Lieutenant Shield looks at the Dragon then to Twilight with a neutral expression. "Yes, Equestria has an Army. How else do you think we've managed to remain independent of another nation such as the Griffon Empire?"
"Umm, the power of Friendship?" Spike says slowly causing Shield to give a tight lip smile.
"Friendship doesn't solve all of our problems little dragon" She looks at Twilight who still has a shocked look "Anything else?"
"No.. that's all" Twilight says slowly
"Very well Princess" Shield says before bowing and returning to the escort.
"Geez Twi. That Shield sure doesn't rub me the right way" Spike says when the Lieutenant was further away.
"Right you are little fella" Tombs says his cheerfulness gone "She's colder than ice that one"
Shaking her head Twilight responds "She's just doing her job... I just want to know why I've never heard of the Legion before. And I can't remember any wars"
"Well. That's because Celestia keeps a tight lip on those things. Most ponies wouldn't know how to react to that kind of information" Tombs says with a shrug.
"I guess that makes sense" Twilight says slowly digesting the information she currently has "Anyways Professor. You found something about a city of Steel?"
Tombs brightens instantly "Oh yes your Highness. But it's not as much of a city. But several massive structures. From what we understand so far, they were built well before the founding of Equestria and they seem to have been frozen by ice before they were excavated" he says excitedly
"Amazing.... Is it some lost civilization?" Twilight says in awe already imagining all that she may learn. Suddenly her expression falls "Why was Sombra exacting them though?"
"We don't know" Tomb sighs all he begins walking to the command tent "That's why we are being so careful and why we haven't been allowed to open up any of the buildings as of yet. Whatever it was. It could be dangerous" He finishes with a sour tone.
"Any Ideas?" Spike asks before Twilight can raise her voice. Causing her to scowl but remain silent.
"Most of us think it's for knowledge. The metal used is unlike anything we've seen. Not even he Minotaur Smiths can make a metal like this. It's the strongest material ever encountered by pony kind"
"Wow" Spike echoes Twilights thoughts perfectly
Tomb stops at a desk and begins to shift through some photos until he fishes out a photo showing a massive rectangular building made of a dark metal which resembles steel. There's what appears to be a sealed doorway easily 15 meters tall. The building also seems to be dented in some places as well as scorched.
Twilight leans closer to the table trying to gather anything else but fails to "Why is it burnt? Was it from the original excavation?" She asks
"Hardly" The snobbish voice of Dusty says as he walks over "These marks predate Equestria your Highness. It's thanks to those marks that we know this anyways"
"Dusty here is correct with that Princess. Those Marks is where we've gotten all of our information from so far since we don't want to try and take direct samples from the buildings themselves" Tombs says
"Tombs. Come take a look at this" a mare says walking over.
Twilight looks over seeing it's Silent Charm, she has a photograph in her telekinesis. As she places it in front of Tombs, Twilight strains to look at it.
At first she sees nothing, but as she looks harder she notices a vaguely pony shape in the distance near one of the metal structures.
"What's this?" Twilight asks
"Somepony who's been stalking us since we began working here. They've been taking photos of the area. But this is the first time they've gone close to the structures. So looks like we need to bust those things open before half of the university of history shows up"
Tomb trots over to Strong Hoof "Think we can get in?"
"With that fancy new drill yes. But I have no idea what it'll do to structure" Strong Hoof says cautiously
"It's a risk I'll take" Tomb says before walking close to the entrance to the cavern below "Alright everypony! Myself, Strong, Silent, Lyra and the Princess with her Escorts will be heading down! I want all of you to Continue your job up here!" He begins to walk down the pit before he calls up "Intern you're coming to!"
With that Tomb began his descent into the cavern below. Silent and Strong soon followed the later carrying two large saddlebags.
"It'll take point princess" Shield says as she approaches Twilight
"Alright Lieutenant" She says following the unicorn mare down into the dark pit and the unknown.
After what felt like a fifteen walk into the darkness Twilight can finally see some light other than the odd illumination crystal. She quickens her pace and emerges onto the secured stairwell looking into a massive cavern of ice and stone. Light floods into the cavern from multiple massive illumination Crystals. And in the distance she can see the massive rectangular structures.
