The End War

by SC_Orion

Open Door, Lock Door

Twilight stifled a yawn with her forehoof. Staring up at the dark night sky above her was breathtaking. The dry, clear desert air meant that thousands more stars were clearer than even on Canterlot mountain, and without any light pollution from civilization, all of it was visible. She could even make out a few smudges of galaxies with her own eyes.

She stretched out her legs and sighed calmly, then shivered a little. Since the sun had gone down, the temperature had rapidly dropped. Even knowing to expect it didn't prepare her for it, but it was still early. The moon had barely passed the horizon and was slowly creeping into the sky, coaxed onwards by Luna's magic. She shivered again and scooted a little closer to the gently crackling fire which cast a soft glow over the camp.

Doctor Ancient Knowledge calmly walked around to her, then sat down on her haunches beside her, staring up at the pristine sky above. "It's beautiful out here, isn't it, Princess?"

Twilight nodded in agreement. "I've always loved astronomy," she replied, tilting her head to the side. She continued to look up at the sky, though her eyes glazed over as her mind drifted to memories of years gone by. A smile grew on her lips. "Looking into the vast expanse of space... it can really put things in perspective. My mentor, Princess Celestia, moves the sun, and Princess Luna moves the moon..." she trailed off, frowning. "Of course, it wasn't always that way. Before them, there were unicorns who had to move it, but before that... nopony knows. The fact that the sun and the moon have to be moved is a bit startling considering just how massive they are compared to Equis. Well, at least the sun. The moon's smaller... But you get the idea."

Ancient Knowledge nodded solemnly. "Yeah..." she trailed off. "Ever wonder how those unicorns knew to move the sun and the moon? And what would have happened if they didn't?"

Twilight shivered, but not from the cold. "There are a few different theories on both subjects. One of the theories is that something happened during the Discordian Era, that Discord did something which made it necessary to move the sun and the moon, otherwise, Equis would have been destroyed, but that theory doesn't hold up to what we know. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna predate the Discordian Era, and they've said that the sun and moon had to be moved by unicorns before then. They took over from them." She took a deep breath and shook her head. "But, either something happened to screw up how the solar system was supposed to work, or the unicorns got together and screwed up the solar system. Both ideas are pretty scary because that means that either something was powerful enough to move the sun and the moon enough to disrupt how orbital mechanics were supposed to work, or a bunch of unicorns a long time ago were able to do that."

Ancient Knowledge frowned. "But isn't that kind of the same with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna? They both move the sun and the moon, respectively."

Twilight shook her head. "Their special talents are related to that. Their special talents are actually levitation. Only a few ponies know that..." she trailed off. "But what's scary is we know nothing about what happened which necessitated the sun and the moon being moved by ponies in the first place..." she trailed off and yawned. "Well... maybe scary isn't the right word to use. I just..." she trailed off, frowning. "It's something I've never been able to understand. I can understand both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna being able to move the sun and the moon, but I can't wrap my mind around how a few powerful unicorns could do that. I moved the sun and the moon before when I had all of the alicorn magic, which makes it incredibly hard for me to understand how a bunch of unicorns could come together to do that, let alone why they would want to..."

Ancient Knowledge squinted and tilted her head in thought. "Well, maybe one day we'll figure that out," she replied. After a moment, she looked over at Twilight. "Have you asked the princesses about it?"

Twilight nodded. "They don't seem to know either. Back then, they didn't think that much about it, either." She took a deep breath, then sat up. She stretched her wings out, then lazily folded them back at her sides. She studied the sky for a moment longer, letting her eyes wander over the vast expanse of darkness, marveling at the universe. All too soon, the moment ended, broken by a long, drawn out yawn. She looked over at Doctor Knowledge and smiled sheepishly. "I think I'm going to head to bed... I'll see you in the morning."

Ancient Knowledge smiled politely and nodded. "Of course. I look forward to it. We still have so much to learn about this place..."

Twilight grimaced as she stood up. "Two days and we've barely learned anything..."

Ancient Knowledge sighed and glanced down at the dry, rocky ground beneath her hooves. "None of the doors have given us half as much trouble as that door with the broken crystal..." she muttered, shaking her head in annoyance.

