “Last time, the Temple sought you, it allowed you to enter . This time, you’re seeking it for knowledge instead, so you must enter it though the proper way, which is by opening it as master and apprentice.” Sunset had wanted to ask what Kara had meant by allowed, did the temple have a conscience of its own ? She could tell her friends were having the same questions on the back of their minds. However she decided against pursuing that question for now and to just go along with her master.
Both Kara and Sunset Shimmer stood their ground and gave the best concentration they could as they reached out to the Force, more particularly the temple. For a moment, nothing happened. Then out of nowhere, the ground below them started trembling, as if it was an earthquake. “What’s happening ?” Fluttershy asked, visibly freaked out by the ground tremors as Sunset and Kara kept to their concentration. It didn’t take long for the girls to realize that it wasn’t the ground that was shaking but merely amplifying vibrations that were coming from the Temple ! It seemed that this was the doing of Sunset and Kara. Just then, the sealed doorway ahead of them started to slowly open up, revealing the pitch darkness within. The ground vibrations soon stopped as the doorway opened fully. Sunset opened her eyes and to her delight, it was open. She turned to face her master, who had somewhat of a smirk appearing on her face with a bit of smug. “Told you it would take the two of us to open it.” She remarked. “ You don’t see that happening everyday around here,” Applejack intoned in a perplexed manner, something that was shared by the others but more so for her. Amongst them, Applejack is the most level headed and always tried to sense in even the peculiar situations. But nothing compared to what she had just seen, even with all the Equestrian Magic mayhem she witnessed the past year. “What do we do now ?” Pinkie Pie asked.
“Simple,” Sunset continued, “We head in.”
The all girl team wasted no time in entering the ancient structure, with Kara lighting the way forward in the pitch darkness inside with her flashlight. They kept heading deeper and deeper, until the doorway they came in was nothing but a little dot of light in a sea of darkness. The bright light emitted from Kara’s flash light was strong enough to brighten up the path for the girls. It seemed like an endless void, but Sunset knew that they would soon be coming up to the labyrinth with four pathways as she did before. Judging from how long they’ve been walking, it was just a matter of time before they stumbled upon it. As they continued walking, the ancient writings and symbols of the wall caught Rarity’s prying eyes. She tried to make out the wordings but the symbols were nothing she had ever seen or even heard of before. “ There are some kinds of writings inscripted on the walls but I’m not quite sure what they mean,” Rarity called out to the others. Kara shinned her flashlight to the direction Rarity pointed out, revealing even more peculiar and ancient symbols, as if it was a part of some kind old writing style. “Whoa, what are they ?” Rainbow Dash asked. “They appear to be some kind of hieroglyphics but definitely not ones that I know of,” Twilight said after she closely studied the writing style and symbols, in an attempt to identify the language inscripted. “Kara, do you know what kind of writing style this is ?” Sunset asked her master, hoping that she might know the answer.
Kara took a closer look upon the type of characters used that seemed familiar to her. She had learned about this language before, a long time ago and it was one that could only be found in older temples such as this place. “I do. It’s the ancient Jedi Language,” She continued, “ I learned about them when I was a youngling. This language has not been used for more than a millennium.” “So it’s that old huh ?” Pinkie Pie intoned back in an indifferent manner. “Can you try to read it ?” Sunset further queried. “ I can try but my translation will be rusty,” Kara replied before she started to decipher the writings on the wall. “Better than nothing, I guess.” Rainbow Dash said as Kara took a closer look on the characters used in the inscriptions in an attempt to interpret its meaning. Her grasp of the language was below average at best, taking into account that she had learnt about it briefly twenty years ago. The use of the language was so rare and forgotten that it was only used in the oldest of Jedi rituals and texts. Even the most senior members of the Order had not used the language or were fluent in it, Deciphering an extinct language was no easy job but Kara managed to do it, “ These writings tell us of the founding of this temple ages ago, by seven Jedi Knights during the early expansionist period in which their ship was unexpectedly sucked into a wormhole which brought them to this planet,” Kara continued her translation, at least what she had managed to translate, “They were fascinated by the strong connection of this world had to the Force and built this temple to study this unusual connection.” The names of the travellers were also inscripted but Kara found it almost impossible to translate their names. It was either she couldn’t identify the characters, the hard pronunciations or even both.
