Twilight Sparkle, a bearer of the Elements of Harmony, the Newest Princess of Equestria, the Hero of Equestria and the seeker for Truth. She will search the World for the Answers of a forgotten Race and uncover the truth meant to be forgotten
Twilight, the bearer of the Element of Magic and newest Princess of Equestria sent to investigate the discovery of the century. Beings fourth old questions she had as a filly and sets her on a path of discovery to uncover the mysteries of the world.
She will travel the lands finding evidence to support wild claims and proof that History is not what it once seemed. Alliances will be made, old enemies shall rise, but in the end the Truth will be found.
What she finds, may be more then she can handle and may have been forgotten for a Reason.
“Long ago, before the fall of the Alicorns and the Rise of Chaos, the moon and sun still traveled the world without the power of magic. The earth was a peaceful placed filled with many Races, the two most known races where Alicorns and the Draconeqi , for many years the two races lived in relative peace and you may even call it Harmony.”
“But tensions began to grow for the Alicorns didn’t approve the more chaotic ways of the Draconeqi and a war between the two broke out. The minor races such as the Ponies, Griffons, Minetours, Zebras, Diamond Hounds and even-”
“What’s a Diamond Hound?” Twilight turned her head to her brother Shining Armour after he asked his question interrupting there father’s story. He like her was a unicorn, but he had a white coat and a blue mane with a lighter blue streaks running through it as well as a Shield for a Cutie Mark.
Twilight laid curled up next to her BBBFF enjoying her father's story but was also curious about what these ‘Diamond Hounds’ where. She looked up to her father awaiting his answer. Her Father’s name Dusk Sparkle was a unicorn just like the rest of the family, his coat was a mix of grey and a fading purple due to his age. Twilight couldn’t see his cutie mark but she knows it’s a Four Pointed Star with two swords behind it.
“A Diamond Hound is the proper name for the Diamond Dogs Shining. Now let me finish the story”
“Sorry Dad” Shining said his ears moving back as his face becomes crimson with embarrassment. Twilight giggles quietly at the expense of her BBBFF
“Now then” Dusk Sparkle began
“The minor races such as the Ponies, Griffons, Mintours, Zebras, Diamond Hounds and even the mighty dragons choose sides in the war. The Ponies and Zebras favoured the Alicorns while the other races favoured the Draconeqi. The Alicorns had powerful spells but the Draconeqi also had powerful magic causing the war to be brutal and devastating to both sides.”
“The Alicorns even with all of their power where outnumbered and where losing the war, for ever battle they won, they would lose ten others. But, the war was yet from over and a race unknown to either the Draconeqi or Alicrons came from far across the land drawn to the conflict for some unknown reason.”
“They where strange creatures having no fur or scales other then atop there heads, they walked upon two legs like the Minatours and they gave off the sense of a once great and powerful people. The earth seemed to tremble with each step of there people, the animals left in droves as if knowing of this races past. They where known as Humans.”
“The Alicorns were the first to come across the Humans and what they had seen terrified them. The Humans didn’t just travel in a group, everything movement they made was calculated and precise, they carried metals the like the Alicorns had ever seen. And they bent the very earth around them to there will. Rivers didn’t stop them, Mountains didn’t slow them, monsters where a small annoyance and so the Alicorns knew. These Humans where made far older then they and possibly the oldest race in the land.”
“One faithful day, the Humans stopped there March right at the edge of what was left of the Western tip of Equas and they began to build. It was then that the Alicorns knew, they could forge an alliance with these Humans and defeat the Draconeqi.”
“The Alicorns sent there ambassadors to meet with the Humans and when they approached they where at awe with how quickly they had already built. A massive fortress of wood was finished completed with homes and small farms. The Alicorns didn’t even notice the humans surrounding them before it was to late.”
“The Humans hand thrown nets around them preventing them from taking off and placed there weapons against there throats, it wasn’t until the Alicorns began to yell in fright did the Humans waver.”
“One of there leaders came, and the Ambassadors tried to communicate, but nothing would work. There language barrier was to great, unlike how all the races they knew, spoke a similar dialect. So they tempted a spell which they hopped would allow them to speak with one another.”
“Finally the Alicorns finished and they could communicate with the Humans, the humans stunned slowly realised the Alicorns and began to speak, asking what they where and what they wanted. When they Humans finally had there knowledge the two races began to speak upon an alliance. And within several months an alliance was formed.”
“Well you two, its time for bed, we can continue the story tomorrow” Dusk Shine said chuckling as he levitated the book onto the table stand.
“But Dad!” Twilight and her brother moaned clearly disappointed in having to go to bed without finishing the story.
Dusk Shine chuckles at them as he stands from his seat “You two know we’ll finish it, and you both know tomorrow is a very big day. Isn’t that right?”
Twilight looks down sighing in defeat knowing that she has to be properly rested for her entrance exam tomorrow, and her big brother had his first day at the Guard Academy and he would need all the sleep he could get according to there father. “Yes Dad” She says slowly.
“Oh Cheer up Twilight, you get to meet the Princess tomorrow” Her father says as he leads her and her brother to their rooms. “And most ponies never get to meet the Princess in there entire Lives”
Twilight looks up to her father and smiles slightly knowing how much on an honour it is to met The Princess of Equestria “Your right dad!”
“That’s my Girl, now get yourself ready for bed while I help your brother into bed”
Twilight nods as she enters her room, which is more of a small library, every wall is filled with books all categorized by the Alphabet just like in the real libraries. She looks to her small desk that’s placed right in front of the window that gives her the best view of Canterlot.
She trots over to the window and smiles looking out at the night sky, she silently points out all the constellations she knows before going over to her toy box making sure everything is where they belong. Smiling that everything’s in place she trots happily over to her best friend other then her babysitter of course. Smarty Pants, the grey doll that her mother had given her when she was a little girl.
Twilight hugs Smarty Pants before walking with her and getting into bed “I learned a lot about myths and legends today Smarty!” Twilight says to her close friend. “I just wish that dad could have finished that story about those Humans”
She tilts her head as Smarty replies “Well, I guess your right. I do need my sleep for tomorrow, but it would be nice. Maybe if I get into the Princesses School I can ask about Humans!”
Twilight giggles “Yea, I guess your right. Maybe I can ask dad tomorrow then”
“So how’s Smarty Pants doing this evening Twilight?” Twilight Velvet, her mother asks from the doorway smiling at her.
“Great mom!” Twilight says as she leans up in her bed “We learned all about the ancient Myths of Equestria!”
“Oh? All of them?” her mother asks
“Um… Maybe not all of them” Twilight says her face turning crimson lightly
“Well then, you can learn about the others later right?” Her mother asks as she walks over to her bed giving Twilight and Smarty a hug. Before gently Kissing Twilight on the crown of her head
“Yes Mom” Twilight Giggles
“Sleep Tight Twilight tomorrows a big day”
Twilight simply smiles at her mother as she walks out of her room, shortly followed by her father who walks over to her and kisses the crown of her head “Night Twilight” He says to her before turning.
“Wait, Dad” Twilight says suddenly
“Yes Twilight?”
“Are Humans real? Or are they just apart of that story?”
Dusk Shine chuckles “No one knows Twilight, but most scholars think they never existed. Now, go to bed.”
“Ok dad” Twilight says before closing her eyes and quickly falling asleep.
The train rumbles along the railroad to the Crystal Empire as Twilight looks out the window towards the frozen wasteland with anticipation. She can’t help but flutter her wings and hum a tune to herself as she waits for the trip to be over.
Twilight finally pulls herself from the window and the never changing landscape which lies outside the Royal Train car and looks to her trusty Assistant and baby brother Spike. Who happens to be snoring away on his blanket after eating a few to many sweets from the dining car.
Giggling Twilight pulls out the letter which she had received just a few hours ago
Dear Twily Princess Twilight
I’m writing to you today to inform you of a recent discovery in the Crystal Empire. A team of archeologists where looking in one of the mines which were dug during Sombra’s rain and uncovered a chamber which predates the Crystal Empire.
As they explored the chamber they found a concealed doorway which lead into what was found to be a massive complex. The architecture resembles that of some of the Alicorn Ruins but everything is built of strange stone, and there isn’t a trace of magic used in the complex.
Almost everything within the Complex is still there as if they where never touched for thousands of years. Currently the archeologists have requested your presence to assist with the findings and to help document this historical find.
Sincerely Prince Shinning Armor
P.S. Sorry for being so formal Twily Princess Twilight
Twilight giggles re reading the letter but her mind quickly wonders back to this new discovery and what it could mean for ponies everywhere. And she gets to see her BBBFF as well as Cadence again.
“Quite trotting in place Twilight” A certain dragon says in sleepy voice causing Twilight to stop moving, not that she was in the first place.
“I wasn’t trotting in place Spike” She says blushing slightly
Spike snorts at her causing a small puff of smoke to leave his nostrils “Of course not Twi, your just prancing in place” he says a little to sarcastic for Twilights likings
“No need to be rude Spike, besides I’m just excited about this discovery”
“Yea, I know, you wouldn’t quite talking about it until we got onto the train” The dragon says sighing deeply at some unknown secret.
“This discovery could change history as we know it Spike!” Twilight swiftly replies defending her reasoning to speak so highly of this subject.
“It’s just a bunch of old ruins Twi” Spike replies simply
“Wha… But… How…. Gaa!” Twilight sputters as she walks to the other side of the Royal Train Car irritated by Spikes lack of interest to the subject and the fact that she can’t really argue with him on it.
Looking out at the grassy landscape outside, she sighs deeply looking away. She suddenly looks back towards the grassy landscape squealing in delight. She had finally reached the border of the Crystal Empire.
“Oh yea, forgot to mention we past the border a few minuets ago” Spike says casually as he sits up in his seat scratching his head with his claw.
“Why didn’t you say something before? I’m not ready!” Twilight yells as she begins rushing around the train car packing everything that wasn’t already packed and re packing the things which where “What if there’s News Ponies?! Like the last time Spike!”
“As if Twilight, you only told your friends and the Princesses about heading up here, there’s no way that the News Ponies will find out” He says with complete confidence as the Train slowly rolls into the Crystal Grand Station, CGS for short.
“Oh no, oh no” Twilight moans as the train rolls to a stop letting out a loud whistle as it release all the steam in its system. “They’ll know as soon as they see our car!” Twilight wails as she finishes her packing triple checking without a second thought.
“Calm down Twilight, I doubt the news ponies are even in the Crystal Empire yet” Spike says dooming Twilight to the horrors of the press.
Taking deep breaths she tries to calm herself before her mane becomes disheveled “Ok Twilight.. Spike is right, there will be no News Ponies, just the Crystal Ponies. And a few researchers and some tourists and the Guards…” Shaking her head she smiles brightly and levitates her things “Come on Spike!”
The baby dragon grabs his bag and wobbles over to Twilight as the Train comes to a smooth stop and her door automatically opens, thanks to a new feature upon modern trains.
Smiling Twilight steps out of the train car and blinded by hundreds of flashes and barraged with hundreds of questions. Glaring at what she hopes is Spike she prepares to teleport, she feels the spell begin to forum and then unleashes it causing both her, a baby dragon and a very surprised news reporter to teleport to the front of the Crystal Palace.
“Princess! What are you doing in the Crystal Empire? Does it involve the find? Or is it some sort of business between Equestria and the Crystal Empire?” The reporter quickly states as he levitates a quill and note book seeming to have recovered rather quickly from the spell. Unlike a certain dragon that was now green in the face.
Twilight looks at the reporter and quickly goes over what she can do to deal with him without causing any sort of rumor to start. She decides the honest route is the best to take.
“At this time, I’m simply here to see family. That will be all gentalcolt” She says in her best Canterlot accent hoping no, praying that it gets the message across.
The reporter looks at her with an unreadable expression before quickly running off to report his findings to whichever news outlit he worked for. Twilight sighed in relief and levitated the still ill dragon onto her back like a blanket and walks towards the Crystal Palace before anything else can happen.
“Sorry about that Spike, I didn’t have time to warn you” She says sincerely to her faithful number one assistant who simply groans in reply prompting Twilight to giggle at his misfortune.
Looking around Twilight notices several important facts, one of which is that the Crystal Palace was now more rounded then jagged and a small wall was built around it with massive entrances. Twilight couldn’t help but wonder why the wall was built but accepted it as she walked towards the entrance not even being noticed by the multiple guards clad in a greenish armor.
Humming to herself Twilight walks up the stairs towards the main level of the palace, she still thought it was silly to have it sit up like that, but she did agree that it looked quite fancy or ‘fabulous’ as Rarity would say.
Spike groans before sitting up “Twi… Warn me next time kay?”
Twilight giggles covering her muzzle with a hoof “Yes Spike”
“Twi, were all these statues here before?” Spike says pointing to a pony statue on the side of the corridor.
Twilight stops and looks towards it, the statue was some earth pony stallion who was wearing thick armor which covered his entire body, there was one blade carved on his back which was with easy reach of the mouth. Twilight guessed this pony was some form of Knight from the early days of the Crystal Empire, but she couldn’t understand why the helm was shaped like a wolves head.
“That’s Strange” She says suddenly “Only the Griffins do this with their helms and Armor, ponies have never been noted to do this” She as if stating a fact to herself
“Maybe the Crystal Ponies are different” Spike says.
“Maybe spike, I guess I’ll just ask Shinning when we see him about it”
Twilight starts trotting down the corridor once again heading toward the throne room where her brother and sister in law should be at this time of day. She just hoped that there wasn’t court going on.
As Twilight walked into the Throne room she was greeted with the sight of her BBBFF sitting on a small Crystal Throne in front of two ponies. The pony to her right was as Crystal Pony wearing an expensive tailored suit and had a grey gleaming coat and a bluish mane. While the Pony to her left was a brown Earth Pony wearing more practical clothes for the cold and a hat which hid his mane. The two seemed to be in a heated argument.
“Your Highness, this… commoner has disgraced these halls long enough with his lies and accusations towards me!” The suit wearing pony said. “He stands before you ‘claiming’ that I’ve stolen his land when all of sector twelve through fourteen have belonged to my Family since the beginning of the Empire”
“You’re Highness” The other pony says with a slight accent, straining to pronounce his words properly “My family has lived on that there land for the last three generations, I understand that the Empire came back, but when some stuck up pony comes down and says to us to leave, that’s not right” “It wasn’t your land in the first place!”
“You already said that, Heck, I think I said my piece three times now but we keep on going in circles here”
“Well if you would just move we wouldn’t be here!”
“And where can my family go?!”
Shining sighs and stamps his for hoof upon his throne to stop the bickering “Now gentelcolts, I believe I have a comprise which may work” He clears his throat “Mister Harvest’s is a farmer and has been all his life much like his father, his family staked a claim in the frozen north three generations ago and today own the equivalent to 10 acres. These 10 acres are within Sir Crusts 200 acres from before the Empire Vanished.”
“So, there is two options at hoof, the first option is that the crown will give a sum for the 10 acres by how we view the land, or we find Sir Crust land elsewhere to compensate the lost”
Silence fills the throne room as both ponies look at shining, Twilight cannot there expression but by how Sir Crust seems to be shaking he isn’t happy in the slightest.
“This is unacceptable! My Family owns that land and everything on it! You are but a farsh who sits upon the Throne his Wife has a claim upon! Nothing more!” Sir Crust then lifts his head into the air and marches out pass twilight without sparing her a glance, she can see that his face is filled with rage.
He stops at the doors and turns to face Shining Armour “This isn’t over your Highness” he practically spits out the last of his sentence before marching strait into the closed doors causing Twilight to chuckles as he fumes before pushing the doors open and heading out.
“I’m sorry your Highness, I never meant any offense coming to you, its just that my family has been worried epically since we are Equestrians and that others may agree with Jewelled Crust and forcibly remove us”
Mister Harvest says as twilight slowly walks towards the Throne. Shining not paying her any mind yet “No trouble at all Mister Harvest, if you or anyone else are threatened just come to the Palace and I’ll sort it out” Shining says as he steps down from the Throne holding his hoof out to Mister Harvest, who smiles at Shining and shakes his hoof.
“A pleasure meeting you your Highness” He says with a smile before letting go of Shining hoof and heading out giving Twilight a polite nod. As soon as he walks out of the room Shining gain a large goofy smile as he rushes over to Twilight giving her a hug by the likes of only a big brother can manage.
“I missed you so much Twily” He says still hugging her
“I missed you to BBBFF” She giggles returning the Hug as a somewhat quite thud and ‘ow’ is heard from one baby dragon who stands and rubs his bottom as he glares at Twilight “Oops sorry Spike” She chuckles as she breaks the hug
“Oh! Spike you’re here to! Well of course you’re here Twilight would be lost without you huh?” Shining says causing Twilight to protest as she hoof bumps Spike “You’ve gotten bigger then the last time I saw you Spike”
“Yup, Soon I won’t be a ‘Baby’ Dragon anymore, even though I’m the one who practically takes care of Twilight” He says puffing up his chest earning a glare from Twilight and a laugh from Shining
“Hey!” Twilight protests
“There’s some Hay in the Kitchens Twilight” Shining says with a straight face as Spike tries not to laugh at her miss fortune.
“Oh, ha, ha, ha. Pick on the Princess huh” She says glaring at the two of them who just laugh at her causing Twilight to grind her Teeth in frustration.
“Oh Twily, Relax I haven’t had any fun like that for over a week with running the Kingdom while Cadence is off in the Griffin Empire improving relationships and what not. Besides you know me and Spike are Just teasing you”
“Yea Twi, you’ve been so worked up about that discovery that you’ve run yourself ragged. Again” Spike says his tone becoming somewhat more serious. As Twilight chuckles nervously
“Um… Anyways, what can you tell me about it Shining?” She asks hoping to get some answers
Shining’s expression hardens as he speaks “During some excavation in one of the tunnels connecting to the old Catacombs from before Sombra’s rain, the workers came upon some kind of secret passage which lead deep into the earth. They followed it and found a massive cavern, a cavern with a city of steel built inside” He sighs deeply “From what the first teams found it appears they are not Pony made and predate Pony history. And that’s not all, from what they’ve uncovered Sombra was there as well, there’s clear evidence and recent to of work being done down there. But why not a clue”
With each word Twilights face seems to grow in excitement. An entire race that predates pony history found under the Crystal Empire and she’ll be able to explore it. It’s a dream come true, its so good she lets out a squeal of excitement bouncing on her hooves.
“When do we get to go!” She practically shouts causing Shining to chuckle at her antics
“First Twily you need to get something to eat, and get some rest. Then…” he sighs deeply “You need to meet the head researcher. Professor Tombs. Or Dusty as everyone else calls him”
Twilight pauses her train of though hearing the Name Tombs “Do you mean The Tombs? As in the most famous historian and explorer of the time?!” She shouts again causing spike to cover his ears and Shining to do the same.
“Yes.. But you’ll be in for one big surprise Twilight. He isn’t anything like the books and newspapers portray him”
Twilight didn’t hear a word he said as she happily pranced around muttering about how this day kept on getting better. Spike and Shining shared a knowing look as the older of the two began to lead the way to the Kitchens where the Trio could get some just food.
After finishing there meals and idle chit chat, Shining lead Twilight and Spike to there room and parted with a hug and a few remarks. Twilight being anxious immediately crawled into her covers causing the ‘Baby’ Dragon to roll his eyes at his antics
The following day Twilight was up well before dawn in the Crystal Empire and was already ready to go before her faithful assistant was even up. She had her enchanted saddlebags to carry her research notes, quills, ink, books, snakes and anything else she would either possibly need.
She then pranced over to the sleeping dragon and bent down gently nudging him with her hoof “Spikey Wikey time to get uppy~” She says in a singsong voice
“Ok Rarity…” He mumbles a smile on his face as he slowly stretches and yawns giving Twilight first hoof the stretch of a dragon’s morning breath.
After Twilight finished coughing out a lung and rushing to the balcony, Spike was fully awake and Twilight would never be able to look at Spike the same way again. But today was very busy and Twilight refuse to have this set back ruin it.
“Spike! Go and brush your teeth and be in the Dinning Room in ten minuets!” Twilight shouts from her doorway unable to look Spike in the eyes after the incident.
After a minuet or two she begun to happily trot down the long hallway not stopping to view any of the portraits her goal being the kitchen and her mind filled with the thoughts of the things to come this day.
“Morning your Highness” A masculine voice says to her right causing Twilight to jump slighting in fright, her wings flaring out from the sudden surprise. As she turns to face her disturber of thought she is greeted by the bemused face of a crystal guard.
He looks like all the others having a steel grey coat which shimmers in the light, she figures it’s probably an enchantment much like the Royal and Lunar guards have on there armor. “Didn’t mean to startle you your highness” He says calmly breaking Twilights train of thought yet again.
“Oh, the fault is mine, I just got lost in thought again” She chuckles embarrassed her ears pressing down as her cheeks begin to turn crimson.
The guard smiles and nods “If you need any help Princess do ask, we are here to help after all” With that said his stance once again grows strict and he looks towards the opposite wall, still as a statue.
Twilight nods at the Guard before rounding a corner and heading into the private dinning room to find no one other then a few cleaning maids and a single bored looking cook who looks at her with eyes filled with hope.
“Hello Your Highness!” He practically shouts as he swiftly makes his way to you “I am Chief Cuisine and I shall be the one to cook for you today!” He says with a thick Itralian accent.
“Oh that’s wonderful” Twilight smiles for this chief probably doesn’t get to cook much judging from his bored state before “I’ll have some hay bacon and home fries” she says those being two of her favorite foods.
Chief Cuisine looks at her with horror, similar to as if she had just kicked a puppy “Coming right up… Your highness” He says slowly as the hope that was once in his eyes is replaced with sorrow, regret and oddly agony.
Twilight slowly nods smiling unsure of what has caused this sudden change in his mood. She decides to makes her way to the dining table taking a seat on one of the cushions before levitating a book on historical excavations out of her saddle bags and begins to read waiting for her breakfast to be made.
Spike slowly made his way into the dinning room just as Twilights breakfast is served to her by the heart broken Chief “Hey Twilight” he says fully awake.
Twilight to engross in her book didn’t hear a word he said or notice the Chief placing her meal down. Spike then makes his way to sit next to Twilight and begins taking bits of her fries as she continuous to read.
After Spike promptly helps himself to half of Twilights breakfast he begins to poke the lavender Alicorn. “Hey Twilight, Can I have your Hay Bacon?”
Twilight sighs and closes her book “Where were you Spike? I’ve been waiting for longer then ten minuets” She says giving the baby dragon a scolding look.
“Sitting right here Twi, Also your home fries where good by the way” He says with a toothy grin causing Twilight to look at her plate in horror, her favorite part of her meal gone.
Grinding her teeth she levitates her plate to her right and away from the greedy dragon, while putting her book back in place “No you may not have my hay bacon Spike” she finishes with a huff.