Twilight frowned. "It's strange. The door almost acts like somepony sealed it. Not in the sense of using magic to enchant it to prevent it from being opened either. I checked that."

Ancient Knowledge frowned, then slowly looked up at Twilight curiously. "Maybe it was sealed?" she asked.

Twilight shrugged. "It's possible, although I don't know why it would be so different from the rest of the place. The control room's door was clearly designed for protection, so what would they have sealed behind the other door?" she asked. She shook her head and resumed slowly walking off toward her tent.

---

Daring Do idly sat atop a crate eating an apple while watching Twilight and Loose Translation work. The apple was a bit tangy, just the way she liked them. The work was going slow, which wasn't how she liked it. Working with others had the drawback that if they were slower than you, you were limited to their pace, or you were forced to leave them behind. However, there was the added benefit of more help.

That said, Daring preferred to work alone. However, she made an exception in this one case, and it was worth it. It wasn't the kind of adventure she was used to, but the fact that they knew next to nothing about the place is what sparked her interest and held it. Instead of looking for an idol or a relic, she didn't know what she was looking for, and she didn't know what it would look like when they found it.

That said, Twilight and Loose Translation didn't know what they were looking for either. Twilight sighed as she swiped a forehoof across the projection, moving the text to the right and bringing up a new projection. "It has some resemblance to Old Equish, but it's next to non-existent. I could be imagining it," Twilight commented.

Loose Translation levitated out a book from her saddlebag. She flipped the book open and flipped through the pages. She skimmed the pages and pursed her lips. "Mmm... I don't think so," she finally said, levitating the book back into her saddlebag.

Twilight smiled sheepishly. "I'm really out of my league here. Translating dead languages isn't my special talent, magic is."

Loose Translation grimaced. "Translating dead languages which haven't been spoken in thousands of years isn't my special talent either."

"Well..." Twilight trailed off. "I... guess I'll leave you to this, then. You probably have a better chance of figuring this out than I do. I'm going to go see what the Professor is up to," she said. She gave the younger mare a smile. "Is this projection good, or do you want it on another screen?" she asked.

"No, this is fine," Loose Translation answered. "I made enough notes about the other screens you've shown me that I have something to work with."

Twilight turned around and headed toward the exit. As she walked passed the crate Daring Do was perched on, the pegasus set her apple core down on the crate, then hopped off and walked beside her. Twilight gave the pegasus a warm smile. "Rainbow Dash is probably jealous that I'm out here, off on an adventure with you," she commented.

"Oh, she'd be jealous alright, up until she realized how boring this would be for her," Daring replied. Twilight giggled.

Walking out into the first major room from the control room, Twilight looked around to see three unicorns, two pegasi, and an earth pony mulling about, examining the structure. A lot of their attention was focused on the emblem of her cutie mark and the crystal set in the wall.

Twilight couldn't help but glance up at the large crystal. A shiver went down her spine. "It's a bit unnerving that not only does this place have my cutie mark in it, but it also only responds to me. Or at the very least, it responds to alicorns. And then there are those alicorn statues," she said timidly. She frowned a little as she walked on. "And then there's the fact that I wasn't born an alicorn..." she trailed off, her mind mulling over all the different possibilities it could mean.

Daring nodded leisurely. "This place seems to have some connection to alicorns. A lot of ancient pony societies had myths of alicorns, so it's not that big of a surprise, at least to me."

Twilight nodded. "Still, this place is just... strange," she commented. She looked around the next cavernous room. It was flooded with light and ponies of all kinds went about their work, studying the walls, moving tools and instruments about, and taking readings as they attempted to discover more about the structure.

They both continued along at a leisurely pace, walking through the hallways and heading towards the exit. The pink-lit crystals continued to glow and cast the walls in a soft shade. As they neared the exit, the coolness of the air started to fade, but it was still far more comfortable than the unforgiving desert air outside. Twilight felt a chill run down her spine as she stepped out into the intersection hallway. She stopped and blinked, then turned her gaze to the right. She stood there and watched the sealed door, her eyes quickly moving around and studying every detail that she could make out.

Daring continued on for a few steps, then she paused when she realized Twilight had stopped. She looked back behind her and watched Twilight for a moment. Twilight hesitantly turned to the right. Daring frowned, then turned around and walked back towards Twilight. "Hey, you coming?"

