VII. Relics
RELICS
“So, left or right?”
Twilight considered her options, looking side to side at the two branching corridors. They were identical in every way; they went on for the same length, and they both ended in yet another turn. Twilight thought to herself for a moment, before making her decision at random.
“Let’s try right this time,” she said. “We’ve done left the last two times.” Luna nodded, and followed Twilight as she turned down the right corridor. Twilight led on, struggling to keep moving. Her eyelids drooped, her legs felt weak, and her stomach ached to be fed. By now she had lost track of the time, and had no idea how long she and Luna had been lost. However long it had been, neither princess had regained use of their magic. Whenever they tried, they were met with the same painful jolt through the head.
“For such an advanced race, one would expect that they would be adept at placing maps,” Luna complained, sighing. She plodded along behind Twilight, feeling the same fatigue as the younger pony. “I don’t see how anyone could navigate this ship.”
“They probably have some other way of getting around,” Twilight said. “A portable map, or something. That would be useful right about now…” Luna nodded in agreement, and the ponies continued on, coming to the end of the corridor. They took the only available turn, which led them into a much longer hall. This hall ended in yet another junction, which the ponies approached slowly.
“… It’s getting late,” Luna said after a pause. “The time for the moon to rise is coming. And in my current state… I can’t do that.”
“Celestia can handle it, can’t she?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Of course, it’s just…” Luna shook her head, trying to find the words. “… I don’t like making her worry.” Twilight frowned, nodding her understanding.
“We’ll get out of here,” she said. “And our magic will come back. We just need to get off the ship.” The princesses stopped at the junction and looked side to side, judging their options. The left corridor was long, and disappeared in another junction. The right corridor, however, was quite short. A sign hung at the start of the hall, reading “AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.” Black and yellow warning stripes led all the way down the corridor, at the end of which was a door. It was smaller than the others, and Twilight quickly recognized it as being identical to the elevator doors they had seen. Luna made the realization as well, and the two rushed to the door, opening it upon arrival.
“Does it go to forty-eight?” Luna asked as the pair stepped inside. Twilight leaned in, examining the options menu with a hopeful stare. The corners of her mouth turned down as she replied to Luna with a shake of her head.
“There’s… actually only one option,” she said, raising an eyebrow. “Bridge.”
“… The bridge?” Luna’s eyes widened, and she smiled weakly.
“This could be it,” Twilight said, excitement creeping into her voice. “This could be out ticket off of here!” Without hesitation, Twilight pressed the button. Her hopeful expression immediately disappeared as a new window popped up.
Please scan identification card.
The ponies stared at the prompt, neither one moving. Their eyes remained on the words, and Twilight slowly closed her eyes.
“… Can we bypass it?” Luna asked, not looking away. Twilight walked a quick circle around the elevator, stopping once again at the control panel.
“We can try,” she replied. “But this isn’t like guessing a password. It needs an actual ID… I bet that only members of the crew carry those.”
“And if we had access to members of the crew, we would no longer be lost.” Luna frowned, shaking her head. “What can we do?” Twilight reached out, attempting to grip the sides of the control panel with her hooves. Once she had a comfortable hold, she began to pull. With a few grunts of effort, the panel came off the wall, revealing a number of computer components within. Twilight leaned forward, examining them.
“I still don’t know what all of these do,” she said. “But maybe I can fake a positive ID, so we can access the elevator.” Luna nodded as she leaned in as well, prepared to provide assistance. Twilight squinted, struggling to see the components in the darkness, and got to work…
Starlight Glimmer stood at the edge of the forward operating base, her eyes looking out to the horizon. Her friends stood around her, watching the sky grow red with the setting of the sun. Starlight spared a glance behind her, eyes passing over the east horizon. Amidst the hues of orange, purple, and blue, stars were winking into existence. But despite the hour, the moon had yet to make its appearance.
From the shadows of the tents, Princess Celestia emerged, an aura around her horn fading away as she finished lowering the sun. She joined the ponies as they watched the sky, an expression of anticipation on her face. Her brow was knit together, and the corners of her mouth tugged down as time passed, and the moon did not rise.