Spike chuckles at her as she begins to very un-princess like shovel the hay bacon into her mouth causing the already broken chief to faint from the atrocity of the sight. After several mouthfuls the greasy food is gone and Twilight glares at her now laughing assistant who can’t control him self.
Bringing a napkin to her mouth she gets up and head off levitating the laughing dragon behind her “Its rude to laugh at others Spike, I thought I taught you better”
After a few moments of laughing Spike settles down enough to speak “And I think using a fork as a shovel doesn’t count as good table manners” He finishes with another grin.
“Humph” Twilight retorts knowing that she would have done no such thing, she’s a princess after all and princess do not eat with shovels.
The sound of armored hooves break Twilight out of her thought and she looks behind her to see a crystal guard looking like all the others running towards her. ”Princess! Princcess Sparkle” The guard shouts out as he comes to a pinpoint stop in front of her, his breathing rapid as if he just ran a marathon and sweat on his brow. Not that she noticed of course.
“Yes Guard?”
“Your…” pant “Highnesses” pant “Escorts” pant “are” pant “ready” pant “for your” pant “Journey to” pant “the site” The guard finishing his broken speech begins to breath in and out trying to catch his breath. Spike meanwhile looks at the guard with skepticism and Twilight looks with confusion.
“Why do I need an Escort?”
After a few moments the guard responds “The Prince requested it since the area hasn’t been fully explored and those who first found it heard something moving down there. Nothing has happened but the Prince said to form a small escort of guards”
After letting the information sink in for a bit she begins to respond but gets cut off by Spike “And how many guards are there?”
“Five in total”
“Are you one of them?” Twilight asks quickly
“No, I’m just the messenger and the one to lead you to the site entrance where you’ll meet your personal escort”
“Oh. Then lead the way” she says smiling. The stallion nods his head and walks past her and Spike at a quick walk his armor clanking every so often as they walk.
After a few minutes the three emerge outside the palace and towards the legendary Cathedral, dedicated to some unknown deity which has been lost to the past. Twilight sighs sadly thinking off all the knowledge lost during Sombra’s rain of terror over the Crystal Empire.
As the three walk into the massive building Twilight can’t help but notice how different the building looks. It seems to be made in a different manner then the rest of the city and seems far older. During her last viste to the Empire she never got to exsplore much so she takes the time she now has.
The ceiling is vaulted and made with a combination of Crystals and silver giving it an elegant look. The roof is held up with massive pillars of crystal all engraved with words to faded to make out. The building was clearly made to bring the eyes towards the very end of the grand hall being a massive stain glass window depicting a bolt of lighting striking the earth. The window is surrounded by silver lining much like the rest of the building.
Twilight feels the urge to explore the Cathedral even more, in hopes of finding is hidden secretes but she pushes those thoughts aside as the group make a left. They pass under an arch and head down a bland hallway towards a set of closed crystal doors.
“Alright Princess here we are” The guard who lead her says as he pushes open the door a bright light filling the hallway. Temporary blinding Twilight and Spike as they step into the room the sounds of idle chit chat taking place.
When her vision clears Twilight takes in the sight of the large circular room she stands in with a stair case leading down in the center. Multiple groups of ponies mingle in the room near Mana Lights and tables, five ponies stand near the center of the room wearing different versions of Crystal Armor.
She figures there her escorts and notices that only one is an earth pony ponies. Two others are pegesi and the last two are unicorns, one of which is clearly a mare. And none of them appear to have an enchantment on them all having there natural colors.
“Ah, Princess Sparkle, we are so glad you could make it” A dry snobbish voice says breaking her thought. She turns and is greeted by an older brown unicorn stallion wearing a simple brown coat which resembles leather. His cuitemark is a chisel and hammer over a hieroglyphic.
The lead researcher of the expedition and one of Twilights many ideals was addressing her. She couldn’t help but let out a quiet squeal causing a certain dragon to groan from the upcoming interrogation.
"Professor Tombs! I’ve read all of your books on archeology and pre equestrian history! I’m so happy to be able to work with you, you wouldn’t believe how many questions I have for you especially revolving around your claims that the Princesses are covering up the history of Equestria and the founding ponies"
Twilight takes a breath of air ignoring the fact that most of the attention is on her now and that Professor Tombs is standing in shock looking at her. "During your last expedition into you the uncharted forests around the Silver Peeks you stated that you found evidence of ponies living together which predates the history of Equestrian. And that even though you are a well known historian no pony believe you. Yet you still claim all of these things without any evidence without having any violable proof. I’m an open minded mare, but there no proof and you’ve ruined your name in the academic fields of history"
"You have quite some never your-" he begins before a younger stallion trots up two the pair
"Dusty you got to relax" The new stallion says wrapping his fore hoof around the professors neck. "Besides, the Princess is just asking a question and since there are no news ponies you can cut the act kay?"
"Act?" Twilight says confused looking at the other stallion who has a sandy brown coat and a grey main with several streaks. His eyes are a deep ocean blue and his cutie mark is a single chisel over a stone slab. And he’s wearing a brown Stetson which also looks to be made of leather.
"Yes! That’s right an Act your highness, for you see this here is Dusty Stone, my assistant and my double. I am Professor Tomb" The stallion says giving Twilight a large smile. "And to answer your question. It’s because it’s the truth, and that’s why I sent the invitation to you. Because what we are doing here shall flip all our history upside down" He beams
"But… You’re not him, that’s Professor Tomb" She says pointing to the other stallion.
"And that’s what I want you to think, you see, I don’t like the media and since I don’t want to deal with all of that Dusty here covers for me and does all the conferences and what not, it gives me more time to do what I love" He says still smiling as he removes his fore hoof from Dusty.
"Now, how about I show you the team, then you can go and chat with your watch dogs" He smiles again as he begins to lead Twilight to one of the small clusters of ponies. "What just a second. ‘Professor Tombs’ if that’s who you actually are" Twilight says stopping. "You can’t expect me to believe you are the professor Tombs… You look far too young to have written over two dozen books on your expeditions, you would have been just getting out of University by the time your second book was published"
"Who says I went to University Princess?" he smiles
"What?! You didn’t get schooling and you’re doing this? Are you even licensed?!" She shouts at the Stallion
"Yup! I have all my permits all my licenses and even a few seals from Princess Celestia. And all of it without spending four years learning the difference between dust and dirt" He smiles again as he turns heading towards the group of ponies now snickering at Twilights outburst . "How?! You need a post secondary education in order to become a Professor!" Twilight Fumes as she follows
"Yes, or you can be given a title by Royalty" He says stopping in front of two unicorn mares and an earth pony stallion. "Now this big fellow" He says pointing to the stallion that had a gray coat and black main. "Is Strong Hoof, he’s our head of safety, he makes sure all the tunnels are safe before we go exploring"
"Now this wonderful mare is Silent Charm, she is our data recorder she takes photos of everything before we touch anything and is our cartographer. She doesn’t speak much though" He says gesturing to the light pink unicorn mare with a purple mane.
"And this here is Miss Lyra, she is our head scholar in Equestrian myths and legends. And one of the only ponies who studies that field" He says smiling at the Mint colored mare with a cutie mark of harp.
“Hey Twi!” Lyra says with a large grin looking away from her work “Pretty nifty place we got here huh?”
“Um.. Yea. Nice seeing you again Lyra” Twilight says slightly awkwardly before moving on with Tombs
"Why would you need some pony who studies Myths?" Twilight asks unable to wrap her head around the situation as Spike face claws upon her back.
"I think your assistant knows Princess, but I’ll tell you anyways" Tombs beams "It’s because in all legends and myths there’s a hint of proof. And one of the more common legends which were proven to be fact was the Mare on the Moon. Isn’t that right?"
"Oh, Well I guess that does make sense. But why did you want me exactly?" Twilight asks as they approach two other ponies looking over several charts.
"Oh that’s an easy one, but first gotta show you the rest of the crew" He says before gently smacking a steel grey mare on the back getting her attention instantly.
"I’m busy Tombs, what do you want?" She growls
"This here is Grumpy, our other cartographer who takes the data from Silent and formats it into proper maps and the biggest pain in our butts" He smiles causing the mare to swipe her hoof at him.
"No my name is Seeking Charts" She huffs before turning back to the charts which resemble that of crude maps and paths.
"Besides all of that, this fine young stallion is our resident intern" He says pointing at the young stallion just barely out of High school. The young stallion had a pale cyan coat with a primarily blue mane with white streaks. Twilight couldn’t see his cutie mark but she could tell he was very surprised to see her.
"He’s a shy little fella but he does a good job helping out the crew" Tombs smiles before walking back to the center of the room where Twilights guards stood talking amongst themselves. "This isn’t an excavation crew, there's no workers or diggers or anything like that" Twilight fumes causing Tombs to smile.
"This is an excavation crew and one which everypony thinks is going to fail, but I’ve proven them wrong before. Anyways, to answer your question as to why I wanted you here. Its quite simple. You’re a princess of Equestria your word is law now and you're one of the most renowned scholars in the land. So if you were here while we discovered something the populace will have to believe us" He smiles brightly "Besides if we did discover something and you weren’t here, you’d probably banish your brother for not telling you"
"I wouldn’t banish him! He's my brother" Twilight says with shock.
"You say that now" He grins at her.
"Could you stop upsetting the Princess" a new voices says causing Tomb to glare towards the voice.
Twilight looks forward seeing one of her Escorts has approached her and Tomb. The guard is a fairly large white Unicorn Mare with a grey mane kept braided behind her head. Her armor looks to be made from steel rather than the regular crystal armor of the Crystal Guards or the Imperial Gold which the Royal guard wears.
As Twilight looks over the armor she realizes it's made more for protection and movement than the armor she has normally seen. And upon the shoulder pads are two silver bars for her rank of lieutenant and a golden wreath with an eagle in the center.
"Princess? Did you hear me?" The lieutenant asked somewhat sternly.
"Oh. Sorry, I was inspecting your armor and saw the crest on your shoulder pad. I guess I got a little side tracked" Twilight says sheepishly
"I'll explain that in a moment you're highness. But first introductions are needed. I am lieutenant Shield I'm the head of your escort. If you have any concerns please come to me" Shield says before pointing to the guard closest to her.
"This is Private Flaming Arrow. She is our recon specialist" Shield says quickly. Flaming Arrow is a white Pegasus with a red mane kept in a pony tail. She has a bow and quiver as well as what looks like a lighter version of the Crystal armor.
"Next is Sergeant Tuffy Taffy. My second in command and offensive mage" Shield says pointing to a light beige unicorn mare who's armor seems to be another variation of the Crystal armor but like lieutenant Shields, it's clearly made to be used rather than ceremony.
"This is Sergeant Bright Knight. Our close combat specialist" Shield says pointing to a grey earth pony stallion who's almost as big as Big Mac, wearing thick crystal plates which cover his entire body including his tail.
"And finally Private Star Chaser. Our Field Medic" Shield says pointing to the last pony, a light blue Pegasus Mare with a white mane kept braided much like Shields. Her armor is the same as Flaming Arrows
"We are your personal Escort under orders from both your brother and Princess Celestia. Wherever you go we follow. Any questions?" Shield finally finishes.
"Yea. What's that thing on your shoulder pad?" Spike bluntly says pointing to Shields armored shoulder.
"Spike. That was rude" Twilight scolds
"No harm was done by the Dragons question your highness. Besides you were wondering as well. Were you not?"
"Actually yes" Twilight says curiously
"Well your highness. As you know there's two guard forces in Equestria. The Royal Guard now dubbed Solar Guard and the Lunar Guard. These guards are mostly for show. While I come from the Equestrian Legion"
"The what?" Both Twilight and Spike ask.
"The Equestrian Legion. Equestrias standing army against invaders. Have you never heard of us?"
"Equestria has an army?" Spike asks completely dumbfounded by this information.
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.
Twilight watches as Tombs vanishes into the structure before Strong Hoof throws an illumination crystal into the structure lighting the entrance.
"Ah.. Twilight can I just stay here?" Spike says fear in his voice as he looks at the entrance.
"Sure you don't want to come Spike?" Twilight asks turning to look at him "Could he fun. And no one else will be here with you if you stay"
"Actually Princess" Shield says "Sergeant Knight and Star Chaser will remain outside the building. The Dragon can stay with them"
"If it's not a problem. Alright" Twilight says as Spike climbs off of her back. "Make sure he doesn't get lost" She says to the two escorts who'll be waiting here.
"Of course Princess. You can count on us" Sergeant Knight says with a smile.
Twilight nods before looking to the entrance once more and heading in. As she walks through the hole made she can still feel the heat from the cut. She makes sure to be extra careful as she does a quick mental measurement of the thickness of the massive doors.
She guesses that the cut is two meters long, putting that information away for later she looks around at the massive room. There appears to be another massive door exactly like the last, but the room also contains a smaller door of to the right side which is slightly ajar.
Twilight then notices a red light above the main doorway. She begins to walk closer trying to make it out. It's large illumination crystal from the looks of things held in place by metal brackets. It seems to pulse faintly as if it's almost out of Mana.
"Strong Hoof, start cutting through this door alright?" Tombs says getting Twilight's attention
The two stallions are standing in front of the massive door, Strong Hoof quickly heads out to move the machine into the structure. Meanwhile Silent Charm is taking photos of everything in the clear room.
"Well Princess, what do you think?" Tombs says looking at Twilight a grin on his face.
"Well. I think it's amazing! However. I can't understand why this place would be so big. When the doorway over there is so small... at first I thought they were giants but not? I'm not sure what to think. And this room is so plain" Twilight says with a sign
"Well. Let's go and check out this side door then" Tombs says as he walks forward to the smaller doorway. Silent Charm quickly follows him.
Tombs pushes the door open causing not even a sound as if the doors hinges where new. He peers into the darkness before throwing an illumination crystal. As Twilight approaches she notices Sergeant Taffy nod to Lieutenant Shield and walking over to help Strong Hoof. As she turns her attention back to the other doorway she notices that it too is made of metal and that the side facing the now revealed hallway is covered in dents.
"By the Gods..." Tombs says in shock causing Twilight to stop her inspection and trot forward.
As Twilight trots up beside Tombs she can see what surprised him. Dozens of skeletons lay on the ground in the hallway. There so many that she can't even hope to guess what they look like. But it's clear they're not ponies and that they've been here for a long time. There also appears to be torn fabrics all over the floor and around the skeletons as if they were once clothes.
"I think we found the inhabitants" Tombs says slowly as he slowly picks up a skull. The skull is fairly compact with a small mouth and small eye sockets and a large cranium.
"Alright. Careful from here on. We are going to walk through here and try not to step on the bones" Tombs says as he slowly walks forward taking care of where he steps
"Shouldn't we not disrupt the dead?" Twilight asks slightly revolted that no one cares about this.
"This clearly isn't a grave. This was a fight" Tombs says as he slowly makes his way through. Followed by Silent Charm.
"These people are dead!" Twilight shouts her voice echoing
"Yes. But this isn't a grave. If it was I would go about differently" Tombs replies before throwing an illumination crystal down the hall revealing another door which seems to have even more skeletons piled around it as if they were locked out.
Twilight huffs angrily "And how do you know this was as fight?"
"Well. Two reasons. One, there's a large amount of bodies clearly trying to get into that door. And two" he slowly lifts a large sac like object with his mouth propping it up against him "This Armor of sorts"
All of her anger forgotten, Twilight rushes forward taking care not to step on the bones to see this find. When she gets next to Tombs she takes the sac like thing in her telekinesis to inspect it.
It's much heavier than she thought and it seems to be made of an extremely thick fabric. The sac also has multiple pockets and straps. It's clearly made to be worn and has multiple tears and holes.
She slowly levitates it to the way they came letting it go for further examination. "I don't see how that's Armor, it's heavy but it's not metal"
Tombs shrugs "Look around. There's about five other skeletons with the stuff on and since it's only six with the stuff on. I'm calling it armor"
"Tombs. I found something" Silent says from closer to the doorway. She's holding up a large black object that looks like some sort of club. "I think it's a tool"
"Oh! Now this is a find!" Tomb says hurrying over to look at it.
Twilight heads over as Tombs fuses over it. As approaches him she notices another club. This one much smaller and looks like an L. Slowly she levitates it and inspects it closely. One side seems to be a grip with some sort of lever which is surrounded by a small cover. The other side has a hole which Twilight just can't understand, she levels it close to her eye and looks in. She can't see anything down the hole so she pushes on the lever to see if anything occurs.
A click suddenly feels the hallway causing all conversation to stop and look at her. Twilight also noticed that nothing occurred inside the hole that she could see.
"What's that?" Tombs slowly asks
"A club I think, but there's a hole at one end and a lever at the handle. So I pulled the lever to see what would happen" Twilight says slightly embarrassed.
"Whatever they are, there not clubs" Tombs says and Silent nods.
"The professor is right princess. But I believe you are right by calling them clubs. They most certainly are weapons" Shield says walking over to Twilight to inspect the object.
"I doubt these are weapons Lieutenant. They hold no blades and don't seem dangerous at all" Tomb says "Silent how about you push on the lever just to show that it's harmless"
"You sure that's safe?" Silent asks slowly
"As long as it's not pointed at any pony, yes" Tombs replies
Shield stands in front of Twilight protectively as Silent slowly levitates the object at the opposite door and pushes on the lever causing a click and then a massive bang. A flash comes out slender end of the object and something bangs against the door which bounces off and collides with a mana shield.
Twilight presses her ears against her head her ears ringing and shocked by the power of such a small thing.
"Gods... Silent put that at the other side of the room... we will not be playing around with those" Tombs says clearly shocked.
"You blundering fool!" Shield shouts "You nearly killed somepony because you wanted to prove it was safe! That lever is clearly a trigger like on a crossbow! And only a weapon would need a trigger!" She yells in rage.
"Calm down Lieutenant. No one was -" Tomb begins.
"Don't you say that. If it wasn't for my shield one of you would be dead or injured!" She shouts again.
"I heard a bang! What was that!" Sergeant Taffy says from the way they came.
"A minor set back!" Tombs replies
"An incident that was thankfully avoided" Shield says to which Taffy nods and heads back. Shield then looks at Tombs "If you found any object from this point forward you'll inform me. Understand?" She says threatenly.
"Crystals" Tomb replies before heading to the next door.
Twilight looks to Shield who returns to her normal calm stance before she looks over at Twilight.
"Alright Princess?" She asks her voice filled with concern.
"I think so. Just surprised and scared... I had one of those pointed at my head... I could be dead right now" Twilight responds slowly her voice filled with fright.
"Well you're not. So there's that" Shield says before walking over to where the object which impacted the shield lays. Twilight follows mindful of the bones and looks at the small metal object.
"To think something so small could kill so easily" Shield says.
"Well... this is the most advanced weapon ever encountered before. So I guess it should be deadly. I'm just concerned. Why did only a few have these" Twilight says as she looks around the hallway.
She remembers the indents on the other doorway and as the puzzle comes together. "Oh no... no no no that can't be right!" Twilight says quickly.
She looks at Shield who simply nods her head sadly "Yes princess. These people killed there own for whatever reason"
"But why?! Why would you kill your own people! It's terrible!" Twilight shouts tears coming to her eyes from the thought of this occurring.
"I can't say princess. But this is a civilization we know nothing about" Shield says slowly.
"Princess, I can say with a good amount of evidence they did this to protect whatever this is" Tombs voice comes from the end of the hallway. The doorway being shoved open to show a room filled with multiple faint light sources.
Twilight sniffling approaches the room and steps through the doorway looking around with awe once more. All around the room room are chairs and large glass rectangles which give off the light. And at the far end of of the room on the largest screen is a list of number in the Equestrian language.
"How is that possible?!" Twilight shouts "we shouldn't have the same language!"
"We don't, we just share the same numerical digits" Silent says. "And I believe that this screen is a timer"
Twilight her outburst forgotten looks to the numbers and watches as the very end numbers keep track of the seconds counting up rather than down. She reads the numbers and assuming they follow the same time she counts up the time.
A look of shock crosses her face as she realizes how old this place is. "This says that the structures have been here for over three million years. If we follow our set time"
Silence fills the room as all the ponies look at her "Impossible. Whatever keeps track of the time must be wrong. Nothing should stand that long" Tombs says with conviction
"Professor! The door is open! And you're going to want to see this!" Strong Hoof shouts from the main entrance.
"Well let's go check it out then" Tomb says walking out of the room and towards the main room.
Twilight watches as Silent follows him before looking around the room. She notices several of the armored and clothed skeletons sitting in chairs or leaning against the walls. Twilight guesses they must of died in this room protecting something. But as she looks around she can't see anything important other than the glass and multiple slender rectangles covered with buttons. But since there's so many she can't think they would be important.
As she walks to what she would call the center desk, there's a skeleton wearing a uniform of sorts holding onto the L shaped club in one hand and holding a piece of paper in the other. The uniform has very little on it, just some symbols that show its rank. Twilight removes the piece of paper gently from the skeletons grasp and looks at it finding some sort of writing she can't begin to understand. She then looks over the desk noticing a photograph, some pencils and several other tools she's never seen before.
She picks up the photograph and notices two strange creatures that are smiling. They are dark skinned without any fur other than their long manes. One is clearly an adult the other a child. Both are wearing clothing covering their entire body except their hands and heads.
"I guess these are what they look like" Twilight says more to herself than anypony else.
"They look so strange and happy. I wonder what happened to them" Shield says as she steps next to Twilight to look.
"Lieutenant. Why would these... people build something if they won't use it?" Twilight says looking at Shield "These... these people clearly died of suffocation. Why would they kill themselves? What is so important that they would kill there own people and themselves to protect?"
"I don't know princess. But it must have been important" Shield says. "Now how about you figure out what this thing does" Shield says pointing at the rectangle in front of the glass.
"Alright" Twilight says with a smile as Shield walks off to speak to private Arrow.
Twilight looks over the buttons. She can see two collections of numbers. The first group being at the top of the rectangle and another more squished together to the right. She also notices some mathematical signs and what she can only assume to be letters. Much like a typewriter she thinks as she looks over the buttons for any clues.
Finding none she takes a deep breath and presses the largest button at the bottom. Suddenly the glass in front of her brightens and multiple flashes cover the glass. there meaning lost to her.
Looking over the glass she decides to touch one of the flashing symbols to see if anything would happen.
Suddenly, her hoof connects with something which wasn't there before and a loud beep emits from somewhere in the room. All of the glass rectangles seem to dim minus the massive one which turns a bright white.
Suddenly the glass flashes and an image of the room there in comes onto the screen like a photograph. Voices speaking a strange language are heard and Twilight can see several of the creatures doing various jobs throughout the room. All wearing clothing.
Suddenly a creature walks right into the center of the screen and begins to speak in what sounds like a serious tone. The creature had dark skin and no fur or even a mane. It had a large scar on its face and is wearing the armor. What it's saying Twilight can't even guess.
"Princess! What a this!?" Tombs suddenly shouts as he rushes into the room. "What did you do?!"