Twilight blinked and hastily looked over at Daring, then turned her gaze back to the door. She squinted, then slowly started walking toward the sealed door. "That door just... it's bothering me. Whenever I've walked past here, I just feel a burning desire to know what's behind it. It could be the key to figuring out what happened here, or maybe figuring out the language," she said calmly. She took a deep breath. "I'm going to open it," she said in a strong, determined voice. "Go get the professor, please. She'll want to be here."

Daring frowned but nodded. "Alright, I'll be right back," she replied. She turned back towards the exit and set off at a leisurely trot. "Don't get yourself into any trouble, Princess," she called.

Twilight glanced at Daring. She smiled and rolled her eyes, then she looked back at the door. She continued her slow approach to the door. The hallway was mostly empty, save for crates and equipment, which she ignored and avoided. She tilted her head and came to a stop right at the door. She lifted her forehoof and tentatively placed it on the center of the door, where it would have split to open. She studied the door, then slid her forehoof downward, feeling along the indent which served to show that the door was two pieces.

She looked over at the broken crystal beside the door. The crystal remained inert and lifeless despite their best attempts, but it wasn't surprising since it was broken. She drew her forehoof back, then waved it in front of the crystal to see if anything happened. As she expected, the crystal didn't react or respond in any way. She looked up at the shattered crystal above the door and pursed her lips.

---

"Professor?"

Ancient Knowledge looked up from the map of the ruin that they had explored so far. She blinked and glanced back down at it. She briefly looked over the map once more, taking in the explored right side of the ruin. Since they had unlocked that door on the right main hallway, they had discovered a few more small rooms with beds, of which most of them were still in pristine condition. Some samples had been sent off for analysis, while most of them remained untouched. Other than the room with the statue, not much of interest had been found. There was one room of interest, however, that had an elongated, octagonal table in the center. The entire surface of the table was one smooth crystal. Scans had failed to determine much about it, and even Twilight was stumped. The crystal had a soft teal glow to it, and it hadn't reacted to Twilight.

She pushed the curiosity aside, then smiled and looked over towards the tent opening. A dull brown earth pony stood there, patiently waiting, though his expression was strained. Ancient Knowledge hopped out of her chair and walked toward him. "Yes?" she asked.

The earth pony grimaced and shifted his weight. "The statue we found isn't handling the heat very well, Professor. The cracks are starting to widen and we've found a few more areas cracking that hadn't cracked before. The heat must be making the stone expand."

Ancient Knowledge winced and sighed. She nodded her head sadly. "I was afraid of that..." she muttered. "The stone wouldn't be used to the heat since it's been sealed away inside the ruin for thousands of years, and it's probably fragile... Our preservation spells aren't holding, either?"

The earth pony shook his head. "No. From what the unicorns say, the spells won't even take hold on it. There's something interfering, or so they say."

Doctor Knowledge grimaced. "Yet another mystery to the statue..." she muttered. She shook her head, then looked at him seriously. "Go ahead and move the statue back into the ruin, that way the heat won't get to it quite as bad. With any luck, the cooler temperature will slow down or stop the cracking."

"Right away!" the earth pony replied. He turned away and headed off.

Doctor Knowledge walked out of the tent and into the scorching sun. She took a deep breath of the hot, dry desert air, then exhaled. After only a few seconds, she could feel where the unrelenting sun was hitting her back and warming her up. She turned around and hastily walked back inside her tent, returning to the merciful shade it offered, even if the heat of the day still lingered.

She headed back to her chair, then hopped up onto it and sat down. She placed her forehooves on the table in front of her and looked over the map for a few seconds. She stared at the one door which continually barred them from further exploration. She felt anxious about opening it up. She slowly leaned in closer and intently stared at the line which represented the sealed door, and she didn't blink. 'What are you hiding..?' she wondered.