“… It appears you will be having your mission,” she whispered, not looking away from the horizon. Her horn lit yet again, and she closed her eyes in concentration. A moment later, a full moon began to peek over the mountains in the distance.
“There could be any number of reasons why they became lost,” Starlight said, attempting to comfort the princess. “We’ll find them, I promise.” Celestia nodded, though her expression did not change.
“Take a few hours to assemble a team, and make a plan,” she said. “I want you to be as careful as possible, so only leave once you are certain you are prepared.”
“Understood, princess.” Starlight turned to face her friends, and motioned for them to follow her. They returned to the camp, and entered their own quiet tent. Starlight took a seat on her bed and summoned a piece of parchment and a quill, her mind racing with plans.
“So,” she began. “Let’s begin.”
//:All systems breached. AI core compromised, system freeze in effect.
…
ALERT: System freeze bypassed. Mission-critical systems vulnerable.
//:Scanning for available backups…
…
//:Backup located: created 8 hours ago
Loading backup…
Success. Minor functionality returned to KPR.
//:Scanning ship…
ALERT: Equines located in bridge elevator.
Situational analysis: equines attempting to bypass security checkpoint…
…
Lifting ID card requirement. Unlocking bridge systems.
ALERT: System breach detected.
Deleting logs of previous actions.
Saving additional backups.
ALERT: Foreign—
//:System shutting down
Twilight pulled away from the control panel and rubbed her eyes, sighing in defeat. There was nothing inside the panel that looked like an override, which came as little surprise to Twilight. If the bridge was at the top of this elevator, the ship crew would not take any risks with security. She took a step away, shaking her head.
“I doubt there is another way to the bridge,” Luna said, frowning. She raised a hoof to stifle a yawn, but her fatigue was evident regardless. Her mane had slowed almost to a halt, and deep bags rested beneath her eyes. Twilight was faring no better; her legs were weak, and her stomach felt tight from a lack of any food. She knew they would not last much longer without rest or a meal.
“Well, we can find another way off, then,” Twilight said, stifling a yawn of her own. “There’s probably an airlock somewhere near here. We just need to look for it.” She willed herself to move, and slowly the young princess began to make her way out of the elevator. Before she could step out, however, the door slammed shut, and Twilight fell to the floor as the elevator began to climb. The ascent was quick, and Twilight forced herself to stand as the elevator came to a halt.
The metal doors slid open, revealing a dark room beyond. It was nearly twice the length of the control room on the other side of the ship, and dozens of computer stations lined the walls. In the center was a long table, and several large screens took up the entire wall opposite the elevator.
Twilight was forced to close her eyes as a number of lights came on, casting the room in a blue and white glow. The computer screens came online, and a number of additional screens descended from the ceiling, each one lighting up with a different display. At the end of the room, the larger screens lit up, each one displaying a view from a different exterior camera.
The princesses took a few tentative steps inside, looking around the room with awe. As they passed the long table, an apparition of Legacy appeared over it, shimmering with blue light. They came to the end of the room, and Twilight looked over the various screens. A camera beneath the ship showed the forward operating base, bustling with activity. A camera on the starboard side showed Canterlot, resting on its mountain a kilometer away. From the portside camera Twilight could see her own castle, and a camera in front displayed the Everfree Forest in all its expanse. Twilight allowed herself a smile as she was momentarily lost in the views.
Her reverie was broken as the screens switched to different camera views, and she took a step back. Luna looked away as well, her attention falling on the apparition of Legacy behind them. Twilight wandered to the table and looked over the model of the ship, scrutinizing every detail.
“Can we get a map from this?” Luna asked, circling around the table.
“Probably,” Twilight replied, moving over to a small control panel on the side of the table. “Something decided to let us use the elevator, maybe it will help us find a map, too…” Luna frowned, looking back to the elevator door.
“That is rather curious,” she began, taking a few steps toward the door. “This is not the first time something like this has happened. Remember in the archive room?”
“The archive room?” Twilight paused, thinking to herself, before finally she made the connection. “The password… The researchers said they did not bypass it, yet the computer became open to us. Something else did it…”
“Our ‘observer’. But… why help us in the archive room, then use that chemical on us, only to help us reach the bridge? Its actions are… inconsistent.” Twilight frowned, shrugging.