"I was looking and presses one of the buttons on their advance typewriters and then I tried to touch the glass and this happened!" Twilight says quickly
"Gods! It's an ancient dialect, similar to Ancient Minus! Silent translation spell!" Tombs shouts quickly
Silent’s horn lights up and suddenly the voice makes sense.
"know you are apart of the repopulation program. It'll be your duty to live on and insure the survival of our people"
The clearly male voice says before he sighs and looks sadden. "When you awake the world will be a different place. We have burnt the earth in hopes of stopping our great enemy and what will come of the world we do not know. But whatever it is you'll adapt and survive. This is your duty just as it's mine to insure you survive till then. My name is Johnson O'Conner and this is my gift to you. Following this message a list of instructions will be given to insure you are prepared for the new world"
Suddenly multiple loud bangs are heard from the doorway and Johnson stands drawing an L shaped object "Barricade the door! Don't let them in!"
Then the glass becomes black with several long lines of an unreadable text.
"Wow... That's pretty intense" Tombs says looking art the glass. "To think we are the first to see this message meant for the survivors of a race"
"What did he mean... burnt the earth?" Twilight asks
"No idea... but if they could really have done that... they must have been very powerful" Tombs says slowly.
"Well. Let's go see that other doorway" Twilight says blinking back tears at what must have unfolded.
Twilight heads back to the main room being mindful of the skeletons. She ignores the weapons and armor her ears folded against her head as she tries not to cry from these people's terrible fate. Whatever it may be.
"Princess are you Alright?" Shield asks walking next to her.
"I'm fine Lieutenant Shield" Twilight says with a forced smile.
Shield nods in response clearly not convinced but heads through the cut in the other doorway. Twilight follows behind and from what Twilight can tell it's the same thickness as the last major doorway.
She slowly walks into the already illuminated room which simply leads to a hallway which slopes down. Following Lieutenant Shield she slowly makes her way down the barren hallway.
There's several of the dim illumination crystals all along the hallway but besides that there's nothing but the metal walls. After several minutes they reach the end of the slope and enter a large rectangular room. Directly in front of them is another massive door being cut through and on each side of the room are two smaller doors which appear to have a field protecting them.
Twilight approaches one of the smaller doors being roughly one meter wide and two meters tall and she begins to probe the field with her magic trying to find whatever caused it.
As her magic touches the field she gets a massive feed back cutting off the spell and giving her horn a shock. "Ouch!" She yelps stepping back slightly and shaking her head to remove the dizziness.
"Princess, what's wrong" Shield says standing next to her once more followed closely by Arrow.
"I.. it's nothing. I was trying to find the source for the field covering the smaller doors. But when my magic made contact I was given major feedback" Twilight says with a hint of embarrassment.
"Is that all?" Shield asks concerned.
"Yes" Twilight says nodding before looking at the strange field again. She lights up her horn to use a sensory spell and tries to find any other details in the walls which may explain what the field is.
Instead she finds that the walls are preventing her from sensing anything. As if there blocking her magic.
"Tombs. I think I just discovered something" Twilight says calling out to Tombs.
Tombs looks over to Twilight from his position near the machine "And what's that Princess?"
"These walls are preventing me from using my magic on or through them. It's as if they're resistant to Magic or even block it entirely" Twilight says as she makes her way over to Tombs.
"Really? Never noticed that before" Tombs says as he lights up his own horn. And after a few moments he nods to himself "Seems that you're right princess. I can't even touch the walls with my magic. Looks like we'll have to hire an expert on this kind of thing" Tombs says with remorse.
"Why would you need an expert? And an expert of what exactly" Twilight asks
"An expert on metallurgy as well as an expert in fields of anti magic. Preferably not someone from Canterlot" Tombs says as he begins to walk away back towards the almost cut doorway.
Thinking over his words Twilight looks over to her two escorts both of whom are watching the machines progress. "Lieutenant. What do you think of all of this?"
Shield looks over at Twilight with a neutral look before replying "I'm not one to share my thoughts unless they involve my job your highness"
Sighing before responding "Lieutenant, I know you like to remain at a formal level, but I don't like that all the time. And I would like it if we could have more than just a Guard and Princess relationship"
Arrow looks at Twilight with a bemused expression before Shield sighs deeply. "And I prefer the Guard and Princess relationship. But so be it your highness" Shield says before giving Twilight a hard look "I think we are doing something incredibly dangerous. We have no idea what occurred here. No idea if those people are still alive. And no idea what is in this place. And to top it off. We are cutting holes into doors that were clearly made to remain shut"
Twilight folds her ears against her head and looks down feeling guilty "When you put it like that I guess you're right"
Twilight hears Shield sigh deeply "I'm not berating you Princess. I'm just telling you how I feel. Like you asked"
"Um, Lieutenant. I think that the Princess gets it" Arrow says cautiously.
"You're not required to think Private. Now go and get Sergeant Taffy" Shield says her voice filled with authority. And without a word Arrow trots out back to the entrance to get t
Sargent Taffy.
"Princess. They've cut through the door" Shield says as she begins to walk away.
Twilight slowly looks up and sighs unsure on how to feel about the harsh Lieutenant. Deciding to simply follow Shield into the next room and put aside the thoughts of the guard tell later.
As she walks through the entrance, Tombs, Strong Hoof, Silent and Shield are all standing in the radius of the an illumination crystal. Looking about at the massive room. It's so large that they can't even see the ceiling.
"Gods. This place is massive" Tombs says echoing Twilight's thoughts. "We are going to way more illumination crystals to even explore this place.
"Professor. I think we should hold up for a bit. We've been in here for a few hours now and a break is needed" Strong says his voice filled with concern.
"I agree with the Security Officer. This room appears too large and until we've learned more about this place from the previous rooms we shouldn't continue" Shield says with little emotion as normal for her.
"Alright, alright. I was going to suggest the same thing you two" Tombs says before turning around and heading back out followed by the rest of his team.
As Twilight leaves she looks back to see Shield looking into the darkness. A look of concern on her face. When she notices Twilight staring her expression hardens and she begins to walk out.
Twilight turns and moves so Shield doesn't collide with her and she notices Arrow and Taffy standing in the room once more.
"You two. Set up a barrier crystal and guard this entrance. No one is to come in. And if you hear or see anything. Report it. Understand?" Shield says with authority once more as she steps out of the massive chamber.
"Yes Lieutenant" Both Taffy and Arrow respond with practised ease.
Tombs and the others are already heading up the ramp and Twilight follows them wanting to speak to Shield about how she treats those in her command. But knowing that a conversation like that will not go well.
Twilight looks back to see Shield following her at a respectable distance as she makes her way up the ramp. From this angle she can make out that it's actually quite high. It makes her wonder just why it goes so deep below the surface if its already underground.
After some time the group including Spike but minus all of Twilight's Escorts besides Shield. Make it to the main area within the Cathedral to regroup and re-evaluate the situation.
"Welcome back guys!" An excited Lyra says as the emerges from the hole. "Found anything cool?"
"Yup. Broke through the door with the new drill and found that things are more confusing than we thought" Tombs replies with a large grin.
The rest of the Excavation crew crowd around Tombs and the others and they begin to exchange words faster than Twilight can keep up with.
She smiles knowing that this is a huge discovery and will make all of them extremely famous for centuries to come. Suddenly a claw taps her shoulder causing her to look at Spike.
"Yes Spike?" Twilight asks.
"Lieutenant Shield has been trying to talk to you but you zoned out there for a moment" The little dragon responds with a shrug.
Blushing Twilight turns to Shield "Sorry about that, what did you need?"
"I would like to request additional Guards Princess. Not for your escort but for the site and excavation team. I can't spread out your escort to keep the others safe" Shield says seriously.
"Oh. I guess that makes sense. Did you ask Tombs?" Twilight asks not wanting to step on the professors hooves.
"We spoke earlier and he agreed" Shield replies.
"Alright then. We can go and ask Shining" Twilight says as she begins to trot out. She wanted to talk to her brother anyways and Spike could use a good break and lunch.
"Very well" Shield replies following behind Twilight.
"So Spike. What do you think?" Twilight asks the little dragon.
"Of the structures? Or the Guards? He replies.
"Either or"
"Well. I think Sergeant Knight is a pretty cool stallion. He's pretty funny and laid back and Star Chaser is fun. She kept on pulling little pranks on Knight and telling jokes. I'm pretty sure she did it cause I was there. Otherwise it would have been boring" Spike says.
"That's good"
"Speaking of this stuff Twi. What was that loud bang inside the structure?" Spike asks some worry in his tone.
"Oh. That was an accident. We found a strange object and so Tombs pressed one of the levers and it turned out to be some kind of weapon. No idea how it works but nopony was hurt, thanks to Shield"
"Oh. That's good. It was pretty loud you know"
"Yea. And pretty scary" Twilight says with a light chuckle. "Anyways we're going to speak to Shining if you want you can get a late lunch" Twilight says looking back at Spike “And i heard Shining got you some Sapphires”
Spike's eyes light up all of the concern on his face gone “Really?!”
“Yup, I’ll drop you off at the Kitchen if you want. Ask Chief Honey Puff for Lunch”
“Awesome!” He says excitedly as Twilight faces forward chuckling.
After a few minutes the three of them emerge from the Cathedral into the streets of the Crystal Empire, the Crystal Palace is easily seen over the rooftops, its spires glittering in the afternoon sun. Twilight begins to head out onto the streets watching as the crowds of Crystal ponies go on there way.
Twilight maneuvers her way through the crowd as Shield walks next to her, but she can’t help but feel that somepony is watching her. Glancing about she can’t see anypony directly spying on her and just as she begins to look the feeling vanishes. Passing it off as her being a little jumpy she continues on her way.
Within a few minutes and avoiding some news ponies she makes it to the palace without incident. Walking past the palace guard she makes her way to the kitchen. “Alright Spike, we’re here. Be good now and don’t eat too much” Twilight says to him with a smile “I’ll pick you up in a bit ok?”
“Yea Twi, Be good” Spike says his mouth already watering.
Chuckling Twilight heads to the throne room to see her brother in hopes of getting some more answers and requesting those extra guard ponies.
After a few moments Twilight and Shield walk into the throne room just as several nobles with cold expressions head out. The leader of the group gives her a dirty look before the doors close behind them.
"Shining... what was that all about?" Twilight asks as she turns to her brother, whom looks as if he's had a very stressful day.
"The seventh group of nobles who came in telling me they wouldn't accept me as their prince" he sighs deeply "And the second which opposes Cadences rule as well"
"Can they even do that?" Twilight asks concerned.
"They can always revolt. We are close enough to the Griffin Empire that they could hire mercenaries" Shining says sighing deeply.
"Well. Hopefully Cadence gets back soon" Twilight says hopefully.
"That's the worst part. Cadence is going from the Griffin Empire to the Minous Republic!" Shining shouts as she grips his forehead in his hooves "So she won't be back for a few weeks"
"Oh. Well. Why don't you send a message to the Princesses?" Twilight asks.
"I have. And I'll be sending another one as well as requesting for some more guards" He replies.
"Why more guards?" Shield suddenly asks "isn't there enough to handle a small revolt?"
Shining only sighs "Yes. But not enough to patrol and guard key positions"
"Um.. speaking of guarding.... it's one of the reasons we came. I would like to have some more guards to guard the crew themselves. Since my escort had to today" Twilight says tentatively.
"Yea. I was planning on that after one of the groups mentioned you. And that somepony leaked some images of you in front of the structures" Shining says sighing once more.
"I'll have them sent later tonight twenty or so should do. Plus ten to guard the Cathedral itself" He says before standing. "Anything else Twily?"
"Yes actually. But it's kinda private" Twilight says giving Shield a sorry look.
"I understand Princess. I'll wait outside" Shield says with a bow before walking out. As doors shut once more Twilight let's out a breath she didn't know she kept in.
"Let me guess. It's about Lieutenant Shield?" Shining asks
"Yes. I just can't wrap my head around her" Twilight responds before sitting down sighing head hanging.
"Little sis has a crush after the first day?"
"Yea. WAIT NO!" Twilight suddenly shouts standing up her cheeks red with embarrassment. "I wanted a serious talk and you say that!"
"Jeez Twilight calm down. I'm just poking fun after a very rough day. Now tell me what's wrong" Shining says with good humor.
After several deep breaths to regain her composure "Why is Shield so harsh and..." She pauses unsure of the right word.
"Strung up?" Shining asks
"I guess that works"
"Well. It's because she comes from a family of military officers. And she was always expected to do the best. That's what it comes down to. Don't take it personal Twi. She's just doing her job"
"I guess. It's just so wrong, I never asked to be royalty. Sure it's every fillies dream but. I never really wanted it. And she'll never call me by my name. Just your highness this or princess that"
"You'll get use to it Twi. Just treat her and your other escorts well. And you'll have no problems" Shining says as he puts a comforting hoof on her shoulder.
"Alright Shining. And thanks for the chat. I better go and rescue the Chiefs from Spike now" She says with a light chuckle before hugging Shining.
Breaking the hug the two of them head separate ways. Shining to find a courier and Twilight out the doors to get Spike. Walking into the hallway Shield is standing off to the side with her eyes closed seemingly deep in thought.
Twilight decides to slowly approach her and as she reach a meter or so away Shields eyes flare open.
"Where to now Princess" Shield says with her normal neutral voice.
"Off to get Spike and then to my room for the rest of night" Twilight responds with a hint of sadness.
"Very well" Shield replies.
The two head over to the kitchens where they find a clearly well fed Spike and a extremely happy chief who's cleaning multiple pans and pots. The chief doesn't even notice Twilight and Shield take the stuffed dragon out of the room.
They then make there way to Twilight's chamber. Twilight heads into the room and places Spike in bed before she takes a seat at her desk to begin some studying and research on anything related to massive underground structures.
After her candle stick is nearly depleted Twilight feels a hoof nudge her causing her to jump slightly.
"Sorry Princess. But you missed dinner and it's an hour before midnight. So I brought you something small to eat" Shield says levitating a tray with a sandwich on it.
"Oh. Um thank you" Twilight says smiling
"It's tomatoes and lettuce. I hope that's alright" Shield says as she levitates the tray onto the only open space on the desk. "Enjoy" She says before exiting the room and leaving Twilight once more alone.
"It's really nice of her to get me a sandwich" Twilight comments to herself "but I hate tomatoes" She sighs before picking out the offending topping and eating the sandwich.
Once she finishes she begins to take up her studies once more replacing her candle with a new one.
A bright light glares down towards Twilight, she knows she should be getting up but she is just so content. She managed to ignore the poking and prodding, she could easily ignore a little light.
Smiling from content her eyes firmly closed to keep out as much light as possible she smacks her lips. When suddenly a horn blasts next to her ear.
She screams in fright kicking out banging her forehooves on a table as she falls back still screaming before landing into a large pillow. However she continues to scream and flailing her limbs in fright from the noise which awoke her from her slumber. Just as she begins to realize she's on something soft a bang occurs which she assumes must be a door.
She cranes her head seeing a very angry Shield holding up Spike in her telekinesis giving him a very stern look.
“What did I tell you when you asked me to help you wake up the Princess the first time?” Shield asks harshly.
“Umm… That the Princess will get up when she gets up” Spike replies slowly
“And the Second time?” Shield asks as Twilight slowly turns herself so she can get onto her hooves to help defend Spike before Shield can chew him out more.
“The same thing?” Spike says as Twilight clears her head from the ringing of the horn.
“It's alright Shield… Spike was just being helpful in his own way” Twilight says with a smile.
Shield gives her a bemused look “Spike managed to gain a Trumpet, laid out all of your pillows and blankets on the ground around your chair, locked the door to prevent me from entering and then blew said trumpet in your face” She says gesturing to each of the different items used in Spikes plan. “That is not helpful”
Spike chuckles looking nervous glancing between Shield and Twilight. “Um… trying to help?”
Twilight looks at Spike with a small smile before looking at Shield “Please put Spike down”
Shield nods letting the dragon down before heading towards the door “I'll be outside Princess, breakfast will be here shortly” Shield says before walking out closing the door.
“So… I'm not in trouble?” Spike asks hopefully giving Twilight a smile.
“Oh Spike. You're in a bunch of trouble” Twilight replies evenly
The Dragon lowers his head and sighs deeply knowing he's in for a scolding.
After scolding Spike, having a shower and eating her breakfast Twilight was ready to take on the day. Thankfully due to Spike’s antics she only slept till 8:37 in the morning. Meaning her time table wasn't to damaged and she manages to get caught up easily.
Smiling to herself Twilight heads out of her room with an upset Spike upon her back. She'll let him stay with Shining for some “Colt time” as Spike once put it. That'll cheer him up. And it'll mean she won't have to worry about him to much.
“Hello Shield” She greets her Escort with a smile causing Shield to sigh as she follows Twilight at a distance.
“Hello Princess. You are in a good mood” Shield notes
“Why yes. While eating my breakfast I was re reading some notes from last night and I believe I have a theory as to why the lost civilization and ours share the same numbers” Twilight explain happily as she trots towards the throne room
After a moment of silence Shield speaks up “And what is that Theory Princess?”
“Well, it's been believed for some time that ponies first used our current digits after interaction with nomadic Minotaurs. For before that point we used the Imperial numbers which were letters. And Tombs mentioned something about the person in the image speaking something like an old minotaur language. I figured that there must be a connection between this race and the Minotaurs” Twilight finishes with a large smile.
“You believe that this race was in contact with Minotaurs?” Shield asks.
“That or, the Minotaurs found something like these structures a long time ago. Possibly before they became united. And the Minotaurs have been recording history far longer than the pony tribes”
“So you're saying that the Minotaurs found this place first?” Spike asks.
“Maybe not this place. But I think there may be traces of this civilization in other regions” Twilight replies turning to look at Spike with a smile glad that he is taking an interest. “But it's just a theory right now”
The three of them move towards the entrance to the throne room, Shield has gone quiet while Spike seems to think about what Twilight had said. Twilight meanwhile continues to ponder her theory trying to find the areas that will require more evidence and the aspects which don't make sense.
She almost bumps into the Crystal Guards standing in front of the entrance to the throne room when Shield taps her on the shoulder. “Princess” Shield says to help catch Twilight's attention.
“Oh yes?” Twilight asks surprised looking back towards the contact.
“We are here your Highness” Shield says.
Looking forward Twilight sees she's standing just in front of a Crystal guard. She chuckles and steps back. “Sorry gentlecolts I was lost in thought. Didn't mean to bump into you”
The Guard nods his head as if to accept the apology not speaking.
“Could we go into the throne room” Twilight asks.
With another quick nod the guards push open the throne room doors allowing Twilight and Shield to easily walk in.
The throne room had several Crystal and Royal guards standing at attention. Far more than yesterday Twilight mentally notes. Shining is sitting on the throne looking over some papers and scrolls, not yet noticing Twilight.
Twilight walks towards the Throne ignoring the Increased security. “Hey BBBFF” She says to Shining.
Shining looks up at her with a small weary smile “Hey Twi. Been pretty busy this morning” He sighs deeply clearly tired and frustrated but hiding it “So what can I do for you Twi?”
“Well. Wanted to say Hi and I wondered if I could leave Spike with you Today. He seemed scared of the Dig Site” Twilight says as Spike grumbles.
“I'm not scared. I just.. I just didn't want to be there” He says puffing up his chest earning a chuckle from Twilight and Shining.
“I can do that Twi. Having your number one assistant will help me out a great deal. And I could teach him all the things about being a real Stallion” Shining says as he puffs out his chest with a grin causing Spike to laugh as Twilight rolls her eyes.
“Alright. Also is it alright if I. Head to the vault to pick up some of you know who's journals?” Twilight asks as Spike climbs off of her to sit next to Shining.
“Yea, just make sure you sign them out. The Vault Guards get upset when they can't find the inventory” He says with as smile.
“Alright. Talk to you later Shining. Hope you and Spike can have that bonding time” Twilight says with a smirk before walking towards the exit Shield in tow.
“Twi. Can I borrow Shield for a moment? Need to ask her a few things” Shining suddenly says.
Looking over her shoulder at Shining and Shield, Twilight can't help but feel something is off. “Alright. I'll head over to the vault while you do that” She says with a smile before heading out the doors opening as Lieutenant Shield looks to Shining.
As the doors close Twilight can't shake the feeling that she should have at least stayed. She shakes her head removing those thoughts as she begins to make the trek to the Vault already noticing the absence of Shield.
After descending several flights of stairs Twilight arrives in front of the ‘Crystal Empire Vault’ the Vault door is massive but still dwarfed by the doorways at the dig site. It's made of crystal rather than metal and seems to radiate light possibly from enchantments
She also comes face to face with a dozen of the heaviest armored guards she has ever seen. All but two of the guards are Crystal Ponies. Each of the Crystal Ponies are clad in thick crystal plate, the plates covering their entire forms. Only there muzzles can be seen and each has a massive halberd made of steel, an alloy more common in the Empire than the rest of Equestria.
The two other ponies are unicorns and wear thick robes, one being a dark grey with black and silver details, the other being a lighter grey with white and gold details. Both however have an emblem that Twilight has never seen before upon their shoulders.
The emblem is split into six parts with a six pointed star in the center. Each part is a different color, the colors being red, yellow, white, blue, green and black. The unicorns heads are hidden under thick hoods making everything about them a mystery.
Smiling and pushing her fear to the side Twilight steps toward the guards. “Hello, I'm here to enter the vault and retrieve a few items”
Twilight assumes that the ponies keep their gaze upon her as none move. She continues to smile still walking towards the vault.
“Is that alright?” She asks after a moment of her hoof steps being the only sound as her clip clops echo throughout the stone chamber.
She passes the first two guards both looking forward not paying her any mind. The two crystal guards next to the vault entrance suddenly move to the side and begin to enter a complex code at the same time causing Twilight to halt.
The doors many mechanics can be heard shifting as the locks begin to click. After twelve clicks the door begins to open inwards revealing a dark ominous chamber.
Twilight forces herself to not gulp as she walks forward again past all the guards up to the two unicorns at the center. They both part for her and turn flanking her as she enters passing through the massive vault door.
As soon as she steps foot into the vault it's as if a veil is removed from her the darkness vanishing instantly. She looks around in awe seeing piles of gold and Gems. Ancient treasures laying about everywhere. It's like walking into a gold covered museum.
She grins as she looks for anything that catches her eye. The darkness being pushed to the side for now as she walks deeper into the vault the two unicorns following suit as the door begins to shut.
She spots a suit of armor standing near one of the piles. It's like the one which the statue in the main hallway to the throne room had. However rather than a wolf shaped helm it was shaped like a bear and was made of a dark alloy. She examines it closer seeing nothing else of interest but wanting to know why he helm was shaped in such a way.
Sighing she turn to the unicorn on her left, the unicorn was wearing the darker robes and even at this distance she couldn't see into the hood. It was similar to how she couldn't see into the vault.