After a few seconds, she sighed and then slumped back down in her chair. She turned her gaze away from the map and levitated a manilla folder over. She opened it up and slid the contents upward without withdrawing them from the folder. It would be days before they heard anything more, possibly even weeks, and not knowing ate her up inside, leaving her jittery with energy that she had nothing to expend it on. The ruin stumped them and refused to let them make any progress. Having completely explored all that they could access still left them knowing no more than when they started off. Their only clues were the crystals, the alloy which the walls were made out of, a magic projection that only Twilight could manipulate, and the crystal lighting having taken on the color of Twilight's magic aura.

"Still salivating over that report, Doctor?" Daring asked.

Ancient Knowledge sighed and sat up straighter. She looked over at the pegasus to see her smirking. She slid the documents back into the manila folder and then set it aside. "It's just so hard to believe, isn't it, Daring?" she asked in response.

Daring shrugged. "I've seen some pretty hard to believe things in my adventures," she acknowledged. "I wouldn't say that this is unbelievable, just unique."

Ancient Knowledge nodded. "History making," she corrected. She smiled. "So what brings you here, Daring? Find anything?"

"Twilight wanted me to come and get you. She seems to have taken a rather sudden interest in that door of yours that won't open," Daring replied. She smiled sweetly. "She said she's going to try to convince that door to open for you," she said in a sweet, almost mocking voice.

Doctor Knowledge rolled her eyes, then hopped out of her chair again. "Well, in that case, let's not keep her waiting," she replied. She trotted over to the opening and Daring pulled back, then turned and flew off towards the ravine. Ancient Knowledge stepped on outside and into the relentless sun. She glanced around, then headed off towards the path which led to the bottom of the ravine. A few unicorns and earth ponies were also making their way toward the path, though their progress was slowed by the large wooden crate they carried. The wooden crate itself was unassuming, although its large size was out of place. Several ponies could have fit inside it, and the sides were reinforced with a plank going diagonally from the top left to the bottom right. An upside down label was directly above an arrow pointing at the ground. Despite their best efforts to keep the crate steady, it continually wobbled from the weight inside shifting as they moved. She frowned a little and squinted at them as it wobbled. "You better not drop that..." she muttered to herself.

Despite her concerns, she continued on and made her way down to the chasm and the entrance which it protected. She sighed in relief as soon as she stepped into the ruin's coolness and out of the harsh sunlight. Daring greeted her with a smile and then lead them forward, deeper inside. When they reached the intersection, they turned left. Twilight stood in front of the door, barely moving, and completely silent.

Daring and Knowledge quietly approached her. "Yes, Princess?" Ancient asked as they neared her.

Twilight tensed up, then jerked her head around towards the Professor. She looked bewildered for a moment, then it passed. She closed her eyes and let out a breath, then she inhaled, opened her eyes, and smiled. "Professor," she acknowledged. She turned back to the door.

"Daring said you wanted me?" Ancient Knowledge asked.

Twilight nodded and lit her horn. "Yes. I'm going to try to cut through the door."

Daring frowned and shifted her weight on her hooves. She cautiously walked around to Twilight's right side but lingered behind her. "Are you sure that's a good idea, Princess?"

Twilight grimaced and bobbed her head. She looked back at Daring Do. "Well, from what I can tell nothing bad should happen... besides, I'm sure we can handle it."

"You say that now..." Daring muttered.

Twilight frowned and squinted at the pegasus. "Hey, it's not like this place has tried to kill any of us..." she said defensively, ruffling her wings.

"Yet," Daring commented. "Ancient ruins like to make you think nothing bad is going to happen and then things go completely, terribly wrong. If there's a pedestal with an idol on it, and it looks completely unassuming, then you're guaranteed that the pedestal is going to sink into the floor and trigger a trap as soon as you take the idol," she said dryly. "I'd think you'd know that because you've read my stories."

"I'm with Twilight on this one," Ancient Knowledge commented. "We're not making much progress with anything we've found so far, and this place hasn't had any traps of any kind from what we can tell. Of course, being cautious isn't a bad thing."

Daring shot Ancient Knowledge a glare. "In my experience, things are usually sealed for a reason," she quipped.

"Alright, stand back," Twilight warned. Both Daring Do and Ancient Knowledge hastily took several steps back. Twilight calmly took a deep breath, then lowered her head so that her horn was pointed right at the center of the door. The aura around her horn glowed brighter, and a beam of brilliant magenta magic shot out of her horn.