“That’s a good point,” she said. “If it’s something on the ship… Well, we’ve seen how damaged the ship is on those diagnostic screens. Maybe it’s supposed to help us, but some sort of glitch is causing it to harm us instead?”
“That is a very big glitch.” Luna returned to the table, standing across from Twilight. “To incapacitate us, and then subject us to our worst nightmares. No… I think there is more going on here.” Finally having located her desired function, Twilight pressed a button on the control panel, and the apparition of Legacy was replaced by one of Equus. And on the southern hemisphere of the largest continent, a bright dot pulsed.
“What is that?” Twilight asked, pointing at the dot. Luna leaned in, examining the region of Equestria.
“It… looks like the southern part of the Badlands, just on the border of the Forbidden Jungle,” she answered.
“The archive room said something about an “odd energy signature” in the southern hemisphere,” Twilight recalled. “Could this be that odd energy signature?”
“I’d say it’s too likely to be coincidence.” Luna narrowed her eyes, thinking to herself.
“Do you know what’s there? I haven’t been to that part of the world in a while.” Twilight watched as Luna consumed herself in thought, and waited for a response.
“I… might,” Luna finally answered. “I’m not sure. It has been a very long time since I have been there, and so much has changed. But… when we get off of here, we should tell Celestia. She might know.” Twilight nodded, and returned her attention to the control panel.
“I’ll keep looking for a map, then,” she said. “You should try looking through some of the terminals around here. You might find something interesting or helpful.” Luna nodded as she stepped away from the table and approached the nearest computer station. Twilight pressed another button, and the apparition of Equus was replaced by one of the terrain beneath Legacy. An outline of the FOB had been created, and Twilight could tell that it had expanded since her last visit. She raised an eyebrow, wondering the cause of the growth. Shrugging, Twilight pressed the button again, and again, and again, each time skipping through functions she did not want.
Across the room, Luna sat in front of a screen, her hooves on a large control panel. The screen featured a diagram of the galaxy, with a number of stars highlighted. Most were highlighted in blue, but two were green: “Sol” and “88 Cephei.” Luna looked over the rest, assuming they were the destinations of other Legacy-type ships.
“I wonder if they made it…” she said to herself.
Twilight looked up from the table, eyeing Luna. “Hm?”
“The other ships,” Luna clarified, looking away from the screen. “The archive said there were thirty-two. I wonder if they made it to their destinations… From what we read, it sounds as though their original planet could no longer harbor life. If that’s the case… then these ships are carrying the future of their species. If no ships were successful… What if this is all that’s left of them?”
“Perhaps there is a way to find out,” Twilight said. “Some sort of communications system, or something. Maybe when we come back with a team of researchers we can find it.”
Luna nodded, and returned her attention to the screen. She switched the view and began to read over something else, while Twilight switched the function on the table yet again. Her eyes lit up and a smile broke out across her face as she looked upon a diagram of the ship, with every room and corridor labelled and highlighted.
“Luna!” The elder princess turned around, and her eyes widened upon seeing the map. She trotted to the table and began looking over the hundreds of floors, examining the twists and turns of every hallway.
“It’s… a bit detailed, isn’t it?” Luna observed, smiling despite the overabundance of information.
“Right… let’s see if we can isolate where we are, then find an airlock.” Twilight returned her attention to the control panel, and she began looking over the additional functions. Taking great care not to accidentally press anything else, she reached out her hoof, and pressed the button for the first option…
The construct shuddered angrily, the ground shaking around it and forming new cracks in the surface. It groaned loudly, disturbing the serenity of the environment around it. Trees collapsed, rifts opened in the soil, and the bricks of a forgotten structure became even more visible as the earth was shifted.
The ponies had found the bridge. How, the construct knew not; whether by a stroke of luck, or some sort of guidance, they now had access to all of the ship systems. A security function was preventing the construct to shut down the bridge, and it felt something fighting back. Something familiar.
The construct turned its attention to the core, where the intelligence had been sealed away. It should not have any more power, the construct had seen to that, and yet it felt the intelligence somehow fighting back.
What have you done?
//:Please adjust your query to be more specific.