“Excuse me. But where can I find Sombra’s Journals? I need to look over a few of them for any information about his excavations” She says looking at the figure.
The unicorn simply lefts a hoof and points deeper into the vault. Causing Twilight to frown and their actions.
“Thank you” She says anyway and moves in the direction of the hoof passing more items of wealth along the way. Before long she comes to several small bookcases standing out in the open. They have few books upon them causing Twilight to once again frown by not questioning it.
She approaches one of the book cases and skims the titles noticing most are related to magic. Specifically dark magic's. She sighs moving to the next shelf finding what she was looking for almost instantly.
Sombra’s personal journals, each one is fairly thick and made of a black material, the lettering is all written in silver showing the worth of each journal. There Is however only six journals far less than Twilight expected. She pulls them out and notices each is locked with a simple latch.
She floats each of the journals into her saddle bags and turns to the two unicorns whom escorted her. “Which way is out?” She asks with a smile.
The lighter unicorn points to there left, Twilight smiles still unnerved by the behavior of the two ponies but heads in the direction anyways.
As she approaches the vault door it begins to open inwards once more and she notices that the chamber outside the vault is pitch black as well. She frowns and casts as simple scanning spell to see what's the cause of this.
As she walks through she detects multiple spell matrix's all interconnected to form a powerful illusion of sorts that's subjective to a single location rather then an object or a pony. While in thought Twilight doesn't even notice her surroundings.
“Princess?” Shield asks causing Twilight to once again jump slightly startled.
“Oh! Hello Shield. Sorry I was thinking about the spell matrix that makes the vault appear to be dark” Twilight says with a small smile.
“It's no problem Princess. Found what you needed?” Shield asks as Twilight begins to walk towards the stairs Shield flanking her as the vault closes once more.
“I believe so. There wasn't much which is surprising” Twilight replies.
“Hopefully it is enough Princess”
Twilight nods her head before turning to look at Shield “So what did Shining want from you?”
Shield stares ahead not looking at Twilight as she replies “He wanted to inform me of the increase in Guards”
“Oh. Alright I'm just wondering because he seemed slightly worried about something” Twilight says with a sigh looking ahead as she begins to climb the spiral stairs.
“You have nothing to worry about Princess. Let us go to your room and then the dig site” Shield says still flanking Twilight as they head up the stairs.
After Twilight and Shield dropped Sombra’s Journals off in her room the two quickly moved to the Cathedral. At the urgency of Twilight of course.
While on the main streets Twilight noticed the sudden change in most ponies. A good portion of the ponies where not shining and seemed to be upset for the most part. They didn't act any differently though, but it was quite the change. One which Twilight wanted to find out, even if it meant being a little late.
She approaches one of the Crystal Ponies who lacked there shine and coughed into her hoof to gain their attention. The pony, a cobalt mare with a navy blue mane and blue eyes turns to look at Twilight.
“How can I help you your highness?” She asks pleasantly a hint of sadness in her voice.
“I was wondering what a wrong. Many crystal ponies aren't shining and conceding the Crystal heart is intact I was concerned” Twilight says pleasantly to the mare giving her a smile.
“Well. I'm just not feeling all that well today. With the new laws being implemented” The mare replies.
“What laws?” Twilight asks.
“The ones about how Southern Crystal foals needs to be taught in separate classes from the Northern Crystal ponies” She says sighing.
“My brother wouldn't add that law. It's racist. And I've never heard about there being more then one crystal pony” Twilight says confusion becoming apparent in her voice.
“Oh no. It wasn't Prince Armor. He's been good to us. It was the Noble council. Something about the law being present before Sombra took over” She says quickly defending Shining.
“I see. Well I'll look into it miss..” Twilight trails off not knowing her name.
“Gleaming Cobalt” She says with a small smile.
“Alright miss Cobalt. I'll look into this as soon as I can” Twilight says with a smile before walking off thinking over what information she has.
Before this point she believed that there was just one tribe of Crystal ponies and never considered that there was more then one. Or that there was a racist prejudice against one tribe. One which Sombra for some reason ended. As Twilight begins to think more into this new problem she once again becomes lost in thought only stopped when Shield stops her with a hoof.
Pushing her new theories to the side she looks at Shield who gives her a hard look. “Princess you need to pay better attention” Shield says slowly almost in a scolding manner.
“Sorry Shield I was lost in thought. What Moss Cobalt said gas put a lot on my mind” Twilight says sheepishly.
“I understand. However right now we need to take a detour. There seems to be a commotion at the Cathedrals main entrance” Shield says pointing forward a large collection of ponies most being crystal ponies who have gleaming coats, appear to be trying to enter the Cathedral.
“Shouldn't we do something?” Twilight asks.
“The Guards will be able to handle it on there own. And I can't have you risk yourself” Shield says as she turns down an ally “Come on Princess there's a back entrance”
Looking towards the crowd of ponies Twilight sighs knowing it's better to follow Shield “Alright” Twilight says before following.
Shield leads Twilight through the maze like ally always glancing at Twilight over her shoulder every few moments. Before long they come out of the ally and on a smaller street close to the west side of the Cathedral.
“If we follow this street we'll be at the rear entrance of the Cathedral in no time” Shield explains to Twilight as she continues to lead the way.
After a few moments Twilight speaks up “Why are we avoiding those ponies. Is there something I should know?”
“To my knowledge you know more then I. Those ponies seemed like they where causing trouble and I don't want them to get any ideas” Shield replies.
“And what if they have a legitimate concern. That Cathedral is apart of the Crystal pony heritage” Twilight says as she trots up next to Shield.
“Then they would have gone to you're brother” Shield replies her tone getting slightly harsh.
“And what if they tried?” Twilight replies evenly.
“Then they wouldn't be protesting to the guards. I'm sorry Princess but I believe those ponies are up to no good and as your protector it's my job to insure your safety and avoid dangerous situations” Shield replies looking at Twilight giving her a hard look.
“I can make my own choices” Twilight replies getting irritated with Shields actions and tone of Voice. Shield doesn't respond, instead looking forward as they walk in silence towards the Cathedral.
Before long the two walk find themselves outside a plain wooden door. Shield knocks on it several times in some form of code and backs away.
The door unlocks with an audible click and opens on rusty hinges. A royal guard stands in the doorway and gives Shield away salute before bowing to Twilight.
“Princess. Lieutenant. Sorry about the trouble out front. We'll keep them back” He says in a gruff voice as he steps to the side.
“Thank you Private” Shield says as she walks forward.
Twilight gives a small smile to the guard and follows Shield. The door closes and locks behind her. As she walks she notices many carvings of various things. Primary of ponies fighting monsters. She figures they each hold some form of story, one which she will have to find out on a later date.
“After you Princess” Shield suddenly says pointing to the open doorway leading to the chamber where the excavation crew stays.
She walks on nodding to Shield still upset with her but not enough to be rude. As she walks in she immediately notices several things. First there's now a dozen guards wearing steel armor much like Shields if which having the ‘Legions’ Emblem. Secondly there's multiple crates of various things, a crane set up over the passage down into the cavern below. Then there's multiple new ponies. Two beige Earth pony stallions working the crane, a white Unicorn mare with a blue mane sitting off to the side and two greyish stallions both with saddlebags filled with tools speaking to Tombs.
Twilight also notices that about half of the excavation crew isn't accounted for. She begins to walk towards Tomb gaining some attention specifically from the new unicorn and one of the grey stallions. As Tomb finishes something he turns to look at Twilight with a smile.
“Welcome back Princess. Ready to make the discovery of the century?” Tombs asks pleasantly.
“Didn’t we just do that yesterday?” Twilight replies with good nature.
“Indeed we did, but every day there's more to find there. Now I take it you've our newest additions” Tombs says still smiling.
“Yes, but I'd like to know why exactly. If you don't mind sharing that is” She says with a smile as Shield stands next to her.
“Well. This elderly stallion is Light Stroke” Tombs says pointing to the older Stallion next to him. The stallion has a deep grey coat covered in soot as if he was just working with coal. “He is the owner of Stroke Family Forge. And is one of the best pony black Smiths in the world” Tombs says beaming.
“And next to him is his son Quick Stroke” Tombs begins pointing to the younger stallion standing next to his father. His coat is a more metallic color but he shares his father's dark grey mane and soot covered form. “And they'll be the ones testing the metal fragments we collect. And helping to explain what they can” Tombs finishes.
Both of the mention stallions nod there heads when Tombs finishes, Quick Stroke also steps forward and gives a small bow. “Honor to be working along side these fine ponies and yourself your Highness” He says with a thick accent making his words sound rough.
“You to mister Quick” Twilight replies with a smile.
“Well. I'll meet you two down in the excavation zone soon. Go and meet Strong Hoof down below and see if you can help him and the others out with the equipment” Tombs says to the two stallions.
“Alright Professor” Quick says before he leads his son down the stairs into the cavern below.
“So I take it the rest are down already?” Twilight asks as they make there way over to the unicorn mare.
“Yup. We got a bunch of supplies when the new guards showed up. Bunch of proper research equipment and what not. So there setting that all up. Hence the crane crew” Tombs begins as they pass the two ponies using the crane. “And then get to Gem Cutter. One of the rarer breeds if crystal ponies. A crystal pony unicorn” Tombs finishes dramatically as they stop in front of the somewhat shocked Gem Cutter.
“Um.... Hello your Highness…” She says nervously quickly glancing between Tombs and Twilight.
“Hello” Twilight says as friendly as she can to the clearly nervous mare.
“I just happened to run into her yesterday after you left. She explained how she's one of the few experts in crystals left and I figured she could help out with the excavation around the structures” Tombs says with a smile as the mare begins to calm down. “And the fact that she's a unicorn from the Empire made me even more interested” He finishes with a chuckle.
Gem Cutter sighs and looks down as if ashamed by the statement. “Unfortunately yes” She says sadly.
“Don't be like that Gem” Tombs says encouraging. “Your not some bogy mare or outcast your a pony like everypony else” He says with a smile. “Ain't that right princess?” Tombs says looking at Twilight.
“Why wouldn't she be?” Twilight asks somewhat confused by Gem Cutter’s behavior.
“Due to her being like late King she seems to think she's evil” Tombs says with a roll of his eyes. “But we know that's wrong”
“Well of course she isn't like Sombra. Sure I never knew that there was another tribe of Crystal ponies, but Sombra became what he was because of dark magic not being a Crystal Unicorn” Twilight says firmly.
“Well. Thanks for the talk Princess… but I'm going to head down now” Gem Cutter says before making a hasty retreat down the stairs.
After a moment Tombs sighs “Poor lass. Probably gets harassed by them ‘Northern Crystal Ponies’” He says with a huff.
“Speaking of that. What's this entire thing with the two different groups. I thought there was only crystal ponies” Twilight says looking at Tombs.
“Well. From what we've gathered. There's several tribes of crystal ponies. You have your Northern, Southern and then the rare Crystal Unicorns. There's really only two tribes the North and the South both of which where separate nations that joined together to form the Empire. But it seems that one group thinks better of themselves then the other” Tombs says with a Sigh. “And unfortunately for your brother he has to deal with this issue now”
“So. There was originally two groups of crystal ponies? And after they merged one thought better of themselves?” Twilight asks for clarification.
“More or less” Tombs replies with a shrug.
“And Sombra was some random northern crystal unicorn I take it?” Twilight asks.
“No one knows for sure. But a lot of ponies say he was on the southern side. But no evidence. It's funny that there's zero records about Sombra until he became king and even then there's few records. It's like someone burnt them all” Tombs chuckles at the thought “But why would a sure Tyrant burn his own history?” Tombs says looking at Twilight with a smile.
“I have no idea. But that does seem humorous. He was egotistical, you'd think he would have had hundreds of books about him” Twilight says with a small smile.
“Yup. Anyways. Are you ready to head down Princess?” Tombs asks.
“Yes I am. And please call me Twilight” She says with a small smile.
“Of course Twilight” He says with a chuckle as he begins to lead the way down into cavern Twilight and Shield following behind.
After a few moment of silence as they descend into the dark stairwell, Twilight speaks up “So how did you know what language that creature was speaking?”
“That? Well its because while in the Minous Republic I encountered an odd tribe of Minotaurs who spoke an ancient language. And there Language and the one the creature was speaking where almost identical. I'm sure than if a normal translation spell was used it would have sounded more broken. Most of those words where filled in with what made sense” He chuckles “It's amazing what Unicorn magic's does. But! That's the jest of it” Tombs explains.
“Do you know how the Minotaurs came across the language? Or why they where even speaking it?” Twilight asks her curiosity spiked.
“Well. They where in a remote location weeks away from civilization. And they said a god taught them. Other then that I have no idea” He says.
“How did you learn it?” She asks.
“The taught me while I stayed and studied there Culture. I was going to publish a book on them. But the elder asked me to keep them a secret for the most part. And if I published a book about them. Well everyone wanting to make a name would track them down and there culture would be spoiled” He says with a small sigh.
“But what about the academic knowledge? Or all the information we could learn from them?” Twilight asks surprised he wouldn't publish a book about such a find.
“Well. That wasn't the first time or the last that I found something amazing and then kept it a secret” He says with a chuckle “And in all honesty Princess. The likely hood that the specific Tribe who still lived like nomads would be my connection to a metal structure in the crystal Empire, let alone anything. Didn't seem likely. And they trusted me to keep there way of life a secret. I couldn't just break there trust”
“Well when this is all said and done, will you be paying them a visit?” Twilight asks.
“Probably. Since there Language seemed to be connected to these creatures there a small chance that those Minotaurs ancestors came in contact with these creatures or another race which has. And that could give us more answers” He says with a chuckle.
“If you wouldn’t mind I'd like to take part in that trip. It's not everyday you get to meet a tribal people” Twilight says smiling more to herself than anypony else.
“You said it Twilight” Tombs says with a chuckle as they step out of the dark stairwell and onto the large ramp which heads down the cavern wall to the structures below.
The trio walked in silence for a few minutes, Twilight looking over the area with interest. After finding nothing of worth she looked back towards Shield whom was walking slightly behind her still vigilant.
“So. Tombs what are you expecting to find in the massive room?” Twilight asks growing tired of the silence and wanting something other then her half finished theories to occupy her mind.
“Well. I'm unsure to be honest. It could be anything or nothing at all. That is how this line of work is after all. You think your onto the discovery of the life time and suddenly you find nothing” He chuckles at this much to Twilights confusion.
“Isn't that frustrating?” Twilight asks.
“Very much so. But that's what makes this life so much fun. It keeps you motivated to keep on going” He says smiling to himself. “It's like with science. You think you're onto a breakthrough and suddenly. Bam. Turns out your where wrong all alone. And yet you are motivated to find the answer anyways” He finishes.
“I guess that makes sense. I know that whenever I come across a problem I want to figure it out no matter what” Twilight says with a small chuckle of her own.
“And that Princess is why I love my job. It's always pushing me to further” He says before going silent for some time.
“Anyways Twilight. You should be aware of the other newest addition to the crew. A pony from Historical Society of Canterlot” Tombs says with a huff. “He got papers from the Princesses and forced his way here. Managed to get the last train and now he thinks he runs the place. He's knowledgeable but a pain to work with. Think you could straighten him out Princess? I know its asking ask a lot but it's a pain dealing with him”
“Oh. Well he can't be that bad” Twilight says hopefully. “And I still don't understand why you don't like historians from Canterlot. They can't be that bad”
“Oh. You don't know half of it. Most are half wits with more money then brains. They end up destroying artifacts rather then finding them. Others think the world owes them everything. And then you got those like Professor Broken Blade who think they know best about everything” Tombs finishes his rant.
“Well I guess that's all I can ask Princess” He says with a chuckle as the trio sets hoof off of the ramp and begin the quick journey to the structures.
The trio walks in relative silence as they begin to hear shouting. From the structures. “I'm not waiting any longer for that fast tracking buffoon to get here. I have as much right as the rest of you to explore the structures!” An elderly male voice shouts.
“Don't you tell me that nonsense boy! He's hoping that I'll grow bored and leave. Now move out of my way!” The same voice shouts replying to somepony who isn't heard.
“And that's Professor Broken Blade. We best hurry up” Tombs says with a sigh as he begins to trot towards the structures. After a moment of hesitation, Twilight trots after him with Shield in tow.
After a few moments the trio reach the structures and Twilight notices even more changes. But before she can make an observation the elderly voice breaks her concentration.
“There you are! You Celestia damned buffoon!” A brown coat, black mane Unicorn Stallion who was clearly getting on in his years with the streaks of grey through his shirt mane and stubby beard. He also wore a beige vest containing many pockets.
“No need to be rude Blades. I'm here on time it's you who showed up early” Tombs says with a pleasant smile to the elderly unicorn as he slows to a walk.
“Oh don't play coy with me you glory hound! Wanting to keep all of his secret from the H.S.C! You do realize that the H.S.C has rights to all historical finds involving ponies” The Professor says with a hint of superiority as Twilight remains quiet and out of his sight unsure on what she should do.
“That's very true. But this isn't a pony related find. It's a lost civilization. Something the H.S.C has no claim over” Tombs replies pleasantly.
“This letter happens to say different” Professor Blade says as he levitates a rolled up scroll in front of Tombs.
Tombs seems to roll his eyes and takes the scroll with a hoof and unrolling it reading it over. After a moment he chuckles. “Professor. This letters says that you'll be a representative of the H.S.C and that you will be simply apart of my crew and have to abide by all of the rules which my crew follows. No where does this state you're in charge”
The letter is ripped out of Tombs hoof as Professor Blade puts it away “It says that I'm a representative of the H.S.C. and they have the highest authority in matters concerning historical finds”
“After they are processed. But they do not have the power to take over excavation sites outside of those directly involving ponies” Tombs says simply to the angered unicorn. “Now some ground rules. You will follow the words of myself and Strong Hoof. This is for our and your safety. You will not touch or examine anything without someone insuring it safe. And lastly. Nothing leaves the staging area. Besides that do what you do and insure that you are always with somepony” Tombs explains to Professor Blade who grinds his teeth.
After several moments the professor sighs and nods his head “Very well. But on one condition. When it comes weapons I get the final say”
“As long as they don't leave the area and the guards are ok with it. That's agreeable” Tombs says with a smile. “Now that we're all on the same page, allow me to introduce you to Princess Twilight Sparkle” He says pointing to Twilight.
Twilight smiles at Professor Blade “Hello Professor, I've never had the pleasure of reading your works. What is the field which you specialize in?” She asks pleasantly.
The stallion gives her a hard look as if trying to tell if her words are sincere or not. “I wouldn’t be surprised your highness. I deal in ancient warfare, specifically the weapons and armors used. And the majority of my work are collaborations with others. For hardly anypony would be interested in the weapons and armors alone. They'd be more interested in the battles themselves” He says in a neutral tone.
“Well that's interesting” Twilight says with a smile.
“Very” Professor Blade says dryly before turning to Tombs. “I believe you've kept us out of the structure long enough. So can we move along?”
“Of course” Tombs says smiling as he walks towards the entrance “Alright everypony let's go!” With that said nearly all of the excavation crew begins to walk into the entrance. Only Lyra and the Intern remaining with the guards.
Twilight quickly debates entering right now or speaking with the strange mare. Deciding she has time, she trots over to the mare. “So, why aren't you heading in Lyra?” Twilight asks curiously.
The mint colored unicorn looks up from an old tome and several photographs of the creature that gave the message. “Oh, well Princess it's because I'm not finished my work here. Also, I'm not one to look around in a dark place. I prefer outside rather than. Well whatever you can call this” Lyra chuckles slightly.
“Oh. Well what are you doing right now?” Twilight asks as she stands next to Lyra.
“Not much really. Just trying to find any legends anywhere that have creatures like the ones in these photos. So far not a lot of luck. Most bipedal creatures in legends are either reference to gods or demons. But very little on anything else” Lyra says with a sigh as she schemes through a book pausing from time to time.
“Yea” Lyra says before sighing stopping on a page and pointing a hoof on it “This is what I mean. The tenth book that's mentioned the same deity” Lyra says in frustration.
Twilight looks at the page scheming over the name ‘Kinbokein’ and then looking at the large illustration of a bipedal creature wearing armor with massive horns sticking out of its head, spikes along its body and bones beneath it's feet. The illustration looks old being only in black and below it is a small caption ‘The conqueror and destroyer. He lays beneath the earth in waiting’ and below that is several paragraphs detailing this creature's deeds.
“The Kinbokein, Kinbok, Kin’Bik and many other renditions meets the description. However it's said to be some sort of Demon in most cases but a God in others. It's mention in every known culture but ponies. And yet. It's so far fetched it can't be real! Yet so far it's the only thing that's come close!” Lyra says her voice raising in frustration “No mentions of an entire race, group or even a being with a similar description. Just this” She looks at Twilight. “I know that there has to be mention of them somewhere. But there's nothing. Just that and it's mind boggling. Tombs says that they spoke an ancient dialect spoken by tribal Minotaurs. And yet, when I searched the Minos legends and myths. I come up with nothing but demons or things that don't even come close” She sighs resting her head on the table. “It feels pointless. And I've already gone through seventeen tomes” She finishes.
“Oh. Well I'm sure you'll find something. Tombs did say that there's a truth in every legend after all” Twilight says reassuringly.
“Yea. But it's frustrating” Lyra says lifting her head from the table and smiles at Twilight. “Anyways, you best head off so you can catch up to the crew”
“Alright Lyra. And you should know, I think your doing something great” Twilight says before heading towards the door. Lyra simply smiling before returning to her work.
Twilight walks through the entrance, nodding to the two guards standing vigilant at the opening. She quickly glances around the first chamber finding nothing new and several more guards standing about. Twilight notices the lack of the two escorts whom where here the day before and looks to Shield whom is looking around the room.
“Where's the rest of my escort?” Twilight asks as she trots forward.
“Probably at the chamber entrance. Waiting for my orders” Shield says neutrally as she matches Twilight's pace.
“Oh. Alright” Twilight says unsure what to say, opting to remain silent and trot towards the massive chamber.
Before long Twilight and Shield catch up to the main group right as they reach the door leading to the giant chamber. Twilight quickly notices her four escorts standing at attention next to a magical barrier being powered by a device of some sort.
“Just in time Princess” Tombs says with a smile looking at Twilight. “Mind having your guards remove that barrier?”
“Oh, of course” Twilight says before looking at Shield and giving her an apologetic smile.
Shield nods and walks the front of the group standing before the escorts. “Report” She says coldly.
Sargent Taffy steps forward and gives a quick sault. “All was quite. No sounds or ponies looking around Lieutenant” Taffy says in a neutral tone before stepping back.
“Very well. Take down the barrier and resume escort duty” Shield says before turning walking towards Twilight. Taffy and Arrow without a word begin to handle the device and within a mere moment the barrier falls and they put the small device away. And each of the escorts trot towards Twilight to stand behind her.