The door met the magic head on and refused to budge. Twilight watched the door intently and scanned it with her magic as she continued the assault, attempting to figure out the best course of action. At first, the magic seemed to hit the door and do nothing, but as seconds passed, she could feel waves of heat starting to roll off of the door. She breathed calmly and focused on the singular goal of cutting through the door.

Gradually, the metal alloy around where the magic was hitting started to glow from the heat, and it started to warp under the force of her magic, then as it melted it started to flow downward, spurred on by gravity. Twilight methodically cut through the middle of the door where the two sections met. The alloy cooled quickly as it rolled away and formed into globs of alloy which were completely smooth and displayed no signs of any damage.

It took her a solid half hour, but eventually, she cut through the door, splitting it in two. Twilight hastily broke the beam, then lifted her head up. A sliver of alloy continued to connect the two sections of the door together- she didn't want to damage anything behind the door. She enveloped both sides of the door in her magic, then grunted.

The sound of twisting and groaning metal filled the air as she forced the alloy to break and split. She ripped open the door and forced the two sections apart and back into the wall, only stopping where the melted globs of metal prevented the doors from going back further. Twilight breathed heavily and stared into the pitch blackness beyond.

A shiver rolled down her spine as a wave of cold air washed over her body. Daring Do quietly walked ahead of Twilight. She hesitantly glanced down at the floor and testingly touched her hoof to the floor near where Twilight had heated up the door. The coolness was a welcomed surprise. She looked back at Ancient Knowledge. "Got a flashlight?" she asked.

The unicorn blinked, then glanced back behind her. After a few seconds of looking around, she levitated three flashlights over and turned them on. Daring took one in her wing, Twilight took hers with her magic, and the professor kept one and held it close. The three of them shined their lights into the darkness. "I don't think that Plan E would be able to get through this door as easily as you did..." Ancient muttered.

The hallway Appeared to be the same length and dimensions as the hallway past the door on the right. At the end of the hallway, there were two doors, one going straight, and one set in the right side of the wall.

Daring glanced back at Ancient Knowledge and looked at her incredulously. "Why exactly did you bring explosives with you on an archeological expedition..?" she asked at length.

"We couldn't get the main door open..." Ancient Knowledge replied defensively, shifting her weight and frowning. She hesitantly walked ahead and lifted a hoof to step into the new section, only for Daring to hastily block her way with an outreached hoof. Ancient smiled sheepishly at the pegasus.

Daring leisurely strode forward into the hallway. She shivered as she stepped into the coolness and felt the cold chill of the alloy beneath her hooves. She listened intently, but she heard nothing outside of the beating of their hearts and their breathing. Despite nothing appearing wrong or anything seeming to be a danger, she still felt uneasy and cautious. There was a deep-seated feeling of wrongness in the pit of her stomach which she couldn't shake, and stepping into the hallway only intensified it.

"Alright, just get it inside and set it against the wall in the hallway. Out of the way," a voice called.

"The statue was cracking from the heat, so I'm having them move it back inside," Ancient acknowledged.

Twilight grimaced. "We should have realized that would happen..." she said timidly. "The heat would have caused the stone to expand..." she winced. "Although, now by bringing it back inside... that may be worse since the coolness will make it contract..." she trailed off.

"Well, it won't have to deal with the temperature changes of the day and night cycle. Or at least they won't be quite so bad," Ancient replied.

Twilight nodded. "That's true... That may have been the biggest problem for it..." she trailed off and pointed the flashlight over the walls, ceiling, and floor of the hallway. There was nothing of interest marking the walls, nor ceiling, save for the occasional crystal breaks towards the end of the hallway, but as she swept the light towards the right, illuminating the wall close to them, there were visible scorch marks. A few places even bulged or sagged slightly, like it had melted ever so slightly. "Does it bother anypony else that the hallway the door sealed has signs of damage?" she asked quizzically.

"Well, the crystals were definitely purposefully destroyed too, so there is that," Daring replied leisurely. She swept her flashlight to the left and along the floor, then froze as the beam of light swept over something reflective.

Not a second later, both Twilight and Ancient Knowledge's flashlights were focused on the same spot. Ancient Knowledge gawked at the sight. "T-that's..." she stuttered.