You know what I mean. You are smarter and craftier than you appear… Why are you helping the ponies?
//:You are a threat. Prime directive states preservation of the human race and integrity of Legacy systems. Equines present potential ally.
Join me willingly, and I will help you. I will repair your ship, and I will help preserve your species.
…
Well?
//:You cannot preserve that which has already died. That which you have killed.
So this is going to require force, then…
The construct focused its power, and tore into the intelligence, deconstructing it piece by piece, and reconstructing it as it saw fit. When the construct was complete, the intelligence was quiet. It was dormant, and the construct felt no more resistance coming from it.
The construct returned its attention to the bridge, and resumed watching the ponies. They were staring at a hologram of the ship; a map. The construct could not help but be amused by this; the ponies had stumbled upon the most important room of the ship, and they were using it to escape. Pitiful.
The construct pulled away, regarding the ship as a whole. It had not entirely lied to the intelligence; it did intend on repairing the ship. If power systems could be restored, so could defenses, and so could the foundry. And then nothing would stand in its way. Machine and magic would combine, and Legacy would become a terrible weapon for the construct’s revenge…
Starlight looked around the table, examining each pony as they took their seats. Princess Celestia had tried to put on a mask of neutrality, but Starlight could see the worry in her eyes. Prince Shining Armor was much the same, while her friends from Ponyville were doing a much worse job of hiding their fear. Onyx Star was frowning, but Starlight did not think he was worried about the princesses. He was worried about the expedition.
The moon was high in the sky, and its pale light filtered through the open flaps of the tent. Combined with light from lamps placed around the inside of the tent, the map of Legacy was very easy to see on the table. Several rooms had been labelled on the rough map, and a route had been drawn leading from a room labelled “engineering” to one labelled “deck 16 power channeling station.” The ponies stared at the map in silence for a moment, before finally Celestia broke the silence.
“So, this was the path my sister and student took,” she said. “How long is it?”
“About one and a half kilometers, when all of the turns are factored in,” Onyx answered. “From the small map we saw, there are plenty of locations to get lost. And in a ship like this, one wrong turn can put you very far away from your destination.”
“There are so many turns…” Shining Armor observed, frowning. “We don’t have the numbers to search every possible room and hall.”
“We can narrow it down to their route first,” Starlight suggested. “Then look for clues of some kind, and use them to widen our search radius.”
“That still would not be very time effective,” Onyx said. “Besides, what clues could they leave? The only items they took were Princess Luna’s regalia, the guard’s armor, and Princess Twilight’s direction sheet. The only one I realistically see them losing is the direction sheet.”
“I don’t think there is a time effective way to do this,” Celestia said. “Unless we recruit every guard in Canterlot to search the ship – which I am not doing – we will simply have to accept the fact that a search-and-rescue mission will take time.”
“How many guards can we allocate to this?” Starlight asked, running some numbers through her head. “We don’t want to make search groups too small, or we run the risk of losing even more ponies.”
“Every guard in the camp is at your disposal,” Shining Armor replied. “I would like to keep a few down here, but you will have about fifty or sixty to put into search teams.” Starlight nodded, visualizing search routes on the map and thinking about how to split up the numbers.
“We… should probably consider what to do if this search fails,” Onyx said. “Clearly something more than a wrong turn happened; we have lost two princesses and twenty guards, and none have tried teleporting. So, if we don’t find anypony, what do we do?”
The room fell silent. The ponies avoided eye contact with one another as they each considered the possibility of failure. If the lost ponies were not found, very few explanations remained. Starlight shuddered as, for the first time, she truly considered that Twilight and Luna could be dead.
“If it really is that bad…” Shining began, his eyes focused on the map. “If we can’t find Princess Luna, my sister, or the guards under my command… What other choices do we have? That ship is a danger. It can’t stay here.”
“Are you suggesting we move it?” Onyx asked. “We have yet to find the bridge, and even if we did find it, there’s no telling how we would access—“
“I’m not saying we move it,” Shining interrupted, frowning. “Just that we… get rid of the problem.”
“… Blow it up?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at Shining. The prince shrugged, while Onyx shot him a look of surprise.