“What happened to them ? Fluttershy meekly asked, referring to the founders of the temple. “The writings don’t say but I guess they must've returned back to known space or...” Kara trailed off not knowing how to put it to them in a less darker way. “Or what?” Rainbow Dash called on her. “ Or they might have very well died here, since hyperspace technology at the time would not have permitted them to leave.” Kara resigned to saying it bluntly instead. A chill silence engulfed the others and Sunset could’ve sworn that Fluttershy’s skin had turned white upon hearing the last part of Kara’s sentence. “I think we should keep on moving,” She intoned to the rest of them, reminding them of the current objective at hand to which Kara nodded in response, agreeing with her. The team continued to walk down the dark corridor, this time with less talking since the others particularly Fluttershy was visibly unhinged over Kara’s theory that the founders of Arkuntal temple might’ve been buried in its walls. The longer they kept walking, the more hieroglyphic writings they found on the walls. The four pathway labyrinth was nowhere in sight and Sunset was beginning to worry that they might have taken a wrong path despite it being impossible since they had been walking in a straight pathway since entering. The last thing they needed was to be lost inside an ancient temple.
“Over there,” Kara pointed towards what appeared to be an opening leading out to a much larger room. The team headed straight for the door-sized opening, coming across what appeared to be a massive atrium, with moonlight illuminating it from a small opening above. The center of the atrium was surrounded by seven large primeval statues of what appeared to be bipedal people with their faces covered with a mask that concealed their faces and held some kind ancient variation of a lightsaber that was pointed below. Each of the ancient statues wore robes that covered their body from head to toe. The statues acted as pillars, holding the atrium. “Whoa,” Rainbow Dash said in awe over the massive size of the statues and the atrium as a whole. This wasn’t a common sight to see everyday. Behind the statues was a pathway which encircled the center. “Sunset darling, just to clarify, none of this is Equestrian related right ?” Rarity asked her Equestrian friend. From the looks of it, this place might even be older than the pony ruled kingdom itself. But Sunset was bothered by something else. She was sure that they must’ve taken a wrong turn or something, impossible as it may be. This atrium was much larger than the one she had; that unfortunate event in it certainly didn’t have any statues that acted as pillars. “ No it isn’t,” She answered her friend’s query before turning her attention over to Kara, “ Something’s not right. The last time I came here, I had to pass through a labyrinth, which we didn’t come across this time.” She voiced her concerns to her master.
“Sunset,” Twilight Sparkle regarded her friend steadily, “ We’ve been walking in a straight line all the way until here. There’s no way we could’ve missed this labyrinth of yours.” “But I faced it before, I’m sure of it.” Sunset defended her claim from what seemed like Twilight countering her before she turned to Kara, “ How is it possible that we didn’t come across it this time when I did the last time ?” Kara kept a calm face despite Sunset’s confusion. “These ancient temples are known to play tricks with your mind. When there’s a different problem, a different solution emerges. So my advice would be for all of us to stay close together.” Kara said to the others. Sunset, still very much confused by all of it, accepted her master’s answer. After all, as Kara said before, Just when you think you understand the Force, you find out how little you actually know. “What about the statues ? Who are they ?” Pinkie Pie pointed out to them. “They must be ancient Jedi, likely the very ones who founded this temple.” Kara responded in regard to the identity of the statues.