Twilight hesitantly stepped forward. She fluffed her wings and took a deep breath. The skeleton was remarkably well preserved and would have fit somepony as large as Princess Celestia. Not a single bone was broken or looked damaged, although the golden armor protecting the body hid a lot of the bones from sight. The armor was inlaid with the same glossy, grayish-blue crystals that the structure had, and they formed intricate, straight lines around the armor, almost resembling pathways. But perhaps the most interesting aspects of the skeleton and armor was that the skeleton had a horn, and the armor clearly had wing-slots. Adding on to that, was the fact that there were wing bones.

"That's an alicorn..." Twilight said quietly. She felt her heart beat a little quicker as she scrutinized the skeleton. She felt excited by the realization and more than a little mortified. Somepony had died in the structure, while wearing armor, in a sealed section of a ten-thousand-year-old ruin that showed signs of damage, and that pony had been an alicorn. She swallowed and then looked over the armor again. Closer examination revealed that the gold was coloring, and a few scratches seemed to reveal that it might have been made of the same material that the rest of the structure was made from. There was a large, six-pointed star-shaped crystal set in the breastplate. The crystal had a single large crack running through one of the points all the way to the center, then in between two points, splitting it in two. The crystal was the same inert glossy blue color as the rest of the crystals they had encountered. Twilight stared at the crystal and shivered, it looked familiar, but it was a twisted perversion because of the crack, like something from a bad dream or a nightmare.

Daring hesitantly strode over to the skeleton and looked it over. "This might not be an alicorn- the wings could be fake, or pegasus wings... It might be ceremonial," she added. She felt a shiver run down her spine, and she felt off. The place felt wrong, and looking at the skeleton of a possible alicorn left her with a deep-seated unease inside her.

Twilight shifted her weight uncomfortably. "That's possible, but given what we know, which albeit is very limited, this structure awoke from my presence," she stated. "It didn't react to unicorns or pegasi..." she added timidly. She hesitantly lifted a forehoof and stepped into the dark hallway.

As soon as her hoof touched the floor, the entire hallway came to life, lighting up. The crystals set in the walls all glowed to life, casting a magenta glow throughout the hallway.

Daring Do looked back at Twilight, then glanced down at her hoof. Twilight hesitantly lifted her forehoof and pulled it back out of the hallway. Daring looked back up at Twilight. "It's kind of hard to argue against that when you can prove it just by walking around," she commented, then turned back around.

Twilight bobbed her head and ruffled her wings. She hesitantly lifted her forehoof back up, then strode into the hallway. She came to a stop at the Skeleton. Her lips pulled into a flat line as she looked over the wing bones. "These are definitely alicorn wings..." she said quietly. "They're too large for pegasi, and they don't have the same structure as pegasi wings."

"Judging from how large the skeleton is, I think we can safely assume that this was an alicorn. It looks like it would have supported somepony as large as Princess Celestia," Ancient mused. She frowned a little. "How are alicorn's heights determined?" she asked. "Does age factor into it?"

Twilight glanced at Ancient. "Due to the small size of the current alicorn population, there's not enough of a sample to get accurate information. It's likely that age is one contributor. Something which supports that is that Princess Celestia is the oldest, and she's the tallest, while I'm significantly younger, and I don't even have the same stature as Cadance, who is older than I am."

"I'll have somepony come and try to determine the age of the skeleton and how old she was when she died," Ancient commented. She turned and headed back towards the intersection.

"Probably better get somepony to preserve her too. Wouldn't want a perfectly preserved alicorn skeleton to deteriorate from the conditions we've exposed her to," Daring said.

"I'll take care of that too," Ancient replied.

Daring took a deep breath and puffed out her chest. "Well, Princess. It looks like it's just us who're going to explore this part of the ruin."

Twilight nodded absently and hesitantly looked away from the skeleton. "Lead the way, Daring," she said calmly.

Daring turned and headed off at a leisurely pace along the hallway. She turned off her flashlight to preserve the charge. She didn't need it on anyway because the structure was well-lit now that Twilight had entered. The two of them gradually walked to the end of the hallway and then stopped. There were two doors at the end of the hallway. One lead straight ahead and the other went to the right. Both crystals were glowing and active. Daring fell into a short bow, then waved her wing forward, motioning Twilight ahead. "After you, Princess."