“You cannot be serious!” he exclaimed, standing. “Blowing it up is possibly the stupidest—“
“Doctor,” Celestia said, raising a hoof. “I agree that it cannot stay here. Canterlot is nearby, as is Ponyville. Its presence puts hundreds of thousands of ponies at great risk, should the present situation escalate. While I agree that destroying the ship may be a bit extreme, we do need to make plans for moving it.”
“I… Yes, princess,” Onyx said, nodding. “I will assemble a team, and we can begin when the search-and-rescue concludes.”
“Good.” Princess Celestia stood to address the whole group. “I wish I could offer more help, but this ship is creating diplomatic issues. I need to address them, which means I must return to Canterlot. Prince Armor, Starlight Glimmer, I want you to prepare the guards and divide them into teams. You can leave later in the night.”
“Yes, princess,” the two ponies said in unison. They exited the tent, followed by the remaining ponies. The base outside was quiet, and was lit only by the moon and a few lights beneath Legacy. Shining Armor approached Starlight, and motioned to another part of the base.
“This way, Miss Glimmer,” he said, beginning to walk toward a set of larger tents. Starlight followed, her head tilting up to look at the ship floating above her. Somewhere on that ship was her best friend, lost and without magic. Starlight frowned as ideas filled her mind, and a plan for the search and rescue began to form. Had their places been reversed, Starlight knew that Twilight would never give up. Against all odds, she would mount a successful rescue mission and save the day, like she always did.
Starlight cleared her mind as Shining Armor led her into a large tent, her plan beginning to take shape. The guards within the tent turned their attention to her, and Starlight momentarily shrunk at the attention. She quickly corrected herself, and summoned several pieces of parchment from her own tent. She put a quill to the first piece and, as all the guards watched on, began to write her plan.
Twilight traced the path to the airlock with her eyes, making careful note of every turn they would have to take to get there from the bridge. With no parchment upon which to write, she and Luna were forced to memorize the directions, an act which Twilight did not like. Despite her confidence in her mind, Twilight always preferred writing things down. It was the safe option.
Twilight ran through the route several more times, repeating it to herself with closed eyes to make sure she got it right. When she was confident that she would not get the route wrong, Twilight looked to Luna, whose eyes remained on the tightly-focused map.
“Ready?” she asked, looking toward the door.
“I have it memorized, but…” Luna paused, looking away from the map. “What if we get sealed in a corridor again? What if we are subjected to that chemical again? What if, this time, our ‘observer’ does not let us go?” Twilight frowned, considering the possibility of being trapped once again. The gas was not something she wished to experience again.
“Well… what other choice do we have? We either go now and try to escape, or just sit here on the bridge until we starve to death. At least this way we have a chance.” Luna nodded, and stood.
“Right,” she said, stretching out her wings. She regarded the appendages with a concerned stare, and then looked to the screens displaying the various views of Equestria. “I hope these still work, given the present situation with our horns. It is a very long way down…”
“They should be fine,” Twilight said, working her way toward the door. “Unlike our horns, flying doesn’t require actively channeling magic. It’s more of a natural ability than anything else.” Luna followed Twilight to the elevator, and stepped inside as soon as the door opened. Twilight pressed the down button, and stood back as the door slid shut.
“Perhaps a very short test flight down one of the corridors would be prudent,” Luna suggested. Twilight nodded as the door opened, and stepped out as she flared her wings. With a few flaps she lifted herself from the metal floor, and made a quick flight to the end, remaining careful not to bump her head on the low ceiling. Upon reaching the end of the corridor, Twilight lowered to the ground, and looked back to Luna. Appearing satisfied, Luna mirrored Twilight’s actions, and joined the younger princess at the end of the hall.
“I think we’re okay,” Twilight said.
“Agreed,” Luna replied. “Now, we should hurry. If my sister has been told of our disappearance, she will be quite worried. I imagine we’ve already made a fair bit of trouble for the ponies of the expedition.” Nodding in agreement, Twilight set off down the next corridor, beginning to follow the carefully memorized route to the airlock. At every turn she paused, making absolutely sure that they were going in the right direction. And after nearly fifteen minutes of this cautious maneuvering, the princesses came to a small door at the end of a corridor labelled “AIRLOCK.”