Tombs walks forward and turns to face the anxious group “Alright ponies. Remember the rules. Furthermore. Mister Stroke. Can you and your son take some samples of the metal in this area. As its shown magic nullifying abilities” With that said he turns and walks through the entrance tossing a lighting crystal. The two Strokes head off towards the walls to take sample as the rest of the group heads in.
The first thing Twilight notices is how large the chamber is and as more crystals are thrown lighting the area she notices lines painted onto the ground in various colors and that currently they are following a green line roughly a meter wide. As she moves deeper in with the rest of the group she notices that there's what appears to be massive shelving units about 7 meters to either side of the green line.
“It's a giant ware house” Strong says causing a murmur of agreements.
Twilight moves to one of the shelving unites seeing only crates of a strange material all green. Some creates are small while others are massive. She levitates a lighting crystal out of her saddlebags so she can get a better look at a smaller crate and notices multiple symbols and what she assumes to be words. As she looks she notices a small section with multiple black lines of various thickness with multiple numbers under the lines.
Failing to find any meaning she looks for a means to open the crate. After a few moments she finds several simple latches. She looks away from the crate and looks for Tombs.
“Professor Tombs! I found a crate that can be opened!” She shouts unable to see him in the gloom, her voice echoing.
“Alright! But be careful!” He shouts from up ahead his voice echoing throughout the chamber.
She looks back to the crate and takes a deep breather before channeling her magic to encompass each of the six latches. With a simple tug she unlocks each latch and pulls the door like panel away from the crate and sets it to the side reviling hundreds of sealed boxes.
She levitates the crystal closer and finds that there's thirty rows and thirty columns of the boxes. She also notices more of the lines and numbers. She sighs and levitates a box from the top out guessing it's maybe twenty five centimetres sized cube. Looking it over she notices it's sealed by some strange clear material and that it's fairly light.
She slowly removes the material from the box as she sits it down before opening the box finding several grey packages the length and width of the box but maybe a fifth of the height. She pulls out all five of the packages and lays them out trying to figure out what they are.
Each one is covered in symbols and wording. At the top there's a broken line and at each end is small indent as well as what looks like scissors. Twilight looks to Shield. “What do you think it is?”
Shield levitates one of the packages up turning it over several times before her magic covers one corner of the top. “I'm unsure but I believe this is how you open it” Shield says before she tears the top off with ease as if the package was designed that way.
She then tips the package over and two clear packages with some sort of square inside fall to the ground. As Twilight levitates one up she notices multiple small indents into the square. On further inspection she finds another broken like with scissors. Following Shields previous actions she tears the top of the package and levitates the object out. It's fairly light and seems to be some sort food. She breaks it in half and the scent of stale bread reaches her nostrils.
“It's. Bread” Twilight says confused.
“Why all of that for some bread? And nasty looking bread at that” Knight says as he picks up the other package looking at it earning a glare from Shield. “Seems like a waste”
“That's what I don't understand” Twilight says looking at the other boxes. She pulls out a second box as she sits the bread down inside the first. She opens the box and then the packages to find the exact same bread. Twilight sits everything down and takes three of the unopened packages placing them in her saddlebag before cleaning up the opened packages.
She looks back ahead finding that the group is a good ways ahead looking at there own crates. She begins to walk forward scanning the crates for any indication when suddenly a loud clang rings out throughout the chamber causing her to yelp in fright.
“Sorry! My bad!” Tombs shouts from somewhere up ahead.
Collecting herself Twilight heads towards Silent and Professor Blade who seem to be inspecting there own boxes and packages. As Twilight draws nears she finds that the boxes and packages are roughly the same size as the ones she was looking at.
“Now isn't this strange” Professor Blade says as he opens one of the packages and removing a silver package rather then a clear one. He opens it and his face scrunches up.
Twilight reaches them just as she smells the faint sent of meat mixed with some kind of tomato sauce. “That's meat?”
“It'll appear so” Professor Blade says as she sniffs at the package Silent taking photos of the area. “Most certainly meat. But it's unspoiled and for this place predating pony civilization that doesn't seem possible”
“I found bread squares in the crate. But they seemed stale” Twilight says hoping the information helps.
The professor scratches his chin “It'll appear Princess that this chamber. Or area at least was used for good storage. And assuming that these crates go to the back of the shelving unites and they are filled with the boxes. That's a fair amount of food” He begins to clean up the small area resting the opened package down as he sighs. “I believe this food or the packaging was designed for it to last a long time. And it's clear that it was attended to be used. And that each of these crates contains more food” He finishes.
“How could you make food last for so long though? Even with magic you can make food last at most two weeks. This stuff has been here for over ten thousand years” Twilight says pointing at the food looking at the professor.
“If I knew I wouldn’t be here Princess. I'd be off using this knowledge to become a millionaire” Professor Blade says dryly.
“Actually Princess. Some food stuffs can last for a fairly long time. But only if it's prepared correctly” Arrow says cautiously.
“Go on Guard” Professor Blade says.
“Well, when guards go out in the field for long periods of time we are giving meal kits which can last month's thanks to how there prepared. But you need to cook it again before it becomes anything like food” Arrow says with small chuckle.
“Yea. Those things taste horrid. And now that you mention it Arrow, this stuff does remained me of those horrid ‘Ready to Eat’ meals” Knight says shaking his head.
“You're implying that these are military rations?” Professor Blade asks slowly, to which all the guards but Shield nod.
“It could make sense. The message we saw the creature was clearly a solider judging from the uniform. Maybe this was some sort of military base? Or maybe these meals are simply the best source of food?” Twilight says smiling at Arrow.
“It's a possibility Princess” Professor Blade says before looking at Arrow. “Thank you for your input. Now we best catch up to Professor Tombs” He says quickly moving ahead Silent already trotting away.
Twilight quickly follows her escorts in tow. Before long they reach the rest of the group who are crowded around a large crate easily three meters tall which is just under the next shelf. All around the crate is large boxes scattered around.
“What kind of operation are you running here Tombs?!” Professor Blade shouts in rage at the state of the area.
“Wow, calm down Professor. Believe it or not. I find it like this” Tombs quickly says catching Professor Blade off guard and causing Twilight to look around in confusion as Silent snaps more photos.
“Your saying somepony else got here first?” Professor Blade says slowly.
“Somepony? No, but something. And it was clear that they were in a rush. While looking in a few of the smaller crates I found several missing boxes. Not a lot but a few. And these boxes have these big brown packages with multiple of the smaller packages I've been finding” Tombs says holding up a larger brown package which has been torn open. He then dumps the contents showing a clear package with two bread squares, a silver package, and multiple smaller packages of various sizes.
“A complete meal” Professor Blade says.
“What do you mean complete?” Tombs asks.
“We've been finding individual packages of just one food stuff. These have multiple. And I believe that proves miss Arrow’s theory about them being military rations” Professor Blade says as the group looks over the packages.
“That would make sense. But that doesn't answer the question of. Why was only some food taken. And not more?” Tombs asks.
“Um. Maybe it was just one creature and it couldn't take more” Gem Cutter speaks up as the rest look toward her. She shrinks back slightly.
“Maybe” Twilight says in thought “It would make sense. Take what you need. Leave the rest”
“Aye. That's the most likely scenario” Tombs says in agreement. “Now let's move on. I think we've found the meaning of the green crates” He says with a chuckle as he begins to walk deeper into the chamber throwing down another lighting crystal.
The group follows behind him looking over the area and before long they come to a crossroads with four short posts each having a red light crystal of some sort on top.
As Twilight inspects the area she notices that the green line splits in a T, a half green and orange line is going left and right while a full orange line the same size continues forward.
“Well. Here is where we split up. Strong, Gem Cutter and Silent you go right. Dusty, Chart and Professor Blade you take the left. Finally, myself and the Princess will go straight ahead. Remember stay together and light your paths” Tombs says tossing a crystal forward revealing more shelving unites and orange crates. The other groups head off as Tombs immediately rushes to a crate opening it reviling hundreds of wooden boards wrapped in a clear material.
“I was hoping for something amazing. But this is just insulting. Why have wood kept locked up?” Tombs says sounding disappointed as he reaches in his saddlebags looking for something.
“To build with?” Twilight asks unsure of the answer as Tombs pulls out an earth pony camera and looks at Twilight.
“Thinking about it, that does make sense. That messaged did say how they scorched the earth” Tombs says in agreement before holding onto the camera and then biting down on the large lever to take a photo.
He puts the camera around his neck and smiles at Twilight. “Well let's see what else are in the orange crates then. My money Ian on building materials since you mentioned it Princess” Tombs says with a chuckle as he turns moving ahead.
“Twilight” Twilight says with a sigh causing Tombs to pause looking over his shoulder.
“That's right. Sorry Twilight, I'm use to using proper formalities” He says with as smile before trotting ahead stopping at a random crate smaller then the last.
Twilight smiles and follows him watching as he opens it showing multiple smaller boxes made of a strange material. Twilight levitates one and grunts in an unprincess like manner finding it's much heavier then she thought. Adjusting the power of her spell she levitates it over to the ground. After Tombs takes as pictures the two of them look over the box finding no visible location to open it. After a moment Twilight finds and inconsistency on the top and grips the small hidden tab and pulls opening the box removing the lid.
The two look into the box finding hundreds of nails all the same size. Twilight levitates one up noting it's about five centimetres long.
“Welp. I called it building supplies” Tombs says with slight amusement.
Twilight looks from the container on the ground and then to the crate. “There must be hundreds of thousands of Nails. In this crate alone. And assuming there's more crates of wood and nails. They'll have enough supplies to build a town” Twilight exclaims.
“I believe that's the entire point Twilight. As hard to believe it is” Tombs says as he walks to the other side of the lane opening another container.
“I know. It just doesn't seem feasible. Why not just live here? You spend all the resources on a giant storage facility which could house a town. Yet you stock it with the supplies to build a town. Wouldn't it be better to make this place livable?” Twilight states.
“Well. Judging from the information that we have. There may be more to the facility including a living area. The message from the creature did seem to be targeted towards their people. And so it's possible that the areas we can't access actually have some of their people. And that they've been living here for generations” Tombs says as he removes the latches. “And so. Living in some place like this for all your life may be a cause to leave. I know I would”
He opens the crate revealing multiple large sacs. He tries to pull one out and grunts from the weight. “Yes. But wouldn't it be more efficient to not leave?” Twilight asks as Tombs drags a single bag out it falling to the ground with a thud.
“Maybe. Or this structure was built to be storage. We don't know” Tombs says as he looks over the dull grey bag. It's about a meter long and maybe a third wide.
Tomb pulls a small knife from his vest gripping it in his mouth as he cuts the bag open revealing a grey powder inside. “Now, I wonder what this could be” He says putting the knife away and taking a photo before scooping some of the powder with a hoof sniffing it. “Smells like limestone” Tombs says offering Twilight his hoof.
Taking a step back Twilight smiles “I'll take your word for it. But what does that tell us?” Twilight asks.
“Nothing, just making an observation” He states with a smile before letting the powder fall onto the bag. He then looks around inside his saddlebags before pulling out a small container and taking a generous sample. “Welp. I'm ready to move on Prin- Twilight” He says with a chuckle.
“Alright, lead the way” She says with a tight smile as Tombs nods and begins to walk further down the path finding nothing of interest and throwing down a crystal every so often.
After some time they find themselves standing at another crossroads almost identical to the last. However each line is orange, rather than there being a color change like before.
“Kinda disappointing” Tombs states breaking the silence as he walks forward.
“A little, but now we can guess that there is far more supplies than we originally believed” Twilight says following.
“Yea. It's fairly monumental. It'll takes weeks if not months to categorize everything here” He says indicating to the massive shelves which raise well into the darkness above.
“It's a little excessive, don't you think?” Twilight asks following.
“Most certainly. But it makes you wonder just how they managed to get up there” Tombs says as he pauses tossing another lighting crystal.
As the crystal lightens another section it reviles a large area of scattered boxes and little metal bits on the ground. And just outside the range appears to be a large object which smashed into the crates.
“Oh” Tomb says as he rushes forward looking over the area but more worried about the large object. He throws down another crystal as the guards begin to fan out.
As the crystal lights up the object it appears to be some sort of suit of armor which has crashed into the crates crushing them and causing several from the shelving above to fall around it. As Twilight approaches she guesses that the armor would be four meters tall if upright and is about two meters wide. It appears to be missing an arm on the left side, or its embedded inside a crate. While the arm on the right is fairly bulky ending with a large pipe with little holes cut into the end.
As she looks closer she can see that the whole of the armor is damaged with dents, burns and holes. The center of the chest has as massive tear in it easily big enough to fit her head. All she can see is metal and thin wire like objects. On the right breast plate are three numbers ‘391’. A puddle of a dry yellow fluid surrounds it like blood. She looks to Shield, realizing that whoever was inside the armor was clearly killed. Shield looks at her neutrally before turning her gaze to the armor.
“Professor. I suggest staying back. We don't know what it is” Shield says causing Tombs to halt his approach.
He seems to think for a moment looking at Shield before nodding and stepping back. “Alright Lieutenant” He says before using the camera to take photos.
Twilight begins to walk to the other side of the armor to get a better look when her hoof steps onto something and she nearly trips. Catching herself she looks down to see multiple metal cylinders. She levitates one up noticing it's made of something like brass and is hallow, having one side completely open. Looking over the ground more closely she notices multiple others and then several larger ones. She levitates a larger one towards her and then looks to the pipe on the armors right arm. She walks towards it and figures that the cylinder could fit with a little bit of effort.
“Tombs. I think this entire arm is a weapon. Like one of those clubs from the. Other room but far bigger” Twilight says as she looks over the arm for lever.
“All the more reason to be careful” Shield says standing next to Twilight.
“I think you're right Twilight. But I'm starting to doubt that this is armor” He says looking over at them.
“Why's that?” Twilight asks looking away from the arm.
“Because armor is something you wear. This. This wasn't worn” He says pointing a hoof towards a large object off to the side previously over looked.
Twilight walks over to it holding up a lighting crystal, quickly realizing it's the other arm badly damaged. And rather then it being hollow there's multiple different bits of metal and more thin wire like objects. It's clear someone wasn't wearing it.
“If it's not armor. What is it?” Twilight asks looking at Tombs who shrugs.
“I don't know Twilight. But this specific find changes a lot. First whoever was here before encountered this. And judging from the damage to the area. It's nothing to sneeze at. Just look at these holes” Tombs saying pointing to the various holes in the crates, some small others large. “It means that there may be more of them”
“We need to tell the others!” Twilight exclaims shocked before having a hoof rested on her shoulder.
“I don't think that's needed Princess” Shield says dropping the hoof. “Judging from what we know. These things have been here for thousands of years. I highly doubt any still work. If there is any more. And the only reason these supplies are still in order is because of there packaging”
“I must agree with the Lieutenant, the chances that any of these are walking around is slim. And if one was I'm certain we would have heard it” Tombs says in a reassuring tone.
“But you said there's probably more. And what if there is one walking around?” Twilight argues.
“Well I meant there's more. Damaged ones. And if they find one they'll leave it be. I know I wouldn't want to be around one of these” He says with a small smile. “Now let's carry on. No point trying to figure out what this is now”
Twilight sighs nodding still unsure about the fact that there's probably more of the things about. “Alright. What are we going to call it?” Twilight asks.
“Well I think you can name it” Tombs says looking at her as he walks forward.
Twilight follows smiling as she thinks over a name. “Well, we fought it was armor. But we are pretty sure no one wears it. So how about ‘Unmared Armor’ or ‘Unstallion Armor’” Twilight says.
“That Works. ‘Unmared Armor’ it is” He chuckles as the group moves deeper finding some more signs of combat before the area returns to appearing untouched.
After a short walk in silence they come to another set of the red crystals. However there's only two and about thirty meters away is another pair showing some more shelving. However between is large empty gap. Walking past the posts reviling a total of twelve pairs including the pair closes to them, of the crystals in a massive square. Tombs tosses a crystal towards the center which shows a strange object in middle.
“I believe we found the center” Tombs states as he takes a picture before heading towards the object.
Twilight follows noticing that the object is a large sphere ad large as her head mounted onto a thick post and surrounded by small blocks about s meter high. Each block had multiple tunes connecting them to the sphere in the center and there's some sort of desk in front of the object. As she gets closer it appears to be a much larger version of the type writer boards in the room with the message. However there's dozens of different symbols and multiple numbers placed all over it.
“I think we should wait tell the others get here before we begin poking at this” Twilight says concerned feeling a sense of dread coming off of the object.
“I think that'll be for the best” Tombs replies as he glances at the object.
“Tombs!” Silent voice carries from the left side of the chamber. The clip clops of multiple ponies running can be heard.
Tombs immediately rushes towards the path where the shout came from. But just as he runs past the posts he collides with Silent. As they collide a small object launch's into the air and sails towards Twilight. To shocked to catch it, it nearly slams into her right before it's caught in Shields telekinesis. The device is a fairly small rectangular prism which has had a lenses on the front and several small buttons of sorts on the side.
“Sorry! Sorry sorry sorry!” Silent begins to say ethically as she helps Tombs. Up nearly oh the verge of tears.
Strong and Gem trot up slowing down behind Silent both looking as if they ran a marathon. However the sounds of running can still be heard coming from the last lane.
“It's alright Silent” Tombs says rubbing his head and picking his hat up “Now are you alright?”
Silent nods frantically as she rubs her own head. “She found some sort of device, and it started playing some sort of message. Once Silent figured it out she started running screaming” Strong says sighing rubbing the back of his head.
Silent’s eyes light up in horror “Oh no! I must have dropped it when I ran into you!” She shouts looking around for it.
“I believe I have what you're looking for” Shield says drawing the attention of the four a ponies as she holds the device up.
“What's the meaning of that yelling!” Professor Blade shouts from the right most lane being followed by Dusty and Seeking Charts. The three of them seem to be in a sour mood.
“Well! Everyone is here!” Tombs exclaims “And the noise was Silent finding something of utmost importance” Tombs says pointing to the device in Shield’s telekinesis.
Professor Blade scuffs “And I ran all the way up here when I was in the middle of looking over a vehicle”
“Cut the mare some Slack professor. She found something that can shed more light then your vehicle” Strong Hoof says in Silent’s defence.
“Alright, Alright. Before we start a fight. Let's see that device” Tombs says walking over to Shield and Twilight. Being followed closely by Silent. The others make their way over before all are crowded around Shield and Twilight.
“If I may Lieutenant” Silent says slowly.
Shield doesn't reply letting Silent take hold of the device. She pulls one side open causing a click and then pushed a button causing the open side to turn white. Tombs leans closer as Silent pushes another button and the screen flicks before showing a smiling face of a creature like the one in the message. However this creature appears younger and is covered in small cuts and dirt. As well his skin is a pale white. He waves to the ponies through the small display and speaks.
x~x“Hello anybody who's getting this recording. My name is David, and I'm a survivor! Woot woot!” The being says before the image shakes, a rattling noise comes from the device as the image changes to show the landscape. A massive tundra that seems endless, only broken by the occasional lump. “And welcome to Lake Ontario. Or what's left that is” x~x
The ponies stare in shock at the device. The image freezing as the Silent presses a button. “Well, that is a find” Tombs says.
“It may be a find, but no need to shout” Professor Blade grunts out still not impressed. “However. I'm more interested in this device” He says pointing towards the center object. All the otheres looking towards it.
“Well if anyone wants they can examine that while the others can view this” Tombs states with a smile.
“Very well” Professor Blade says before heading towards the center object followed by Dusty and Gem Cutter.
“I'll go and make sure he doesn't break anything” Strong says as he follows not waiting for Tombs to reply. Leaving Twilight, her Escort, Tombs, Silent and Seeking to look at the device.
“Alright. Now if you would Silent” Tombs says to Silent before she presses a button with a triangle pointed to the side.
×~×The image begins to move once more as it shows the snow whirling about, wind rushing over the frozen land. “This ladies and gents it two thousand, three hundred and ninth two days. Give or take. After the bombs were dropped. Now, as you may or may not know, this isn't a proper winter. Oh no. This freezing cold, blizzard infested world is all because of the simple fact that our ancestors cashed it to save us. Kinda ironic really”
The image turns again facing the bring once more as he walks the image shaking from time to time. Behind him is a thick overcast that seems endless. “So, when these bombs hit the earth it caused all of this dust, ash and whatever else to fly up and form a massive cloud of the stuff stopping most of the sun's rays from reaching us. Making the earth cold and so killing pretty much everything. Or so the stories goes”
“But that's where we come in. Us Bunker survivors. As you should know all the humanity that could be saved were stuffed into these massive underground facilities. Some finished some not. But all of them being at least self sustainable. And a bunch of these finished ones having pretty much every kind of plant and animal in the world. So when the cloud finally vanishes and the earth thaws. We can reclaim the earth!” The being says doing some sort of gesture earning a chuckle from somewhere nearby.
“But. That's not going so well. And that's where my team and I come in. We are scavengers from” He clears his throat mockingly. “Civilian Repopulation Facility November, Delta, Foxtrot, November, Echo, Alpha” He says with a large grin. “I'm fifth generation after everyone woke up. I don't know much about our home, since the military is in charge but what I do know is how to survive out here. And well. A while back we found a bunch of these cameras so I like to make video journals of our adventures and then leave them where ever we end up. So someone else can find them and maybe learn” The being shrugs slightly.
“Now onto introductions since my long winded intro is finished! I as you know, am David. I'm the head honcho of this here merry band of fine respectable men and women of our home” The Image changes to show another being wearing thick clothes all a dirty white which have seen better days. The being also wears some goggles over its eyes making its face difficult to see.
“This here is Charles, my older brother and our hard ass gunslinger” The being whom David calls Charles waves before the image is shifted again. “Now to the beautiful and the backbone of our entire operation. Steph” He says the image showing another being dressed similar to Charles who's face is easily visible. Her skin is more tanned than David's and her face seems softer than David's making Twilight believe it's a female. "Screw off David” She says with a clearly feminine voice, sounding annoyed.
“Well. Someone's grumpy today” David says with a chuckle as the image moves again turning before moving towards a strange cart.
The cart had three wheels on the one side, one upfront and two in the rear. There's chains wrapped around the large black wheels and smoke is coming from two pipes angled back above the vehicle. The image draws closer and a covered hand bangs on the side causing some snow to fall off revealing clear glass. A head pops through the window and glares at the device. The person shows a dirty fist to David and then raises the middle finger. Before returning out of site.
David laughs as the image returns to his face “That's Gregory, our mechanic and cook. And this lovely machine is an old armored truck covered to deal with the snowy lands. We found it a long time ago and the Officers let us keep it. It has a thirty millimeter cannon and everything. But. We only got ten rounds” He Shrugs before looking at the device again. “Anyways. I'll record some other time. I've got to do my job now. Tell than survivors” He says with a chuckle as the image goes black.