“What’s with the mask covering their faces ? Are they too shy or something ?” Pinkie further queried, not fully convinced of Kara’s response. “ These statues act as guardians of this temple, “ Kara continued, “ They have their faces concealed to symbolize their spiritual bond with the Force and emotional detachment from the physical realm.” [2] “This Jedi religion of yours is pretty complicated and heavy,” Applejack said before she realised that she may have insulted the practice. “No offense though,” She added to make sure there was no misunderstanding. “None taken,” Kara coolly responded. She knew that for most if not all beings that were not familiar with the practices of the Jedi would be perplexed and confused by its beliefs and methods. Some even fear it. “Guys, over here !” Twilight called out to the rest as she stood fixated on one of the paintings on the walls. The rest heeded her call and headed for her. On the walls were primordial paintings of what appeared to be some kind of a massive portal-like object. The gateway, which was a large triangle with two circles drawn within it. The smaller circle was drawn within the bigger one, which in turn inside the larger triangle. There were drawings of equine shaped beings entering the portal from one end and then emerging as bipedal beings on the other end. At the tip of the triangle was a straight line that ran above, connecting it to three large mystical beings; an old man, a woman with a peculiar looking owl resting on her shoulder and a much younger man with red markings on his face. These beings appeared to be god-like with all lines from other paintings leading towards them as it was all connected to them in some way. [3]
“What does this mean ? Did the Jedi know about the portal to Equestria ?” [4] Twilight pointed out at the paintings. Sunset could not offer an answer to her. She was speechless and at the same time confused at this revelation. How did the Jedi find out about the portal ? Did the Jedi know about Equestria’s existence and had made contact with them ? So many questions, yet no answers or even hints, which greatly frustrated Sunset. She wasn’t exactly the type for solving puzzles. “It’s possible but everything there is about this portal must’ve been confined to this place alone. Cause there’s no mention of a portal to another world in any of the other Jedi texts.” Kara reasoned. “Who are those guys ?” Fluttershy asked as she pointed out to the mural of the three beings. “They’re definitely not Equestrian, alright.” Said Sunset. Kara took a closer look at the painting. They seemed familiar to her but she couldn’t really identify them. “From what I can tell, they seem to be transcendent in nature but that’s all I know.” Kara continued, “This place seems to be generating more questions than answers.” “You can say that again,” Sunset retorted.
Just then, something else caught Sunset’s eye. Right beside the mural lay another painting, this one was seven geodes, each drawn inside of a circle which in turn encircled a larger circle in the middle, which had lines extending from it and connected to the other smaller circles. Although the colours had faded badly due to the open environment and age of this place, Sunset could still make out the colours of the geodes, blue, pink, orange, purple, yellow, peach and indigo, colours which she was all too familiar with. They were the same colour as the magical geodes she and her friends were gifted with. “That’s impossible,” Sunset muttered out loud as she pointed to the painting of the geodes. There was no doubt that they were the exact geodes or to be more specific, kyber crystals she and the rest were familiar with. The rest except for Kara almost instantly recognised the geode on the paintings as theirs and gasped in confusion. “It can’t be,” Applejack said in a baffled manner. “ It is exactly what you think it is, AJ.” Rainbow Dash continued, “They’re our geodes alright.” “How is that even possible ? Don't our geodes have Equestrian origins ?” Rarity said in her usual cultivated but yet unsure tone. “Not exactly,” Sunset corrected her, “ Our geodes, or mine at least, is actually an ancient Kyber Crystal. But this revelation takes things to a whole new level.” Sunset admitted. “ What’s a Kyber Crystal ?” Pinkie asked curiously. She and the rest have not heard such a term before.. “It’s a story for another time,” Kara retorted before she continued, “ It’s entirely plausible that the Jedi Knights of that time could’ve brought these geodes here when they came to this world.” “Or it’s what brought them to this world in the first place.” Twilight further added.
Kara didn’t deny it. Twilight’s theory was also possible. It was a known fact that more powerful Jedi Masters could sense even the slightest anomaly in the Force light years away and as such, it could’ve been that they may have sensed an anomaly on this world and headed out for it, only to have been sucked in by a wormhole at the coordinates the technology at that time could provide. Kara gave a closer look at the paintings, paying attention to the circles that they were centered in. The design they were arranged in wasn’t random. They were specifically designed in such a way that Kara could recognise, more or less. She turned towards the center atrium, finding the ground with eight circles arranged in a similar manner as in the painting. “ This painting seems to indicate the sitting positions for the bearers of each of the geodes.” She deduced. “ Sitting positions ? What do you mean ?’ Sunset asked her master. In response, Kara pointed towards the floor of the center atrium where Sunset and the others found the similarly positioned circles. “So are we supposed to sit there based on each of our respective geodes ?” Applejack asked. “I guess so.” Sunset replied before she turned to Kara, “Where will you be sitting ?”