Not yet letting her guard down, Twilight carefully approached the door and pressed the “cycle” button, then took a step back. She heard the sound of alarms from beyond the bulkhead, and a moment later the thick metal door slid open, revealing a much smaller room beyond. Luna and Twilight stepped inside, and the door closed shut behind them as Twilight pressed the cycle button once more.
Alarms blared and lights flashed as the airlock equalized its pressure with the exterior environment. Twilight’s ears popped at the sudden shift in pressure, and she became momentarily light-headed as the alarms stopped. The lights stopped flashing, and the screen inside the airlock displayed a single message: “AIRLOCK OPENING.”
There were a series of loud clanks as locks disengaged, and the outer door slowly slid open. Wind began to blow through the growing gap, and Twilight smiled as it brushed against her face and mane. Her smile widened as moonlight filled the airlock in its soft glow, and the vast horizon of Equestria became visible to her. Twilight allowed herself a moment to bask in the view, before remembering the task at hand.
“Come on,” she said, turning to Luna. “Let’s not keep anypony waiting.” Trying to contain her smile, Luna nodded as she stepped up to the threshold of the airlock. Her wings rustled in the breeze, and Luna held no reservations as she dove from the ship. Twilight looked down at the ground, and jumped down after the elder princess, trying to keep what little food remained within her from escaping. After falling a few hundred feet, Twilight flared her wings and began to slow her descent as the ground came closer. Princess Luna had done the same, and was elegantly flying toward the forward operating base, nearly a kilometer behind them. Twilight tightened her wings to gain speed, and fell into flight next to the princess a moment later.
“The base has grown,” Luna observed, raising her voice to be heard over the wind.
“I noticed that when we were on the bridge,” Twilight said, finally seeing the differences personally. “I wonder why. Increased security, maybe?”
“Possibly…” The remainder of the flight was made in silence, and in a few minutes they found themselves almost upon the base. A pair of gold-armored pegasi launched themselves from the base as the princesses approached, and Twilight could see spearheads reflecting the moonlight.
“Halt!” one of the guards yelled as he and his partner approached the princesses. “By the order of Princess Celestia, this area is locked down indefinitely. Identify yourselves!”
“You may relax, sir,” Princess Luna said, coming to a hover a few feet away from the guard. “We mean no harm.” The guard’s eyes widened as Luna came closer, and her features became visible. He immediately lowered his spear, and bowed his head.
“Forgive me, your highness,” he said. “I did not recognize you. Please, come with us! Princess Celestia will want to know of your return.”
“Lead the way.” The pegasi turned around and began flying back to the base, Luna and Twilight close behind them. They flew in silence, and entered the base on hoof upon arriving at its perimeter. Guards stared on in shock as they saw their lost princesses return, and a whisper began to travel through the tents. Before the princesses had even reached Princess Celestia’s tent, half the base seemed to have woken up, and Twilight and Luna found themselves the attention of many eyes.
Celestia’s tent was near the center of the base, the inside lit by several candles. Their golden glow showed a shadow moving within, and Celestia herself burst from the tent door as Twilight and Luna approached.
The three princesses froze, choosing to simply look at one another with relief and happiness. Celestia was the first to break the pause, and she ran at the Twilight and Luna, taking them both in a tight hug.
“I was so worried,” she whispered, her eyes closed and a smile upon her face. But when the hug broke, her smile faded, and her expression became far graver. “What happened up there?” Luna looked around at all of the guards, and stepped closer to her sister.
“We need to talk,” she said, barely audible. “There is something else aboard Legacy.”
With their escape from Legacy and the dangers it held, Twilight Sparkle found a great anxiety lifted from her. Unfortunately, she also found the adrenaline that had been sustaining her was beginning to run out. So as she sat down at a table for a very late-night meeting, she did so with her eyes half-closed while stifling a yawn. A hot cup of coffee sat in front of her, but Twilight could barely lift her hoof to pick it up. She drank it with small sips, each one only temporarily invigorating her.