The image after several seconds begins to flicker the sound of rumbling coming from the device. The image clears up and it shows the inside of some sort of vehicle as it moves along, the image shakes pointed outside a window showing the snowy landscape.×~×
“Stop it” Tombs says slowly. Silent presses a button with two vertical lines causing the image to freeze and the sound to stop.
“That's a lot to process” Twilight says as she takes out a note pad and begins to jot down information. Specifically the descriptions of the beings, there names, a description of the strange cart, the environment and all the new terms such as ‘Gun’ and ‘Camera’. She only jots down the information which was given all while she speaks. “This group lives in a place like this. And yet they don't leave here apparently. Since they left that device. Or ‘Camera’ as being called it here. They apply said that there people or ‘Humanity’ dropped these ‘bombs’ weapons which could destroy entire cities. And that's why there world is frozen. These just so much information but so little detail! How did these bombs form a giant cloud? And why didn't they just break it apart? Or make something to do just that” Twilight exclaims frustrated.
“Unfortunately. Your preaching to the choir Twilight. I'm so confused as you. But what has me confused the most is. Why are they scavenging. They said that there home was self sustaining. So why scavenge it seem pointless. A waste of-” Tombs says before he is cut off by an audible whack.
Twilight turns towards the sound seeing Gem Cutter standing next to an indent in the desk with some sort of handle which her telekinesis covers. “I didn't mean to!” She shouts scared as a low thum comes from the device in the center. The sphere beginning to glow a pale blue. From there the multiple cubes being to light up with various colors long strips. And then the desk starts to light up and after each key is lit a screen appears made of blue light.
“What have you done?!” Professor Blade shouts as the thum grows louder and loud clicks are heard from the very back or the chamber. As the clips continue they begin to see powerful lighting crystals come on in great rows reviling the massive chamber bit by bit. Before long the crystals above them turn on blinding Twilight for as moment due to the sudden change in lighting.
As she blinks her eyes the area comes into focus and she realizes that the entire area is lit up as if it where day. Able to see the ceiling. She guesses it's forty meters tall. She gasps from the sheer height. And the fact that the shelves go almost to that height. All the ponies are rendered speechless from the sight.
Twilight looks back to the device the pale blue sphere still glowing. She approaches the desk slowly broken from the trance.
“I'm sorry!” Gem shouts again “I'm just a gem expert! I didn't mean to do this!” She shouts on the verge of tears.
Professor Blade approaches her glaring as she shrinks back. Strong Hoof steps in front of him looking down making his size apparent. “The Mare says she's sorry Professor. Back off. We don't need anyone with tempers right now. Currently we need to address the situation”
“Strong Hoof is correct” Shield says stepping forward. “A mistake was made but one which hasn't caused any harm. All that we know is that the lever which was pulled suddenly made everything light up” Shield states calmly.
“Couldn't have said it any better myself’ Tombs says walking towards the desk as Twilight stops in front of it. “I believe that this race uses magic in all of there devices or another means to power them. And I believe this… Key Pad controls the facility. And with that said I believe we need to be careful. For now leave this entire device be. We don't know how it works. For now we'll watch the images on the ‘Camera’ and those that do not want to can explore” He states earning nods of agreement.
Twilight looks over the ‘Key Pad’ unsure for a moment before nodding to Tombs in agreement. “Alright let's watch the ‘Camera’s’ images” She says.
Professor Blade scuffs and heads off deeper into the chamber. “Strong go with him will you?” Tombs asks Strong.
“I was planning on it” Strong says with a nod as Dusty steps forward.
“I'll go with them as well” Dusty says to Tombs as he and Strong move to follow Professor Blade.
“Private Arrow. Sargent Taffy. I want you to head back to the entrance and tell the Guards stationed there what's occurred and then to walk the edge of the facility and report to me your findings. Do not touch anything” Shield says looking at the two escorts. Both give a salute and begin moving back to the entrance at quick pace. “Sergeant Knight. Monitor the Device and if it begins to do something report it” Shield says pointing to the device in the center of the area. Knight salutes and walks towards the device watching it.
Twilight turns her head towards Tombs and gives him an apologetic smile. Tombs shrugs at her not seeming to mind Shield’s actions.
“Well with that sorted out” Tombs begins before turning towards Gem Cutter “You have nothing to apologize for. Now how about you just take a rest? These last moments have been fairly hectic” He finishes with a chuckle smiling at Gem.
“Alright” Gem says slowly still unsure. She goes and sits down looking off down one of the pathways.
“Well. Not exactly what I meant but if that makes her happy” Tombs says dryly his humor gone. He shakes his head sighing before walking back to Silent who doesn't seem to have been that fazed by the recent event. “Well let's continue with this message” He states as Twilight glances at Gem before walking towards Tombs.
As Twilight peers at the device finding that the Image has remained the same. “Alright start it again” Tombs says, Silent pressing the triangle button again.
×~×The rumbling sound returns as the image returns shaking from time to time. Before long the voice of David can be heard. “It's dawn now. Can't see the sun but it's bright enough to be called that. Anyways this is the fifth day of our journey. Gregory is Driving right now and I'm sitting in the passenger seat. I would bug him but it's actually a tough job driving out here. As you may have discovered or been lucky enough to avoid. While the earth is barren it's not lifeless. Things lurk under the ice and in ruins” He stops speaking for a moment his good cheer gone.
“Anyways enough of the horrors of the world. I'm recording again to explain where we again are going and why. So we come from an underground facility that's pretty much self sustaining. However there's some things that break and there's either no spare parts or we can't fix it. It's been like this for a few years. And every year less and less groups go out. It's not easy out here. And with that in mind the Officers want to expand to outside. Get a real settlement going. The snow in most places is safe and the air is safe to breath so it makes sense rather than shoving fifty thousand people underground”
“Anyways. My team and a few others have been sent to various other bunkers and underground facilities to either establish contact and trade or do some minor looting if no one is there or if the facility is still shut down. And my team has been charged with getting food, seeds, medical supplies and if possible some heavy machinery. And lucky for us we are headed to one of the most north facilities. Fort Harper in northern Ontario. So at this fort there's the facility we are looking for. It's called Military Complex Gama. And was constructed a long time before the war. Most of the Canadian places where. Back home there's rumors that Canadians more or less survived the end. But of course those are just rumors. The last facility we went into was Canadian a direct was barren. Not a soul inside. It's shame” He trails off again before pointing at what appears to be a mountain range in the distance.
“If my geography serves right that there is ‘Canadian Shield’ or a mountain range connected to it. We'll follow that for a few days and we'll come up to the base. It's built a little bit ways away from the mountains for some reason and it's fairly out of the way. But the good news is that along the way we'll be stopping at other locations such as the great ‘Canadian Wall’ and one of the military bases there. Now, you may not know about that massive thing but the Canadian leader at the time wasn't all up there and built all of these military bases. One such thing was the wall. It was built in the middle of nowhere for some reason but it was massive and had giant guns on it, small guns and all of that fun stuff. And that's all I know about that thing” He chuckles.
“Anyways sorry for rambling there's not much to do out here but look out the windows or talk. And since Steph is sleeping and big bro is in the turret, so not much for me to do” He grows silent for some time before sighing. “Well now that I'm thinking about how horrid this new land is I may as well share it since you lot probably just woke up or something”
He sighs deeply before the image is of him. “So out here. It's not right. There's killer robots from the war, mutants, remnants of the old armies, monsters and worst of all. Infected. So let's start with the robots. Out of all of the things out there those are by far the easiest to deal with. They weren't designed to last thousands of years. But those that do are generally damaged. Hence why they attack anything that moves. So you got plenty of these from small drones to heavy walkers and automated tanks. We've only ever encountered small walkers and generally a few well placed shots and it'll go down. But I heard from some veteran scavengers that went down south, encountered an automated tank. They said it just rolled about shooting everything that moved and they barely got out of there” He chuckles again.
“Anyways next thing. Mutants. Not a lot of those up north. But there's stories of horrid creatures down south, all being by-products of radiation. Worst thing I saw was a wolf with six legs and two heads. Gave me nightmares but it left us alone. So with mutants just be cautious. There still animals after all. Now to the remnants of the war. These are mostly stories but many of the older folks swear by their lives that they saw creatures that fit the descriptions of the things that our ancestors fought. But I've never come across that stuff”
He then sighs sadly “And the final thing besides the environment is Infected. These are very real and extremely dangerous. The infection is the real reason why the world ended. Not the war. That's what every says at least. And I can believe it” His face hardens as his eyes begin mist slightly as he forces himself to not cry. “There use to be five of us. We got trapped inside a small bunker by a blizzard. So we explored it. Turned out it was a research facility. A small one but still that. And there was this locked door. We found a key and opened it. Boy was that a mistake. When we went inside it was filled with maimed and mangled bodies. We closed the door and went main entrance to put as much distance between us and that room. But we forgot to lock it”
*** He rubs his eyes pausing. “We built a small fire a small and waited. Sometime during the night it came out of the room. I guess the cold caused it to hibernate or something. But I know for certain it was slow. Otherwise we all would have been dead. So Jeff, our old team leader was on watch he noticed something crawl into the room we where in. And he shot it a few times waking us up. Scared me to death hearing the bangs. It stopped moving and we all went to investigate. It's legs where crushed, it's arms far to long for it body and it's mouth to big filled with fangs. Jeff told us to stay back and he gave it a few kicks. When it didn't do anything he announced it was dead. And just as the words left his mouth it gripped his leg and bit him tearing flesh away from bone. Blood went everywhere. It wasn't pretty. We shot it until it let go and dragged Jeff away as he screamed. I then let the thing on fire as Steph tried to tend to the wound”
“She manages to stop the bleeding but by then Jeff passed out, he had lost a lot of blood and he had gained a fever. The blizzard passed but we didn't want to move him. So we stayed. And then about two days after that he woke up. But there was something off. He seemed paranoid. Barley spoke and his fever grew worst. By nightfall he started sweating profoundly. And then he started bleeding. From his mouth, nose, ears, eyes. Everywhere. By then we knew something was wrong. We kept guns pointed at him. He didn't speak anymore. Barley made a sound. And when Steph went to change his bandages he attacked her. Trying to bite and claw at her. I tackled him off of her as Charles pulled her away. Gregory came over and started stabbing him in the head over and over again. But he didn't stop. He just kept on fighting. Almost got bit. But I finally pushed him off and Charles lit him up. And then he fell motionless. We then burned the body and went home. When we got there the Officers put us under quarantine for a month. And later we where told what that was” He chuckles sadly. ***
“Worst part is the fact that we had to kill our friend. All because of some plague that survived the end of the world. So. If you ever come across something that looks human but seems. Different. Shoot it and burn the body. Same goes if you see someone bleeding from all over. Doesn't matter if they are your best friend, brother or mother. You shoot them. And you burn the body. It's better that way” He says as the image goes back to the landscape him growing silent. It remains like that before it goes black again.×~×
Twilight stares at the ‘Camera’ in shock before looking at Tombs who has a hard look. “Do you… think that those skeletons in the hallway where… this plague?” Twilight asks slowly getting her emotions back in order.
“It's possible. But we don't have enough information to worry about an ancient plague. I'm more concerned about the geographic information. The closest mountain range is hundreds of kilometers away. Yet apparently this place is near one” Tombs says.
“I'm not certain of that's the most concerning matter Professor. But I do agree that this plague isn't something we should worry about” Shield states as the image begins to change again drawing Twilight's attention.
×~×The image shows the outside barren landscape through a window once more, however rather then approaching mountains there's a massive structure dozens of meters high. “Turns out we've found the Wall. Passed the first few mountains a few days ago and now we're approaching this monstrosity. We should be there in a few hours” Tell then.
The screen goes black again and just as suddenly it lights back up. The rumbling sound gone, replaced with the howl of the wind. The image being shown is complex of some kind. There's several large objects and a few buildings, snow covers everything. “We just passed under the wall not much to it other then the fact that it's ridiculously high and thick. But here we are. On the other side and in one of those military check points”
“Now I got to make this quick as the weather is taking a turn for the worst and we got to set up camp” He then points towards one lf the massive objects and the image moves towards it. “That there is an armored transport. You'll find them all over the place” As the Image draws closer the sound of walking through thick snow can be heard. “The unfortunate thing is that half of it is barred under the snow so unless it had a top hatch we won't be able to get in”
The image stops moving as the sound of metal being firmly stepped on can be heard. The image lowers and a gloved hands comes into focus pushing away snow revealing a greyish metal fairly deep down. “It's shallower than I thought, that's good” The hand clears away more snow and before long a hatch of sort is reviled. “Now let's just hope it's unlocked” He says as the image changes again to the snow the ‘Camera’ seemingly put down. Some grunting and muttering is heard and within a few moments the sound of old rusty hinges being used can be heard.
The image changes again as the it shakes before showing the metal and then a cavernous hole into the ‘armored transport’ which leads inside. Suddenly a light is shone down into the hole revealing a plane metal floor and multiple bits of packages. An arm reaches in front of the image arms a clang is heard as the hatch closes. “No use looking in there. Radiation probably got the person. Anyways I'll do another recording later” David says solemnly.
The image turns black once more singling the end of the recording. ×~×
“Stop it again please” Tombs says as he backs away rubbing his head, all of his cheer gone. Silent pushes the two lined button again stopping it as she looks to Tombs.
“Set it down. We are going to do a quick information session of what we do and do not know. And the questions we need to find answer for” Tombs says as he sits on his hunches. “Twilight. You can start since you seem to have been taking notes”
Twilight blushes slightly at her habit and quickly looks over her key points of interest. “Well, we know that this race was fairly advance. Judging from this device, this facility and the vehicle they were using. We also know that a cataclysmic event which they caused force there people into hiding underground with the hope of returning to the surface. We also know that there's many dangers that they faced in this endless winter caused by the ‘bombs’ which also happened to cause the cataclysmic event. Finally we know that the being ‘David’ references to his people as ‘Humanity’ and that before they were forced underground there was more than one nation, possibly more than one race” Twilight finishes as she looks up from her notes.
“That's the jest of it” Tombs agrees nodding his head at her words “However this answers very little. We know why they built this place, but we still don't know how or how long ago this happened. We can assume it was well over ten thousand years ago. We also don't know how anything of their technology works and if these other places that is mentioned still exist today. And lastly. We don't know if there's dangerous artifacts or devices here” Tombs explains.
“We also don't know the exact size of this facility and why several sections are blocked off” Seeking says as she holds up a crudely drawn map showing the different routes which were walked by the group and key locations. “But we do know that the builders made this place organized” She finishes.
“We also know that the creatures are omnivores and that they have advance armor” Silent speaks up.
“Wait. Omnivores?” Twilight asks confused not seeing any meats.
“Yes, we found some crates filled with dried meats. Similar to what the Griffins do” Silent explains as Twilight writes down this new information.
“Anyways. What we also know is that there technology is meant for beings with thumbs. So, most races wouldn't be able to use it” Silent finishes.
“Now. I believe that the most pressing questions that need answering are, How does their Technology work and How dangerous is there Technology. Does everyone agree?” Tombs says looking at the few around him. He earns many nods from the others.
“I think we also need to find out what exactly that device is” Twilight says pointing to the center device which hasn't changed since turning on.
Tombs nods his head. “That's also important. Now with these questions in mind pay attention to the recording so we can hope to find the answers” Tombs finishes earning more nods from all the ponies present including Twilight. “Good. Now Silent if you would?”
Silent levitates the ‘Camera’ up and presses the triangle button.
×~×The black screen to changes to an image of the three beings, Charles, Gregory and Steph around a fire sitting on blankets within a large stone room. The image goes out of focus before zooming in on them. “There we go” David says as he walks in front of go the image before sitting down on his own blanket. He is wearing no jacket but still has thick clothes on.
The others seem to be in similar states minus Charles who has all of his clothing on including his goggles as he grips a long club with a long pipe coming out one end with a small telescope on the top. About half is wood while the other half is metal of some sort. Gregory is wearing dirty blue pants with multiple stains and a simple green shirt which covers his entire arms. He's also wearing gloves that show the tops of his fingers. Steph is meanwhile wearing pants much like Gregory and a red shirt that stops before her elbows. She has two lumps upon her chest while the males do not. All seem to be in a decent mood.
“Alright as you know I'm David” David says pointing to himself with his normal good cheer.
“I'm Steph” The only female says pointing to herself.
“I'm Gregory or Greg” Gregory says waving, his voice sounding fairly friendly.
“I'm Charles” Charles says as he raises the device up slightly. His tone is neutral and cold.
“So. To past the time since a blizzard is coming down we figured we can explain a few things about ourselves and home. And maybe a little history to. Incase you don't happen to know how all of this happened” David explains.
“I'll be going first. Since David never shuts up” She begins poking her tongue out at David who mocks being hurt. “And because Gregory is cooking dinner. Or well be when he gets his lazy arse into gear” She finishes giving Gregory a playful glare.
“Fine, fine. I'll cook the bloody beans no need to be rude” Gregory says as he stands heading out of sight, he can be heard moving things about.
“Anyways. As you know I'm Steph. I was going to be a nurse at home, but I never enjoyed that life style. And rather then doing something I hated I signed up to be a scavenger. You see. Back home we live following very specific rules, everyone pulls there weight even the Officers who are in charge. And at the age of ten you take a test to determine what areas you'll best fall under and whatever is most needed in those areas is what you'll be assigned. Unless you sign up as a Stavanger”
She pauses suddenly looking off to the side where Gregory went. “You found enough pots?” She asks as Gregory returns into view carrying several pots and large panel of metal rods.
“As a matter of fact. Yes” Gregory states as he sets up four upside down pots around the fire and then places the panel on them. The four pots act like posts while he puts a fifth pot onto the panel before removing several cans.
“What's on today's menu Chief Gregory” David calls out from the side saying Chief and Gregory with a Prench accent.
“Well my cultured friend. Today we have beans” He begins lifting up a can and popping the top off with some sort of tool and dumping the contents into the pot. “More beans!” He says again repeating the same motion as before “Oh! And look at that! More beans!” He shouts with a smile opening it and dumping the contents into the pot. “And my secret ingredient! Water!” He shouts again laughing as he pours some water into the pot before holding up a large wooden spoon and stirring the contents in the pot chuckling.
“A fine meal” Steph says with a roll of her eyes as Gregory and David chuckle. “Anyways, when I was sixteen I signed up to be a scavenger. I studied as a nurse for five years so I had a good chunk of experience and the scavenger corps where quick to take me due to that. They taught me more practical medical skills that can be used in the field. How to shoot a gun and how to find things and judge if things are safe. By the time I was turning eighteen I was put into this team. And from there I've done plenty of things. And been one of the few to leave home” She finishes with a smile.
“How about you tell us about your hobbies and what your good at Steph?” Gregory says as he stirs.
She rolls here eyes “Alright. I'm pretty damn good at stitching cuts and clothes. And I'm probably the second best fisher girl at home. Seeing as me and my dad where the only ones who fished in that lake” She says with a chuckle. “Never caught anything but I've had a few bites on my line” She pauses in thought. “I also like reading. Besides that I'm always out here with these idiots. And Charles” She smiles at Charles flaunting her eyes gaining a grunt. They all laugh at that.
Once they calm themselves Charles lowers his weapon letting it wrest on his legs. “I may as well go next. I'm Charles and I'm David's older brother. On the test that Steph spoke of, I was given the choices of being security, military or enforcer. I choose the military as it was what I wanted to be since our grand father told us about his time” He sighs deeply. “I was in the military for twelve years before I joined the Scavengers. I was the rank of Staff Sargent and I was fairly well respected amongst my peers. My rifle grouping was eighty one which is fairly good. Anyways I joined the Scavengers because David here was joining and I wanted to look out for him. And the rules at home are that anyone can join the scavengers. Even criminals. It's the hardest, yet most respected job there is. And seeing as my little bro is that. I had to look out for him” He pauses flipping his weapon over before holding it up so the lever is pointed down and the telescope is on top. Meanwhile Gregory is adding small orange chunks to the pot as he stirs.
“This here is my rifle. It's mine because I found it on my first trip outside. A frozen men had it, and with it enough ammunition to last a century. It's called a ‘Willington Rifle’ it's able to shoot up to four hundred yards easily and about four hundred meters give or take a few. I also have an M4 Rifle which is more modern then this. But I prefers using this older one. It feels nicer to shot and it's round are larger then the M4’s. Anyways, I enjoy thinking, shooting and reading. I also generally enjoy my time with these three” He finishes his lips hinting at a smile.
“Well. Just in time dinner is served” Gregory announces as he uses the large spoon to fill four bowls before handing them out getting thanks. Once every one has a bowl they all set them down.
“What who doing today?” David asks looking at the others.
“We did God yesterday, Same with Jesus. Steph says.
“The day before we did Buddha” Gregory says with a chuckle. “Pretty sure you don't do that for him. But whatever”
“How about Death? We haven't done her in some time” Charles says.
“What's with that anyways? I still don't get it” Gregory asks leaning back.
“It's a traction in the army that someone started a long time ago. It stuck with me” Charles says simply.
“Alright, lady death it is. Charles you have the floor” David says before everyone sits up and bows there head. There silence for what seems like a minute before Charles speaks.
“Daughter of Fate, we thank you for the life that you continue to watch over. We thank you for guiding all the fallen onto there journey to the next life. We ask of you to watch over us during these times of darkness. And we pray that our time has not yet come. Amen” Charles finishes the prayer, the others echoing the word ‘Amen’ before they begin to eat.
“A good prayer bro” David says as he eats.
“Still confused why we don't ask her not to you know. End us. But a good prayer none ales” Gegory states.
“It's because Death is simply the one who guides us after we die. She doesn't decide if we die or not. And she's also the one who guides the life into a child” Charles says with a shrug. “And remember, I'm not a strict follower of Death. I don't really follow any religion” He finishes as he eats.
The group eat there food in relative silence before Gregory speaks up. “So guess I may as well share my life now. So, as you know I'm Gregory. I'm also this teams mechanic and cook. But I'm also the techy amongst us as I was the one who got given the choice of Engineering or Research and Development. Since R and D will never be my calling in life I chose to be an Engineer. What they do is fairly complex. Normally they build things and fix things. Primarily the machines we need to survive. Water pumps and purifiers, Oxygen recycling, waste treatment the power plants all of that. But we also do a lot of work on the electricity cables and transformers” He pauses to take a bite.
“Basically electricity is what keeps everything that we used running. To an extent. For example that camera runs off of battery power which is charged with electricity. Unfortunately. The stuff is deadly. Sure in small amount it's harmless but when there's a surge or you're working with live wires. That's deadly. And after seeing three coworkers fried I decided to become a Scavenger. And been one ever sense” He smirks looking at David. “These guys need me anyways. I'm the only guy here dumb enough to turn an armored truck into a snow fairing machine” He finishes with a chuckle.
“Anyways. I enjoy tinkering with stuff and fixing things. I'm good at it and enjoy it, I find it calming. I also enjoy cooking hence why I'm the cook. And everyone here but Charles burns food” Steph and David chuckle at that comment. “And I guess I enjoy traveling. Besides that. I got nothing” He finishes with a shrug.