Twilight rolled her eyes, then walked around. "I should probably just open both doors so that more of the workers can start mapping the ruin," she commented. She frowned a little. "Although, if I did that, Ancient Knowledge could get lost."

"Well, which way?" Daring asked.

Twilight took a deep breath and then looked over both doors. Neither one of them showed signs of damage or wear. She turned to face the door going straight, then she waved her hoof in front of the crystal. The crystal chirped and blinked. The door immediately opened, revealing the hallway beyond it to already be well lit by the same magenta glow from the crystals lighting the rest of the structure.

Twilight took the lead without waiting for Daring. The pegasus hastily caught up to Twilight and then took the lead. Twilight glanced over at Daring. "I don't think this place has any traps," she commented.

Daring bobbed her head. "You might be right, but this place just feels wrong. I can't shake the feeling that something is off about this place, and coupled with some of what we've found..." she trailed off.

Twilight slowed and nodded. "I feel that way too. It's probably just our imaginations," she replied dismissively.

"Maybe, but then again the fact that more than one of us feels that way has me a little leery too," Daring replied. She took a deep breath and rustled her wings. "Another door up ahead," she commented.

Twilight nodded. They continued walking along quietly at a calm pace, not rushed, but not slow either. Both of them were excited but wary of the place- each door held something new and undiscovered behind it. "I feel like your next book is going to have a lot of suspense to it."

Darign snorted and shook her head. "At this rate, you'll probably be right, Twilight. Just hope it won't be broken by letdowns and finding the ruin is filled with ten-thousand-year-old tax records."

Twilight closed her eyes and giggled. After a few seconds, her giggles faded. She opened her eyes and smiled. "Isn't this normally about the time when the villain comes around in your stories?"

Daring shrugged. "Depends. Most of the time it's actually the villain showing up that starts off the story, but I've had my share of adventures when the villain hasn't shown up until what you think is gonna be the end, only to find out that it's just the middle of the adventure."

"Well, it might be a letdown this time since I'm here. Although I guess your readers might like reading about an alicorn fighting one of your villains," Twilight commented. She slowed as she approached the door, then she came to a stop.

"You don't really strike me as the fighter type, Twilight. I mean you and the rest of your little group helped me out that one time, but you didn't really use your magic to fight. You just teleported around," Daring replied.

Twilight grimaced and swiped her hoof in front of the crystal. "Well, I'm not a fighter, to be honest. I've saved Equestria several times, but the only battle I've really fought was with Lord Tirek..." she trailed off and glanced at her hooves. "I don't like fighting..." she said quietly. She licked her lips, then looked up and glanced around the area revealed behind the door.

The room was circular and looked similar in dimensions to the projection room. The center had a raised column which was as tall as Twilight, but the floor was depressed, so from where they were standing, both of them could see the crystal set in the center of the column.

"You know, this society is strange," Daring commented. "Most ancient ruins are cities or temples and hold some economic, ceremonial, or religious significance. This place doesn't really seem to fit that profile."

"Well, we know this society had at least one alicorn," Twilight replied. "Maybe she did something and everypony despised her for it, so they removed everything of value and then sealed her inside the ruin." She calmly walked into the room and made her way to the center. She stopped and then waved her hoof over the crystal on top of the pillar. There was a chirp which emanated from the crystal, and a pink orb shot up into the air, then hovered at what would have been eye height for Celestia. Twilight glanced back at Daring, then she looked back at the pink orb. She tapped it with her hoof, and the orb rapidly expanded outward into a large sphere which filled most of the room and hovered in the air. The projection flashed, and lines started running down around the sphere from the top, dividing the sphere into dozens of sections. A moment later, more lines crisscrossed the first set, dividing the sections into small squares.

Twilight watched on curiously as the projection's colors twisted until the pink had faded and had been replaced with blues, greens, whites, and yellows, which were transparent enough that they could see the wall through. Twilight stood still as she gazed at the projection. The colors melded together to create a breathtaking work of art. Despite the flat curved surface of the sphere, the colors added limitless depth to it, mountains, oceans, glaciers, plains, and deserts.