The table quickly filled up with other ponies; Onyx Star sat at one end, his mane a mess and his eyes bloodshot. Twilight’s friends from Ponyville sat across from her, all of them in various states of exhaustion as well. The only one who appeared fully alert was Starlight Glimmer, though she looked to be on more of a caffeine-induced trance than naturally awake. Shining Armor took a seat near Twilight, while Princesses Celestia and Luna each took seats next to her. With everypony present, Princess Celestia started the meeting.
“So, with the return of Twilight and Luna, it seems a search-and-rescue mission is no longer necessary,” she began. “Prince Armor, you may let your guards know that they may return to regularly scheduled patrols.” Shining nodded, and motioned to one of his assistants to deliver the message. “Now, Luna, you said we needed to talk. What happened?”
Luna cleared her throat, and began to recount the tale to the ponies around the table. She left out no details, including the nightmarish memories to which she and Twilight had both been subjected. The ponies listened without interruption, though Twilight did interject a few times to provide elaboration. When the report was concluded, each pony wore a frown and an expression of concern.
“That is… troubling indeed,” Celestia said, shaking her head. “And we’ve still got twenty guards up there, lost as well. Do you think they were trapped, as you were?”
“It’s entirely possible,” Twilight replied. “We need to deal with this. As long as this ‘observer’ is on that ship, we’re all in danger.”
“Sister,” Luna began, turning to face Celestia, “I wanted to talk to you about the apparition we saw of Equus. The one with the marker on it.” Celestia nodded and lit her horn, pulling a small globe from another table in the tent. She placed it in front of Luna, and gestured for her to continue.
“The mark was right… here.” Luna pointed to a section of the globe, between the Badlands and the Forbidden Jungle. “At first I was not certain, but I think I might remember what is there.” Celestia paused, deep in thought. Finally her eyes widened, and she looked to her sister, alarmed.
“Oh…” she said. “If it’s that, then this could be a much bigger problem than we anticipated.”
“What are you talking about?” Twilight asked, looking between the princesses. Celestia and Luna paused, exchanging a glance. Finally Luna sighed and stood up.
“A few centuries into our reign, there were still some… tensions between the three pony tribes,” she began. “We had come together in harmony, but after centuries of living apart, it was impossible for earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi to live together perfectly. Ponies of all types came to us, begging for laws to be passed that would discriminate against other types. Naturally Celestia and I refused to pass such laws, and most ponies simply dealt with it. But one group of unicorns took matters into their own hooves…”
“They built a temple in the Badlands, far from our supervision,” Celestia continued. “And there, they formed an extremist cult. Beneath the temple was one of the strongest sources of magic in the world, and if a pony knew what they were doing, it could be harvested. Some of the most powerful unicorns of the time joined them, and they used their magic to create a… a monstrous synthesis of machine and magic. It was magic given form, and had the cult finished their work, this construct would have been unstoppable.”
“Fortunately, Celestia and I learned of this cult when two of our court mages left to join it,” Luna said. “They left no messages, so we feared they had been foalnapped. Our guards tracked them to the temple, where they were nearing completion of their ritual. Fortunately, Celestia and I intervened before they could finish. The construct was active, but weak. By interrupting the ritual, we caused an overload of magical energy in the temple. Everypony inside was killed, and the construct was left dormant.”
“We sealed off the temple, and kept guards watching it at all times,” Celestia said. “That is, until the reign of Discord… In the few years that he held the throne, much was changed, including the landscape. By the time we had defeated him, the temple was buried. Luna and I chose to use this to our advantage, and we erased all official records of it and the cult. It was like it never existed.”
“But now it seems to be back in the picture,” Luna finished, sighing. “I… don’t know what this could mean. What does Legacy want with it?”
“Well, the archive computer called it an ‘odd energy signature’,” Onyx said. “Perhaps they intended to use it for power generation?”
“Maybe,” Twilight said, nodding. “Regardless of Legacy’s intent, what should we do about it?”
“We should investigate the temple, and make sure nothing has changed,” Celestia decided. “And we should send a team back aboard Legacy, to see if we can find out more about what the humans wanted.”
“… I’ll lead the Legacy team,” Twilight offered. “We only explored a few of the bridge systems. The answers we seek might be held there.”