Charles places another piece of wood into the fire. As they eat in relative silence. After a minuet or two David speaks up. “So it's my turn I guess. Unlike these three I was never given any options to choose from. I was called an enigma. I didn't fit anywhere because I ever sucked at everything or was good at multiple things. So I was put to work as maintenance. The one job that anyone can do. All I did was clean and get rid of junk. However I am a pretty good talker, I've gotten away with so much it's not even funny. So. I managed to talk my way into getting a position in the Scavengers and I've been one ever sense. My hobbies include reading and thinking, and the only things I'm good at are cleaning and talking” He finishes with a chuckle.
“Don't be like that man. Your a great leader to. Hell if it wasn't for you we'd all be dead” Gregory says.
“Pretty much. Plus you're the one who's able to remember those damn lists of extra credit supplies and the one who's able to manage us. Your pretty much a born leader” Steph speaks up giving David a smile.
“Maybe. Anyways” He begins as he stands walking in front of the image and then out of sight. “That's enough recording for now” The image goes black once more.
After a moment the image comes back showing the inside of the entrance chamber snow rushing in from the open doorway. The chamber is lit up from several bright lights coming from behind the image, a clear shadow being casted into the next door. The image is fairly shaky and one of the weapons found in he hallway is being held close to the image with David's gloves. However there seems to be a light coming from under the pipe. “Alright sorry for the shakiness of this recording but right now I've got the Camera strapped to my shoulder so I can us my gun. Seeing as we just arrived”
The Image quickly turns to Gregory who's getting out of the armored truck after moving it inside. Two bright almost blinding lights are on the front of the vehicle. “Close the outer door, Charles will stay with you. Me and Steph are heading through there first” David says as he points to the doorway which the skeletons lay.
“Alright!” Gregory shouts as the image begins to move towards the doorway. Judging from the image David seems to crouch slightly holding up the weapon the light shining at the door. Steph moves in front of the camera and stands next to the door. She looks at David pausing a moment as she grips the handle. She nods and opens the door David moving in the image shaking as he makes quick moments shining the light all over the hallway.
The image steadies out and the light is pointed at the skeletons. David sighs. “Clear. Mind the dead Steph. Also I see some body armor. Look for ammo leave the weapons” He says the light pointed at what Twilight assumed was armor. He moves deeper into the hallway and bends down the image shaking next to one of the armored bodies. His left hand let's go of the weapon as he pats down the armor. He seems to have found something as he pulls a cover up and then removes a rectangular object. He puts it somewhere behind him before patting the armor down some more. He stands up and repeats the process finding two more objects before he pulls out a picture.
He holds it up so the camera can see. It's fairly worn but the image can still be made out. A young being wearing a pink dress smiling. David holds it in silence before putting it back where he found it giving the armor a gentle pat before standing again. “Alright I got three magazines” He says suddenly
“I found two” Steph replies. “And three tags”
“Damnit didn't even check for those. Could you grab the one I missed?” He says bending down grabbing at something under the skull.
“No problem” Step replies as David holds up a chain with two small metal plates. There's a leaf on one side and what Twilight assumes is writing on the other.
“Alright. Let's carry on” David says walking towards the next door. Steph repeats the same action as before but when she goes to open the door it barely budges. “Well that's a bother. One sec future viewers” David says as his hand comes up blocking the image before it goes black once more. Before long the image returns to the room that had the message. Gregory and Charles are both in the room as well, Gregory is holding onto a device that casts a light while Charles is going over the skeletons. Steph is meanwhile sitting in a chair looking around.
“Sorry about that, the door was blocked. Had to force it open. And then Gregory pressed a button and a last recording played. Now he's looking over everything before he fixes it” The image begins shake as he walks over to one of the desks with a keypad and a screen of sorts. “So. These consoles are deactivated right now. Before they were shut down these would have controlled key things in the upper and outer layers of the facility. So all the automated defenses connected to the facility. So stuff like turrets and cameras and what not. Hence this being the security room” He presses a few keys causing nothing to happen. Before pointing towards the central desk. “That's the only computer which works. And that right now is setup to play a message and then give a list of instructions” He pauses before the image turns to Gregory. “And he's going to fix that right?” David says his voice raised causing Gregory to turn.
“Fine. I'll do it now. Forgive me for trying to look” He says raising his arms up showing his palms as he walks towards the central desk. He pulls a chair over and pushes the one with the skeleton away before sitting down. “Still don't know why they would lock everything up” He says as the large screen turns on again the list showing up before the screen turns black a few words of some sort appearing in the top corner. “Anyways this will take a little while” Gregory says as he begins to type causing words to appear on the screen.
“Welp catch you in a bit” David states as the image once again goes black. After a moment it once again shows the large screen in the security room. There's multiple lists on it now some moving slowly down as if it were a scroll being unrolled.
“Found anything yet?” David asks.
“Not really still a bunch of shipping records. Nothing about personal yet. But there is some stuff here that we a bitter looking for. Tons of seeds. Literally tons” Gregory states before a new list opens up and David whistles.
“Fifty thousand personnel kept under ground. Now that's a lot. And all of them military or scientists” David says as he moves forward then image growing closer.
“That's not all. I found a map of the facility. Putting the Three D up now” Gregory states before the screen darkens slightly and a massive image appears on the screen. The image shows a massive chamber which has a hallway leading towards a smaller room. As well as the chamber continuing down as slope past a doorway before leveling off and having three different connections. Two smaller ones which lead straight down to a massive complex before of various rooms, chambers and hallways. So many that it's nearly impossible to judge the true amount. The third connection leads to a massive rectangular chamber which has a rear connection leading down to a chamber of half the size. “Alright. One sec I'm going to show all known security devices”
On the main level dozens of orange and red dots appear all over. While three black dots are found in the massive chambers. Two in the larger one and one in the smaller. However there's not a single one in the maze like complex. “Why's there nothing in the rest of the complex?” Steph asks.
“I think this security room is for just the main sections not the living areas. Probably so someone like us couldn't go in knowing where everything is. Anyways. red are turrets and orange is cameras. From here I can't turn them on or off. However” The image zooms over to the massive chamber and near the center a blue dot appearing. “This is some sort of computer there and it has the clearance. So what's the next move boss?”
“Anything about what's in those chambers?” David asks.
“Nothing” Gregory replies as he begins to type again before the screen returns to the way that Twilight found it. With a number counting up.
“We'll check out the elevators and if they work we'll leave them be. Then we'll get the supplies and load them up. And after that we can check the rest of the complex” He states.
“Alright, let's go” Steph as she walks out followed by Charles. Gregory puts the chairs back and leaves being followed by David. The image shaking as he follows them. Steph goes into the truck and after a moment a low rumbling fills the chamber. Gregory walks to the left side of the massive door and runs his hand along the wall. He then pushes it and steps back a keypad sliding out as a metal plate lifts up. He begins to type on the pad as Charles moves to stand on the right. David moves forward until all that can be seen is the doorway.
Slowly the door opens and something flashes a bright red, some sort of alarm going off. Charles and David move toward the gap shining their lights through. As the door opens even more all that can be seen is the massive sloping hallway which leads towards the main chamber. Charles followed by David move through the opening. Before long the alarm stops and the armored truck moves past David. He walks next to it as they descend.
After a short walk the armored truck stops and David faces the two doors which had the barrier over them. Gregory walks up to him and seems to look over it. He suddenly throws some dust at the doorway showing the barrier as the dust falls down harmlessly.
“Well. That's going to be an issue” Gregory states.
“What is it?” David asks as a door opens and closes behind him.
“A barrier of some sort made by energy alone. This must be extremely costly and hard to make tech right here” Gregory says.
“What makes you say that?” Steph asks from behind David.
“If it was easy to make. They would have used it to protect cities. Or the major doorways. These are to keep us from going down there. So I'd assume that someone is there and turned it on. Either well before we showed up or recently” Gregory explains before walking away. I'll open the next door. Sit tight”
“Alright future viewers. I'll be back” David says as the image goes black once more. Before coming back showing the ‘Unmared Armor’ smoking and jerking slightly.
“Well. This is an assault bot. And it nearly killed us. It's a good thing we lead it towards the Truck. Otherwise we'd be dead” David says giving it a kick. “Big hunk of metal. Anyways may as well tell you about it. So this here” He points to the arm that's attached to the rest of the body having the massive pipe sticking out. “Is as twenty millimeter anti infantry cannon. You get hit by that you're dead. Anyways the body houses the electric motor and the computer. While the head has a bunch of sensors. And the other arm has a high power machine gun. Thankfully this thing is slow” He chuckles. “Anyways onto the really cool thing”
He says before moving quickly up the walkway towards the center. After a few moments of the image being shaky and hard to see he slows down coming up behind the others who stand in front of the device that dominates the center.
Gregory is pressing different keys on the device muttering something. “It seems to be in standby mode. And I can't figure out how to turn it on” Greogry says agitated.
“Tried using the power button?” Steph asks causing Gregory to glare at her.
“There isn't one” Gregory says annoyed.
“How about a power switch?” She asks with a smile pointing at the same switch that Gem pressed down.
“Oh. Didn't see that” He says before pushing it down with ease causing the device to hum as the lights above slowly turn on lighting the area. As soon as the keypad lights up Gregory returns to it pressing multiple keys as he watches the screen. Before long he steps away.
“Greg what's wrong?” Steph says rushing to his side. David approaches from behind the image showing only Gregory and Steph.
“It's all there” Gregory says in a hush voice.
“What is?” David asks.
“Everything. The war. The medieval Era. Religions. Everything that is humanity is there” Gregory says again.
“What do you mean? Our history?” David asks taking a step back ass Gregory walks towards there keypad again.
“Yes. And more. Everything is here. Diagrams of our technology. Instructions. Ideas. Images. Everything” He chuckles. “This machine is our entire races knowledge…” He trails of before suddenly looking at Steph. “I need my bag now. I'm going to copy as much as I can”
Steph nods and heads out of sight presumably to get his bag. David stands next to him and chuckles. “Anything else we should know?”
“Maybe. There's several sections I can't access. And they all relate to something called ‘Hope’ it's some kind of program but I can't figure it out. I'll make that copy then I'll activate it” Gregory says.
“Alright” David says as he turns to Charles. “Stay with Gregory. I'll start getting supplies” The image is blocked by his hand and then it goes black.
After a few moments it turns back on to show the back of the armored truck filled with boxes and other strange objects. “So. This is the haul. A bunch of rations for us. A box of every farm seed we could find. Some strange guns” He starts pointing to each object in question. The strange guns being white club like objects much like the ones found by the excavation crew but bulkier. “A bunch of spare parts. Medical supplies. And two water pumps and a single water transfuser. Whatever that is” He says with chuckle before the image shakes showing his smiling face. “This is my last recording. Hope you find it informative future viewers” He chuckles again as he seems to walk over to something. “And that program that Gregory ran. Hope. Didn't do anything. So we turned it all off. Maybe you'll figure it out. Anyways live well” The image goes black and remains that way for some time.×~×
Silent closes it and says what everypony is thinking. “Wow”
“Wow is right. We just learned a whole lot of information. Primarily about what's going on here. And how all all of this works. Lighting. Or a product lf lighting” Tombs says as he sits down.
Twilight steps back and rubs her eyes before looking at her notes. “That and the fact that this ‘Military Complex Gama’ was above ground. Or the entrance was. Which makes me wonder how it go underground” Twilight states.
“I believe that number we saw before. Was the accurate date” Tombs says slowly.
“Impossible. Nothing can last that long” Silent says “Right?”
Tombs shrugs “Perhaps this place did. But I believe that simply due to the fact that maybe there was a major flooding and then this place was covered by water. For it is mostly under ice”
“Perhaps” Twilight says nodding unsure of the Theory. “I'm still wondering how these ‘Computers’ or ‘Counsels’ work. We see them using the keys but until we can understand the letters we won't be able to do anything.
“Um… Lieutenant! Something weird is happening!” Knight shouts the small group looking at him as a humming noise grows the sphere on the device pulsing before it begins to spin.
“Everypony behind me now!” Shield shouts ad Knight rushes over. As she moves forward her horn glows and a barrier surrounds them. The sphere continues to glow and several plates in in the ground all around the area slide open as small polls with black glass like domes on top rise up roughly three meters tall.
“What's going on?!” Twilight shouts her own horn glowing as she prepares her own spell.
The sphere shoots out multiple lights towards he comes. They begin to glow the same pale blue before the stream of light from the sphere ends. The domes continue to shine pulsing from time to time.
“I'm clueless. No pony move” Tombs says firmly. After several minutes another two plates in front of the console open up reviling an large gap. A low hum comes from it before a strange device shoots out of it.
A metal raindrop shaped device with four wide hallow and thin cylinders with a fast rotating part. It has a single eye like thing in the front which shifts slightly as it appears to look at the group. It quickly hovers over to them allowing Twilight to see that the eye is more like a lens similar to the one on the ‘Camera’ it lazily hovers around the barrier staying back from it. After several circuits it zooms over to the keypad. Some sort of tendril comes out from it and connects to something. The screen begins to flash quickly causing Twilight to look away her eyes hurting.
“I think it's harmless” Tombs states.
“I'll be the judge of that” Shield says before calling out “Can you understand me?!”
The strange device doesn't do anything still connected to the device the screen still flashing. Suddenly the screen goes black and the device disconnects it's tendril and hovers back into the hole. The plates close as the humming dies down to being barley audible.
After a few moments Shield drops the spell as Tombs whistles. “That was scar” He says with a quick laugh.
“What was that?’ Gem asks from the back the group shaking slightly.
“No idea. Maybe one of there ‘Robots’” Tombs says as he walks to the device again peering over it.
Twilight walks to one of the posts as Shield follows her. “I don't like this Princess. What if one lf those ‘Assault Walkers’ show up next from the ground?” Shield states as the Domes pulse.
“Then we'll run off or fight it” Twilight says slowly. “And if we can we'll try to reason with it”
“Oh boy” Tombs says causing Twilight to look at him. Right in front of the ‘Computer’ is a blob of shifting blue light the same as the light from the sphere and domes.
“Professor back away” Shield states, the stallion doing so. Twilight however walks towards it. “Princess stay back” Shield says firmly.
Twilight looks at her and smiles. “It's simply light. Don't worry Shield” Twilight says as she walks forward. Shield calls out her name but Twilight ignores her. She stands before the light and raises as hoof touching it.
As her hoof passes into it the light suddenly cover her blinding her for a moment before it vanishes altogether. Twilight stands there blinking her eyes as Shield rushes over to her. “Princess. Are you alright?” Shield asks worry clear in her tone.
After collecting herself for a moment Twilight nods. “I think so. The light just surprised me is all” She says giving Shield a smile “Sorry for not listing” Twilight says apologetically.
Shield nods and let's go of Twilight. “Very well, please refrain from doing-” Shield begins her tone cold before being cut of by Tombs.
“Ladies… You should see this” He states slowly. Twilight looks towards him. Seeing an almost identical copy of herself made of the blue light. The Mimic looks over itself, it's muzzle smiling slightly.
“Um. Hello?” Twilight asks confused.
The Mimic Twilight snaps it's head up looking at Twilight and tilts it's head before opening and closing it's muzzle several times before it speaks using Twilight's. “Hilo… Hiloo, Hellio… Hello” It smiles at Twilight getting the word correct. “Hello” It says fluently nodding it's head as if in greeting.
“Hello?” The Mimic asks tilting it's head as no pony responds, still staring at Twilight blinking it's soiled blue eyes.
“Princess. Stay back. We don't know what it wants” Shield whispers.
“It's saying hello” Twilight whispers back.
“And it may hurt somepony” Shield replies still whispering.
“What if it just wants to talk?” Twilight whispers back growing irritated with Shields over cautiousness.
“What if it doesn't” Shield states flatly still whispering.
“Well. Hello” Tombs suddenly says looking at the Mimic causing it to turn it's head towards him.
“Hello” It states happily before slowly walking towards the ‘Computer’ it then gets on to its bind hooves testing it's front hooves on the pad as it begins to use the different keys. It looks over its shoulder and smiles at the group locking eyes with Twilight before pressing a single key.
Suddenly a screen appears behind it blocking Twilight's and the others view of it. The screen darkens before showing the group from an above angle entering the chamber. The images change showing different aspects of there trip through the facility. From them discovering the weapons, finding the recording, looking in the crates and even now. Showing them looking at the screen.
“It's bee watching us the entire time” Tombs states stepping back shocked.
The screen vanishes again and the Mimic stands where the screen once was nodding at Tombs. “Yes” it states happily.
“I'm going to talk to it” Twilight whispers to Shield before stepping forward. The Mimic watches her every movement as it smiles.
“Hello, I am Twilight Sparkle” Twilight says pleasantly to the Mimic.
“Hello, Twilight Sparkle” It says nodding it's head in greeting the smile still present.
“Who are you?” Twilight asks.
“I am” It says before speaking a strange language. “Or, Hope” It finishes with its smile.
Twilight's eyes widen in realization. “You come from the ‘Computer’?” She asks.
“Yes” Hope says nodding.
“What are you?” Twilight asks after a pause.
“I am Hope. I am the torch to guide the next through the darkness” Hope replies as Silent begins taking frantic notes.
“Who is the next?” Twilight asks slowly.
“Whoever activities me. You are the next” Hope says brightly.
“What. What does that mean?” Twilight asks surprised by the statement.
“It means I will guide you, teach you and watch over you” Hope begins. “I'll show you how to use all of the things here in order to rebuild” Hope states.
Tombs rushes over to Twilight and Shield “Twilight, this is the opportunity we've been waiting for! First contact! And with something that can teach us!” Tombs says whispering excitedly.
“I know! Isn't it wonderful?!” Twilight replies giddily.
“We need to understand more about” He pauses. “Hope before we do anything else” Tombs states.
“Agreed, however I feel we-” Twilight begins before being cut off.
“I wouldn’t do that Lieutenant” Hope says it's cheerful tone gone as the sound of gears come from all over the chamber. As Twilight looks around she notices dozens of metal plates sliding open to have thick posts with some sort of ‘gun’ mounted inside them rise. All pointing at Shield who's standing next to one of the posts with a dome on top.
“Your dangerous. This proves it” Shield says bluntly glaring at Hope.
“I am dangerous. So are you” Hope replies neutrally.
Twilight steps forward looking at both Shield and Hope. “Everypony calm down. There's no need for this” Twilight states trying to defuse the situation.
“I am Calm” Both Shield and Hope state at the same time.
“This, Machine. Device. Whatever you want to call it Princess. Is dangerous!” Shield states pointing at Hope as multiple red dots appear on her chest and head. “We don't know what we are dealing with! We can't trust it!” She shouts firmly.
“Lieutenant. You need to calm down” Sergeant Knight says stepping towards Shield.
“I am calm! I however will not risk the lives of hundreds of thousands to this device!” Shield shouts.
“Lieutenant I order you to stand down!” Twilight shouts forcefully her voice echoing throughout the chamber. Shield looks at Twilight in shock before bowing her head and walking towards her.
“I am sorry Princess” She says with a whisper as the sound of rotating gears return the dozens of weapons vanishing
“We'll talk about it later” Twilight says kindly before giving Hope an apologetic smile. Hope has their head tilted to the side slightly as if confused. “I'm sorry about that Hope” Twilight apologizes.
Hope returns to looking at Twilight normally before nodding. “It's understandable. I'm different then anything you have seen so it would be reasonable for you to assume I am dangerous” Hope says pleasantly.
“Yes. Now if you don't mind I have a few questions” Twilight says as Hope nods as if stating to go on. “How can you understand and speak our language?”
“Simple. You speak an ancient dialect of Latin. One which hasn't been recorded but still similar enough to Latin and other languages for me to process. As well as the multiple recordings of your conversation I was able to accurately predict how to understand and speak your language” Hope says smiling.
“Alright, that makes some sense” Twilight begins. “Why do you look like, well me?” Twilight asks.
“Because. You were the first to touch my form” Hope begins. “Would you like me to change?” Hope asks.
“You can do that?” Twilight asks, two which Hope nods. “Alright can you?”
Hope nods again before closing their eyes. Slowly Hope’s form shifts as their body grows slightly larger, yet slimmer. Hope’s horn lengthens and slims, then Hope’s wings lengthen and grow. Finally their mane and tail grow out longer, the mane braiding off to one end.
With the transformation finished Hope appears to be the size of Cadence but having a more streamlined body with larger wings then even Celestia. However Hope remains looking feminine.
“Well. That's different” Twilight says slowly “Any reason for that form?”
“I chose this form as it appears that a pony having both wings and horns is seen as one with power and knowledge making me easily identifiable. My wings are larger than yours to insure I have full flight capabilities once I begin construction of an android. And finally I choose a feminine form for my personality is most easily defined as female” Hope explains, her voice different as well now being sweeter with some form of light accent. “Is this form unacceptable Princess Twilight?”
Taken aback by the formality Twilight shakes her head. “No it's just strange. And it's amazing how defined your form is. You made it perfectly from a biological standpoint. Other than the large wings” Twilight explains
“So, none of your kind fly?” Hope asks confused.
“No. We can fly” Twilight states.
Hope seems to look at her in complete disbelief. “This is biologically impossible. For your mass to wing ratio you would need a wingspan of at least ten meters in order to fly. Your wing span is too small to compensate your weight”
Twilight looks towards Tombs shocked by the statement and unsure what to say. He returns her look just as confused before looking at Hope. He seems to want to say something but shakes his head before speaking.
“Do you know what Magic is?” Tombs asks pleasantly.
Hope tilts her head then nods. “Yes. However I do not see how tricks and illusions play a part in this conversation” She states.
Tombs leans towards Twilight and whispers. “I believe she doesn't know what Magic is”
Twilight nods. “I'll explain it. However it's fascinating that she wouldn’t know. You'd think a race advance enough to. Do this would know of Magical theory” Twilight whispers back.
“Well Hope. It's because Magic is major part of our world. Everything is connected to it in some way. And it's thanks to Magic that Alicorns, Pegasi and Gryphons can fly without a massive wingspan” Twilight explains slowly.
Hope raises a hoof as if to say stop before speaking. “Magic is tricks and illusions. Not governing laws of the universe”
“Then how would you explain this?” Twilight asks as she levitates Tombs hat from his head earning a frown from the Stallion.
“Your species has evolved telekinesis. Telekinesis has been documented before and is not magic. Simply something we do not understand fully” Hope states sounding almost bored.
Twilight levitates Tombs hat back onto his head giving an apologetic smile. “Alright. That may be the case however how do you-” Twilight begins before Tombs coughs into a hoof cutting Twilight off.
“I think we are going about this the wrong way” He begins as he looks at Hope. “For most cultures call things like tricks, illusions and things they don't understand as magic. However us ponies call, our abilities ad Magic. But there's also the more technical term. The Arcane” Tombs finishes smiling.