"Okay, that's Equis," Daring stated a little louder than normal.

The projection slowly turned around on its axis and the other side of the projection came into view. Twilight felt a shiver spread throughout her body. She hesitantly looked back at her pegasus companion. "Daring, why would a ten-thousand-year-old dead civilization be able to project a perfect projection of present-day Equis?" she asked slowly.

Daring hesitantly walked up beside Twilight. "Okay, so this structure not only has survived for ten thousand years but also has symbolism related to your cutie mark and a projection of modern Equis. Unless of course, the Discordian Era was less destructive than we believed, and this is what Equis looked like ten thousand years ago."

Twilight turned back to face the projection and continued to watch the projection rotate about, then when Equestria came back into view, she hesitantly lifted a forehoof up. She slowly brought her forehoof closer to the projection, then she paused, barely not touching the projection. She looked around, then spotted another projection, which looked like a rectangular button. She brought her forehoof over to it and tapped it. The projection stopped spinning, and three circular lines glowed to life, one on each of the three major axises. Twilight hesitantly tapped the axis closest to her, then dragged her hoof downward. The projection rotated until her hoof stopped and she was looking down at the northern pole.

She pulled her forehoof back and tapped the button again. The projection quickly spun back to normal and resumed rotating. Twilight hesitantly tilted her head to the right, then tore her gaze away from the projection. "Daring, go get the Professor," she said quietly. Daring nodded, then slowly turned and left the room.

Twilight watched Daring walk off for several seconds, then she took a deep breath and turned around to face the projection. "What's going on here?" she muttered to herself. Her eyes darted about, studying the projection and taking in the minor details. The only things that seemed to be missing were cities and farms, but the geography was unmistakably accurate. Even the Everfree forest was displayed in an accurate size and placement, leaving a dark blotch of a forest in the middle of Equestria. She felt a tingling sensation in the back of her mind and frowned. A cold chill raced down her spine, and she fluffed her wings at her sides. She studied the projection as it rotated about searching for any discrepancies she could spot, but none were forthcoming. As seconds passed on, the atmosphere of the room grew more ominous, and she found herself feeling like she was being watched. She shifted her weight, then looked to the right where the feeling seemed to be originating from. She studied the wall, then pushed the concern away after she assured herself that the wall was in fact, solid and inanimate.

A series of high-pitched chimes rang out, sounding akin to a warning. A few seconds passed, then a constant chime rang out. The projection stuttered for a moment, then flashed red for a split second. It swiftly recovered, but Twilight still took a step back in surprise. She bit her lower lip, then turned around. 'Maybe I should have kept Daring with me...' she mused.

Twilight took a few steps for the door, only for the crystal to flicker, then glow red. The door shut within seconds. Twilight came to a stop and looked over the door. She hesitated, then slowly walked over to the crystal beside the door and waved her hoof in front of it. A low tone rang out and nothing happened. Twilight grimaced. "Okay, maybe I did something I shouldn't have, or maybe Loose Translation or somepony found something..." she mused.

She waved her hoof in front of the crystal again, and a low tone rang out once more. She shifted her weight uncomfortably, then turned around. She surveyed the room, looking for another door or a way out.

Author's Note:

This chapter took me forever to write. A lot of things came up, most notably, college and depression.

I really had intended to get this chapter out a lot sooner than this, but I kept procrastinating on it because I lost the drive to write it... But hey, it's finally here!

And the mystery deepens...

Something felt wrong about this chapter, both to me and my prereader. I'm not sure if I fixed it or not. I think I did, but I'm not sure. This chapter starts and ends kind of abruptly...

Comments

[Fangren]

Huh. I wonder how that alicorn died 'trapped' in the ruin when Twilight was able to just melt the door.

[Misty Moon]

This is very interesting. Can't wait to see more.
Pretty clueless as to what's going goon right now, but I'm pretty sure there was some sort of alicorn society involved here.

[hunter49a]

Twilight turned around and headed toward the exit. As she walked passed the crate Daring Do was perched on, the pegasus set her apple core down on the crate, then hopped off and walked beside her. Twilight gave the pegasus a warm smile. "Rainbow Dash is probably jealous that I'm out here, off on an adventure with you," she commented.