“Over here,” Kara pointed towards the eighth circle on tha painting, which was located on the topmost part. “The Master’s podium.” She identified it as Sunset turned to find the circle the closest to the doorway which they had entered. “Whoa, whoa, since when did you become the master of us ?” Rainbow Dash sneered in an incredulous demeanor, unconvinced of Kara’s intention to be the master. “This is no time for petty stuff Rainbow Dash,” Sunset said in a mildly vexed tone, slightly ashamed of her best friend’s egoistic and constantly critical attitude. “Besides, she’s also the oldest and most experienced amongst us all,” Sunset further added. “Urgh.fine, whatever.” Rainbow begrudgingly retorted. Without further due, the girls headed to their respective seating positions as stated by the paintings. Kara was the first to sit at the master’s position, with Sunset being the last to take her seat, which was directly opposite facing Kara. “What happens now ?” She asked as soon as took her seat. All of them were seated in accordance with their respective geodes but nothing happened. Their surroundings remained unchanged. Kara took a deep breath before she spoke, “Right now, we meditate.” Sunset nodded back at her master, however a part of her was bummed that there wasn't any mystical energy flow from their seats that connected to the center of the atrium or spiritual awakening. “ How long will this meditating process take ?” Fluttershy asked. “As long as we need to,” Sunset answered her before she closed her eyes and started meditating. She could hear Rainbow Dash sighed in frustration in the background as she slowly drifted away into her thoughts.
She wasn’t meditating for long before she felt something pulling her from behind, it was calling to her. She opened her eyes and turned around to find a bright white light being emitted from some kind of mystical doorway that wasn’t there before it seemed like it had just appeared out of thin air. “ I see a doorway right in front of me,” Sunset intoned to the others about the doorway. At least that part of her that was bummed out earlier got what it wanted. “ I don’t see anything,” Twilight apparently rebutted her. “Neither do I,” Kara concurred with her. It seemed that from their perspective, there wasn’t any spiritual doorway whatsoever. “ But it’s right there,” Sunset pointed out to the bright doorway which was very visible from her eyes. “None of us see a doorway darling.” Rarity said back. For a moment, Sunset felt that she was hallucinating, that this Jedi stuff was causing her to slowly slip away from sanity. She then remembered what Kara had said earlier, about how these temples would play tricks with the minds of those who enter. ‘Maybe it was playing tricks on her,’ She thought to herself. Regardless, it appeared and called out to her only which meant this is her path to take alone. “Maybe this is my path alone. Something that I must do myself.” Sunset said as she pulled herself up and headed towards the bright doorway.
Kara understood the workings of the temple well enough to not stop her padawan from walking towards what seemed towards a dead end before she just vanished into thin air right at the dead end ! “What the.. ? She just disappeared, defying the laws of physics !” Twilight gasped in a disbelieved manner over what she had witnessed with her own two eyes. The others also had similar expressions on their faces. They had witnessed many strange things before but it pales in comparison to someone just vanishing into thin air, quite literally. “ Maybe she turned into dust or something.” Pinkie quipped mildly. “Like I said,'' Kara continued, “These temples are known for their trickery. All we can do is to keep our faith in her.” Kara then closed her eyes to meditate. The murmurings of the girls slowly faded away from her mind as Kara soon found herself being transported back to a similar location.
Meanwhile outside of the temple, a black carapaced probe droid with a single eye and fitted with an antenna rising from its globe-like body appeared from the thick woods, floating from the ground. Upon discovering the hidden temple, the probe droid, with the use of its antenna sent out a signal to its masters about its discovery and its location before heading inside.