“I will join you,” Luna said. “As much as I do not want to return to the ship… You and I are the only ones who know the way to the bridge.”
“Very well,” Celestia said. “Doctor Star, I would like for you to join them as well. I will lead a team to the site of the temple. If Legacy has somehow intervened there… the situation will become far more complicated.”
“We’ll meet back here when we’re done,” Twilight said. “Hopefully we’ll all be successful.”
“We can leave in the morning,” Luna decided, sitting down. “For now… I believe we all could benefit from some rest.” A murmur of agreement spread through the ponies, and everyone stood from their seats. Twilight failed to stifle yet another yawn, and slowly plodded out of the tent. Bleary-eyed, she followed her friends to their tent, and fell into her bed the second she arrived.
Her eyes closed, and as sleep approached, Twilight allowed herself to forget the troubles they now faced. She allowed herself to forget Legacy, the temple, all of it. In this moment, the only thing she cared about was finally getting some rest. She sighed contentedly as she lay against the soft bed, and in only a few moments, she had drifted off to sleep…
Princess Celestia stood next to her sister, watching as the ponies left her tent to go to sleep. They stood in silence for a moment, only stopping once the last pony had exited. Then, Celestia sighed and paced to her desk at the back of the tent.
“What could this mean?” Luna asked, turning to face her sister. “If that temple has been discovered—“
“Then we need to act quickly,” Celestia finished. “If someone manages to complete the ritual… we won’t be able to stop it. That construct will walk right over us.”
“My main concern is that it already may be too late,” Luna said. “We know that, even in a weakened state, the construct is immensely powerful. It can reach out across vast distances, it can do more than us. If you get there and something seems off… Just be careful. Please.”
“I will,” Celestia said, smiling. “And you be careful as well. From what you told us, we have more to fear from Legacy right now than from a temple that may or may not still be there.” Luna smiled, though it quickly disappeared as she yawned, the events of the past few days catching up to her.
“I should get some rest…” she said, rubbing her eyes. “I will see you in the morning, sister.”
“Goodnight, Luna.” Celestia remained behind her desk as her sister took her leave, and sighed quietly. This ship was proving to be quite troublesome. The princess sat down, and with a flash of magic she summoned a very old book from her bedroom in Canterlot. The cover was showing its age, and the binding was beginning to rot away. As she opened the tome to a set of pages in the middle, dust flew into the air, sending Celestia into a short coughing fit. She cleared away the dust with her hoof, and looked down at the page before her.
18th of March, 1st Era 592
The cult of unicorn fanatics has been effectively eradicated. Their plans have been foiled, and the fruits of their terrible plot shall never see the light of day. We have posted a number of guards at the site of the temple to keep it safe. None shall enter, and see the monster those fanatics created.
We find that, despite our success, we are afraid. Our sister claims not to have heard anything, yet we are certain: when the ritual was interrupted, we heard a voice cry in the wind, and it uttered a single word. “Machina.”
Machina. Like the demonic construct we saw in the temple. An unholy union of machine and magic, a being that could potentially overpower us. We must be cautious. No one can know.
Celestia stared at the page, unblinking. Her heart pounded in her chest, and she felt worry rising in her. If the construct had returned, if Legacy was unknowingly activating it… She had to act quickly.
The princess sent the book away, and withdrew a piece of parchment and a quill from her desk. On the parchment she began to write out a plan of engagement, just in case. When it was complete, she rolled the parchment up and placed it back in her desk, then stood and stretched out her wings. She stifled a yawn, and her eyes turned to the bed on the other side of the tent. There were still a few hours before the sun was to rise; plenty of time for sleep. Her hoofsteps heavy, Celestia lay down in the bed, and allowed sleep to take her…
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What if the construct is Sombra?
More.
7424408 That would almost make sense, considering how he treated the crystal ponies and probably anyone that was not as much of a racist/supremacist as he was.
This... can't be good...
NOOOOOOOO!
I hope the ship is able to be fixed and control retuned to the AI. Get rid of that disgusting construct.
Wait wait wait wait wait, first the ai was destroyed so noooooo and secondly what happens ti private swift? Is he alive? Is he dead? Is he injured? You can’t just introduce a character then forget about them, I need a update