"Those are huge Twi!" Spike shouts his voice echoing "I can see them clearly from here!"
"Yea Spike. Those are big" Twilight says wide eyed in awe.
"Come one Princess! We got a good trek ahead!" Tombs shouts from lower along the staircase.
Quickly Twilight picks up her space to catch up to the main excavation team completely ignoring the multiple tunnels along the staircase.
When she finally reaches the bottom Tombs is smiling brightly at her "Pretty nifty huh? To think this place is under the Crystal Empire" he says before turning to walk on
"Oh yes. It's amazing how much work was put into excavating this place out. It seems impossible even with modern magic" Twilight says
"Yup, but it was all done over a thousand years ago"
"Mhm" Twilight says in agreement before gaining a curious look "While walking down I noticed several tunnels. Where do those lead?"
"Oh. Those lead to multiple rooms which we guess where the miners quarters. Nothing much to them though" Tomb replies
"Besides the fact that there unstable" Strong Hoof comments
"Unstable how?" Twilight asks quickly
"As in they'll collapse if you put your hoof in the wrong spot. No idea why but it's not even safe to add supports. So we stay clear"
"Oh. That's a shame. I would liked to have seen those rooms" Twilight says sadly
"We have a few pictures of the rooms before we had to make a hasty retreat" Tombs says with an amused grin.
"You don't seem to take safety seriously Professor" Lieutenant Shield says coming to stand next to Twilight looking at Tombs "I hope you take more precaution with the Princess here as well"
"Of course. It's why Strong is here after all" Tomb says with a smile "Oh! Look we are here!"
Tomb says causing Twilight to look in front of her taking in the sight of the massive structure in front of her. It's easily the biggest thing other than the Palace she has ever seen. From this close Twilight can clearly see the scorch marks which seem to have melted bits of the structure. She looks around to the other structures as the excavation team sits up some equipment.
She quickly notices that all of the buildings are identical. "Twi. Why are they all the same?" Spike asks voicing her own question.
"I don't know Spike.." She says before looking towards Tombs seeing him and Strong Hoof preparing some sort of portable drill.
Curious Twilight walks over "What's this?"
Tombs looks p from his work and smiles "The Driller nine thousand as those two inventors call it! It's a heavy duty mobile drill which can cut through anything. And we are hoping it'll cut through this here door. Otherwise this will be a short trip"
"How does it work?" Twilight asks now curious
"Well. It works by firing a quarter of an inch wide beam which is hotter than dragon fire towards whatever it's pointed at for several feet. And it's manually moved. Once we finish you'll see what I mean" Tombs says as he returns to the Machine
"Anything I can do?" She asks.
"For now. No. Sorry princess but it's almost done. And there!" He proclaims. "Alright Strong line it up and we'll start it up"
Strong Hoof nods simply and he pushes it towards the doorway. Once the tip is about an inch away Tomb flicks a switch and a whirling sound is made before a pale red beam shoots out and makes contact with the metal door making a hissing sound.
"It's working like a charm. Strong. Give it a few moments to cut through before moving it" Tomb says
The rest of the group gathers nearby watching as the machine slowly cuts into the massive door. Silent Charm is taking pictures the entire time and Twilight notices that the machine is actually cutting through the doorway.
After a few minutes of strained silence other than the whirling and hissing sound the machine stops having cut a massive rectangle about 3 meters tall and six meters wide into the doorway. The red from the extremely hot metal remains as Strong Hoof pushes the machine to the side before giving the door a quick buck sending the massive block back slightly before falling into the building.
A whoosh of air flows past her into the structure blowing her main and causing Spike to grip her mane. She closes her eyes waiting for the sensation to stop. No one makes a sound.
As soon soon as it came it ends and Tomb Tomb is the first to speak "Well. Isn't that nifty" he says loudly.
Twilight opens her eyes and looks into the pitch black that is the entrance to the structure.
"Well. Let's explore Fillies and Colts" he says before carefully walking into the structure.