Hope seems to think as Twilight smiles and nods enthusiastically. “That's it! You Hope wouldn’t know the difference in meaning. Magic to us, or as Tombs said, The Arcane is a Science”
Hope nods slowly. “You're ‘Arcane’ allows you to affect the world?” Hope asks.
“Yes, It allows ponies and the few who understand it to affect and change the world. Most ponies have passive Arcane abilities. Such as us being able to use our hooves to hold things and flying with our wings” Twilight explains smiling brightly as Hope seems to process the information.
After a moment of silence Hope speaks “I have little information on what you speak of. The information I do have is myths and legends”
“Well. If you want I can get you some books on it to help you understand” Twilight says with a smile. A hoof suddenly presses on her shoulder, she looks over seeing Tombs with a worried look.
“I don't think that's wise” Tombs says in a low whisper.
“I must agree. We still don't known if it's dangerous” Shield quietly from behind Twilight.
“That would be appreciated” Hope speaks up her smile back.
“It'll be the basics. I'm not going to teach her everything” Twilight says quietly with a rolls of her eyes before looking at Hope again. “Alright Tomorrow I'll come with some books for you and assuming you cannot read Equish I'll bring some other books as well” Twilight says before pausing. “And if you don't mind it'll be nice if you could teach us your language. And how to use the ‘Computers’ or more or less everything here” Twilight finishes with a smile.
“That's Acceptable” Hope says with a nod “Shall we begin now?”
Taken aback once again by Hope she glances to Tombs who's eagerly smiling, before looking at Shield who seems indifferent to the idea. “I suppose” Twilight says as she returns her gaze to Hope.
Hope simply nods “I'll begin work on lesson plans for the language. But until that is ready. I can share whatever information you require besides usage of military equipment, military information and my systems” Hope states as she sits down appearing relaxed.
Twilight glances at Tombs who seems eager to learn, she can't help but to sympathize. “You can go first Tombs” Twilight says with a smile causing the professor to do a hoof pump and approaching Hope.
He seems to clear his head by doing a small shake before looking at Hope. “What are you exactly. I've never seen anything like you in my life” Tombs asks as Silent prepares to take notes, Twilight doing much the same.
Before a slight pause Hope speaks. “I am a third generation Artificial Intelligence system, designated as Hope”
Tombs nods slowly. “What is an Artificial intelligence system?”
Hopes smile fades slightly. “An artificial intelligence or A.I is an advance program capable of independent thought” Hope explains.
“What's a program?” Tombs asks.
“A program is a series of code or actions that perform specific tasks” Hope explains frowning slightly.
“Alright. What are you. Made of?” Tombs asks pleasantly.
“Currently I am a holographic display” Hope begins holding up a hoof to silence Tombs. “A holographic display is a three dimensional image which is projected and not connected to a screen. A screen is the glass like material near the keyboards. Or keypads as you refer to them”
“What was that teardrop shapes flying thing that came out of the floor?” Tombs asks.
“That was a basic recon drone that I used to collect data before activating my primary functions. And before you ask. A drone is a form of machine which has been programed to follow specific tasks” Hope explains almost bored now.
“Is an ‘Assault Bot’ a type of drone?” Tombs asks causing Hope to appear slightly surprised.
“Yes and no. I guess I need to restate what a drone is. A Drone is a small machine generally assigned simple tasks and is normally controled. An assault bot is like a drone but falls under a different category. Specifically of medium robotics, which are larger machines assigned more advance tasks and generally have a limited A.I to allow them limited thought” Hope explains.
“That's interesting” He says slowly. “So there are multiple types of drones and bots?” Tombs asks.
Hope nods. “Yes, they have applications from everyday chores to medical to construction and of course war”
“Very interesting” He nods “How do they work?” Tombs asks causing Hope to sigh.
“It'll take weeks just to explain the basics of robotics” Hope replies.
“The simple version?” Tombs asks with a smile.
Hope sighs. “They are powered by electricity, which allows the multiple parts to move and powers there computer” Hope explains.
“And what's a computer?” Tombs asks pleasantly.
“A computer is a device which allows multiple functions. The primary is to store, sort, apply and use information” Hope replies.
Tombs nods. “Well. I want to ask more but I think the Princess wants a turn” He days stepping back.
Twilight smiles at him before stepping forward. “You said you are a third generation AI. What does that mean exactly?” Twilight asks with a smile.
Hope smiles slightly. “It means I'm capable of full independent thought and I'm sentient” Hope explains.
“And the others?” Twilight inquiries.
“First generation are the AI’s in the bots and drones and other common devices. While second generation was a failed project” Hope says.
“A failed project?” Twilight asks.
“Yes. It didn't work as intended so was scrapped and never applied” Hope states.
“How was it a failure?” Twilight asks curiously as she continues to jot down notes.
“I'm unsure. The information is not in my data bank's. I can only assume it wasn't worth including” Hope explains.
“Alright that makes sense I guess. So, you're a thinking machine?” Twilight inquires smiling, causing Hope to frown.
“That would be correct” Hope states clearly not liking this kind of question.
Noticing Twilight smiles apologetically “I'm sorry if that question upset you” Twilight begins. “But if you don't mind. Who created you?” Twilight asks.
“I'm unsure. I have no information regarding my creation” Hope answers swiftly. Before looking over her shoulder and frowning at something in the distance. “I must prepare now. I will communicate at another time. Until then do not remove any weapons or advance components. You may however remove building supplies, food and medical supplies” Hope states before vanishing. The humming sound however remains unchanging.
After several moments of silence Tombs speaks up. “What a strange mare” He states bluntly.
“Well. From what I understand she's never spoken to anypony before. So she's probably just awkward around us” Twilight says with a small chuckle.
“Perhaps” He says somberly nodding his head “But! Now we have information from the source! I can barley contain myself!” Tombs says excitedly once more his good cheer returning in force.
Twilight giggles into her hoof at his antics before collecting herself. “Well. We've probably been down here a few hours now. Why don't we set up lunch before continuing our search?” Twilight asks pleasantly.
“That's sounds like a wonderful Idea” Tombs states grinning.
“But not proper” Seeker states coldly looking at Tombs.
“And why ever not?” Tombs asks playfully earning at glare from Seeker.
“Because we've been here for over eight hours” Seeker says before gathering her things into her saddlebags. “And I for one would like to go over the data along with Silent” Seeker states before walking off, Silent in tow.
“Well. She always manages to brighten my day” Tombs chuckles before sitting down and sighing as if content. After a few moments of silence he opens a single eye to look at Shield. “So. Lieutenant. Why did you threaten Hope?”
Twilight glances at Shield seeing her stoic expression to break for a moment before she maintains it and glares at Tombs. “Because that machine is dangerous. It's no better then a golem, a shell with limited thought. But rather than limited it has free will. Nothing to monitor or control it. It's dangerous” Shield states firmly.
“Now isn't that a large jump to make? Sure she's a machine. But she clearly has feelings, a personality. Heck. If she was made of flesh she'd be considered alive” Tombs begins with a smile. “And I've met a fair few ponies that are considered alive yet don't have a glimpse of emotion or personality” He finishes with a small smile.
“Perhaps. Or like the more advance golem and automatons she was given those traits to appear more alive. We saw how quickly she reacted. She was ready to kill without any remorse” Shield says her tone becoming cold.
“And so where you” Tombs states simply as he stands and shrugs. “Now. I'd love to chat Twilight. But I best go and find Blade before he does something idiotic and upsets Hope” Tombs says before trotting deeper into the chamber ignoring the glare that Shield was giving him.
Twilight sighs and hangs her head. “Come on Shield. Let's go back to the palace since looking for anything will be pointless at this point” Twilight says before straightening and walking back towards the entrance in relative silence.
About halfway down the long pathway Arrow and Taffy rejoin the group and gave a hush report to Shield as they continued down the pathway. After some time they climb out of the stairway and into the main room finding that things for the most part haven't changed.
Twilight smiles at one of the guards before heading towards the main entrance knowing that the Guards rarely get any acknowledgment Twilight notices that there's far less guards then before. Still a few dozen but no longer as if the place was a barracks. Twilight smiles and walks towards the large wooden doors being guarded by four solar guards.
As Twilight approaches they wordlessly open the doors and she walks out into the late afternoon of the Crystal City. The sun shines down upon the city lifting her mood, and the fresh air of the city clears her lungs after being underground for so long. Twilight takes in a deep breath smiling. “I want to see the out district of the City” Twilight states looking at Shield still smiling.
“As you wish Princess” Shield states calmly as she moves to walk next to Twilight the other guards taking lose position around her. Close enough that they can help in case something occurs but far enough away that Twilight has he room and ponies can approach her.
Twilight begins to head towards the outer district otherwise known as the industrial district, due to the large amount of industry in the area. As Twilight walks she recounts what she knows of the area, it's where the largest mines of the Empire's Capital are, as well as where the majority of the Empire's goods are processed and manufactured. Twilight looks over to Shield and gives her a reassuring smile, to which Shield simply nods.
After some time the group walks through an old, barley maintained gate house. Only two guards stood at the gate, each relaxing until they caught sight of Twilight, they each quickly became stoic and puffed out there chests to look intimidating. Shield gave each guard a glare as they walked by, causing Twilight to roll her eyes. But as Twilight looked forward once more she almost stumbles seeing the state of the area.
Rather than elegant crystals and stone that the majority of the city is made up of, these buildings are made off simple stones and dark woods. Everything is in states of despair looking as if they've only been touched up from time to time. The few ponies she sees do not shine and avoid looking towards Twilight. It reminds Twilight of when she and her friends first came to the Empire.
Slowly Twilight moves forward her good cheer gone from the state of her ponies lives. “Why are these ponies living in such horrid conditions” Twilight asks herself quietly.
“I wouldn’t know Princess” Shield answers swiftly as she becomes more diligent then before.
Twilight looks towards one of homes, a determined expression upon her face. She makes her way over, purpose in her movement, her escorts following. Twilight then knocks on the door three times and takes a step back.
The light clip clop and shout of a filly saying “I got it!” is heard before the door opens showing a unicorn filly no older then the crusaders, staring in awe at Twilight. She has a deep purple coat much like an amethyst and a two toned grey and purple mane. However, her horn rather then being straight is slightly curved much like Sombra’s and her coat isn't shining.
“What did I tell you Amethyst about opening doors without mom-” A crystal pony mare with a light blue cost and a two tones blue and navy blue mane, begins as she walks into view before looking at Twilight in fear. She immediately gets into a bow causing Twilight to look at her in shock.
“It's an angle mommy! Just like in the stories!” The filly says happily as she rushes over to her mother to make her look at Twilight. “Look Mommy!” She states confusing Twilight even more.
“Um. You don't need to bow miss…” Twilight begins slowly, the mare swiftly standing and pulling her daughter behind her as she whispers something causing the filly to quite down. “I just wanted to ask some questions is all. No need for the formalities” Twilight says with a smile.
The mare nods her head. “Ask them then leave my family and I alone. Princess” The mare says confidentiality but with fear in her voice.
Pausing Twilight glances at Shield who remains still watching the mare. “Well. I would like to know for starters, what your name is” Twilight says with smile.
“I'm Violet Stone” The mare says as she keeps her daughter back with a hoof.
“Well, miss Stone. I wanted to come and see the outer district today. And when I came here I saw the state of things and I'm curious as to why” Twilight states.
Violet looks conflicted for a moment before speaking. “I'm just a factory worker. I don't know about any of that”
Twilight nods slowly not convinced but doesn't press. “How is your life style? Are you treated well?” Twilight asks.
Violet swiftly nods her head. “Oh yes. The overseers are kind and insure that me and my daughter are will fed and have everything we can ever want” She says almost as if from a script.
“I see” Twilight begins nodding her head “And which factory do you work in?”
“I work at the Twin Blade factory” Violet states quickly. “Now if you excuse me your Highness I need to finish dinner” She states walking towards the door as if to close it.
“Alright. Have a good day miss Stone” Twilight says pleasantly before turning and walking back the way she came a frown on her face. The door slams shut and locks behind her.
Twilight looks towards Shield, who's expression hasn't changed. “I think her ‘Overseer’ and the Nobles in charge of this district have been lying Shining and Cadence about the workers” Twilight says quietly.
“I believe you are correct. And what do you plan on doing about it?” Shield asks neutrally.
“I don't know yet” Twilight says slowly as the group makes there way to the Palace in silence.
Twilight enters the throne room followed by her escorts. Shining is sitting on the throne with a sour expression as he speaks to a guard in the Imperial Armor. The guard nods there head and trots out through a side door before Shining notices Twilight. He gives her a smile, but Twilight can easily tell that it's forced.
“How has your day been Twi?” Shining asks trying to appear relaxed.
“Well. I've learned some new ground breaking things that I want to tell you all about” Twilight begins enthusiastically before becoming calm once more taking a deep breath. “But, I believe you and I need to talk about a few things. Mainly about the difference between a Southern and Northern Crystal pony. The fact that there's a crystal unicorn with a curved horn. And lastly that the outer district is more or less a slum” Twilight finishes, her voice echoing in the quite throne room.
Shining sighs deeply his forced smile vanishing. “Well. I was hoping for a nice talk about my little sister's adventure but I may was well tell you what's going on. Then maybe you can convince the Princesses that I need military support” He begins sounding exhausted. “First and far most. There's a total of three cities in the Empire including the capital, as well as several towns and multiple small villages. All of these vanished when Sombra activated some sort of massive spell. And unfortunately for us, Sombra instated multiple laws that heavily restricted noble titles and there duties. With the Empire becoming a part of Equestria, these nobles regained there power” He pauses and shakes his head before looking at Twilight and continuing. “Now, they are trying to over throw Cadence and I, and worst of all. They are being lead by Cadence’s Ancestor. Meaning he has a very strong claim to the Empire. So, that's what's going on. The Nobles are going to revolt, and they still retain their forces from over a thousand years ago. Hence why I need the Equestrian army” Shining finishes.
Twilight looks at Shining taking in all the information. “Your saying. That there's an uprising against you and Cadence. And you didn't tell me?” Twilight asks slowly her tone devoid of emotion.
“Princess Celestia asked me to not inform you unless necessary. After the incidents of today. I figured it was time to tell you” Shining says with a heavy sigh. “I'm sorry for not telling you Twilight. But at the time I figured it would blow over. Now I'm worried about an armed conflict”
Twilight nods her head in understanding, violence amongst ponies is rare and whenever a the Nobles of Equestria tried a take over they were always put down peacefully. “I understand Shining” Twilight finally says. “But that doesn't answer my other concerns” Twilight states.
Shining smiles slightly before replying. “I've been trying to help the ponies in the outer district. But they are to afraid to tell anypony how there being treated. I've done all in my power to help them. But the Nobles have them more scared them Sombra” He pauses taking a breath and rubbing his head. “And in regards to the south and north crystal ponies. There's not a lot of info about it. Only that there where two kingdoms which merged into one. The south and the North. Other then that there's nothing that I know” Shining finishes.
Twilight frowns as she nods her head at the explanation. “That makes some sense. It explains why it's called an Empire. But I don't understand why you can't just arrest the Nobles. You and Cadence are the rulers of the Empire” Twilight states.
Shining sighs. “Look at it this way. In the court of law, you need evidence in order to punish a pony. In this case I need evidence in order to arrest them. Otherwise others can use it as an excuse to prove that myself or Cadence are tyrants” Shining explains as he sighs and stands. “Anyways. I've been dealing with these ponies all day. If you can even call them that. Griffins are easier to deal with then these ponies. Now let's go for dinner and you can tell me and Spike about your day” He finishes with a small smile.
Twilight nods her head and gives a smile of her own. “Alright BBBFF” Twilight says with a small giggle before following him to the royal dining hall.
As Twilight enters she notices that Spike is sitting at the table snacking on a bowl of granites. There's two crystal guards in the room standing at attention unmoving.
Behind Twilight Shield and her other escorts stop. “You four are dismissed. You've had a long shift. Go and get some food and rest” Shield states calmly the other escorts heading off without a word before Shield follows Twilight into the room.
Shining site at the head of the table, Spike to his right and a seat over. Twilight sits between them, removing her saddlebags and gives Spike and affectionate nuzzle causing the small dragon to groan in protest. “Twilight! Stop!” Spike shouts in distress as Shining chuckles.
“I have to give my number one assistant some love after he was away all day don't I?” Twilight asks giggling at Spike
“Not really” Spike grumbles folding his arms and huffing.
“Oh don't be like that” Twilight says with a roll of her eyes. As Spike settles, returning to his snack. Twilight looks at Shield as she stands near the wall much like the other to guards. She frowns slightly before speaking. “Why don't you join us Shield? You've had a fairly rough day”
Shield looks at Twilight then glances at Shining, the wordless exchange happens faster then Twilight can look and Shield sighs. “Very well Princess” She states before walking around the table and sitting opposite to Twilight.
Twilight sighs at the formality but gives Shield a smile regardless. Before turning to Shining to tell him the events of the day. “So, first thing first. There was an issue on the way to the Cathedral. Some kind of protest, Shield lead me out of harms way and then I got to meet a few new members of the crew. The Stroke Family black Smiths and Gem Cutter. Then Shield and I headed to the structures-” Twilight begins before being cut off by Spike.
“What kind of protest?” He asks interrupting.
Turning to face Spike, Twilight gives a small smile. “I'm unsure but there where a large amount of ponies there and Shield wanted to make sure that I was safe. So she lead me to a different entrance” Twilight explains.
“Oh ok” Spike says as he returns to his bowl of granites.
“At the Structures I meet the esteemed Professor Broken Blade” Twilight says with a huff trying to be sarcastic. “Who was trying to take over Professor Tombs operation. I had to step in to resolve that issue, after that I spoke to Lyra about some things, mainly if she knew any legends about this race. She unfortunately didn't have much information other then names for gods and demons alike. So with that we went into the main chamber. And it was amazing. We quickly found that it was some sort of storage facility filled with crates higher then the light would shine. And when I opened one it was filled with boxes, and inside the boxes where packages and in those more packages and inside those square pieces of bread which looked worst then the bread you had me eat from your guard rations” Twilight says with small laugh.
“I actually brought a piece. I'll be testing it later to find out what kind of grain it's made of” Twilight begins as she pulls out the packaged bread from her saddlebags. “It seems to be stale. But after being locked away for so long I can understand why” Twilight chuckles. “Also, we learned that these creatures are omnivores. Judging that we found both vegetables and meat”
“Omnivores eat meat and fruits and vegetables right?” Spike asks.
Looking at Spike, Twilight nods and smiles. “Your correct Spike, it also means that they have both teeth for shredding and crushing. To help them eat” Twilight explains giving Spike a small pat with her wing. “Anyways from there we moved on and reached a crossroads. The group split up, so Tombs and I where together with my Escort. We continued down the same path and found that these crates where filled with building supplies. Easily enough to build a large town. But shortly after that we found something both terrifying and amazing. At first we thought it was a suit of armor. Since it was massive, made of metal and clearly bipedal. It was also heavily damaged, one arm was gone, a massive hole in its chest and multiple little holes. It was thanks to the massive hole that we found that it wasn't armor. Instead some sort of golem” Twilight smiles. “I named it ‘Unmared Armor’ since no one wore it” Twilight finishes chuckling.
“A golem made of armor?” Shining asks.
“Yup. Strange isn't it?” Twilight replies earning a nod from Shining.
“Very considering that golems are hard to make. And harder to maintain” Shining states.
“Well its like a golem. But it runs on electricity and a ‘Computer’ which I'll get to later” Twilight quickly explains earning a raised eyebrow from Shining.
“It runs on lightning?” Spike asks confused.
“I'm unsure, but that's what we think. How this race did that we don't know” Twilight begins with a smile. “It also had a strange weapon on one side. Much like the black clubs that shot metal. But far bigger, and it was called as cannon. A strange cannon though” Twilight states with a sigh. “And yet judging from the damage it was effective. Anyways after that we found two amazing things. A ‘Camera’ which could record moving images and a strange device that I'll get to later. This ‘Camera’ had a recording of several of these creatures, showing there lives. We learned so much yet every answer granted even more questions. There world was frozen, there weapons where called guns, there carriages moved on there own and they lived underground. They faced monsters in the wilderness and some sort of plague ended there world. And yet. They lived like ponies, or any other race. They had families, friends, enjoyed jokes and lived” Twilight says before growing silent.
“They also told us a fair bit about how there technology worked. Mostly through display, everything they have is made for hands, which has me believing that they where the only race back then. And lastly. We believe that the structures have been there much longer then ten thousand years. We believe that the original timer may be close to correct” Twilight trails off for a moment as several waiters come in with there dinner. Some sort of tomato soup. “But then, we found something amazing and beyond our wildest dreams. A free thinking Golem. Or an A.I as she called herself” Twilight says with a smile.
“Hold up. This is a lot for your big brother to take in. Your saying that these creatures made a golem. That can think like a Pony?” Shining asks clearly confused.
Twilight nods. “It's not really a golem. It's something else. But that's the easiest way to explain it. And I'm fairly certain that it could be a pony if it had a body. It thinks and has emotions. It also spoke our language, from the moment we entered the facility it was watching us. And when Gem accidentally turned the strange device on. It was able to speak to us. It first made a form of light that was an exact copy of me. Then it changed at will. The technology or magic used to make it is amazing. And it's. Sorry she us willing to teach us how to understand all of it. Calling us the next and how she has to guide us” Twilight explains as she begins to eat her soup.
After finishing a few mouth fulls she continues. “I believe that whoever made her, put her there to insure that when there people leave the underground she can teach them and guide them” Twilight smiles sadly. “But I don't think that happened....” She trails off as she looks up suddenly. “There's more of these structures. And if there was two. There could be three, or four or a dozen!” She looks at Shining beaming. “There could be more of these creatures, and so much more knowledge! Thanks for the meal but I need to go” Twilight quickly says before teleporting to her room.
She rushes over to her desk and begins to write down all the information she has, as well and beginning a list of all the things she needs answered, working late into the night.
"Well! Finally done!” Twilight proclaims smiling as she looks over her seventeen theories regarding the possibility of more structures, all ranging in order of most scientifically plausible to most unlikely. She looks to the her candle, seeing that it's barely a stub before glancing out the window noticing it's well into the night. “Well, I guess I best head to bed” Twilight chuckles to herself as she stands from her desk before blowing out the stub of a candle.
As the room is bathed in darkness, Twilight is momentarily blinded as she stumbles towards her bed. Her hoof catches on something, causing her to trip and land head first upon a rug with a yelp. After a moment of silence to insure she didn't wake anypony she stands and blinks her eyes as they focus to the darkness. Looking towards the object that tripped her she sees a faint glow, almost invisible.
“Wonder what that is” She murmurs to herself as she levitates the object up to get a better look. She quickly realizes that it's one of the journals which she got from the vault. Twilight peers at it for a moment trying to find where the glow is coming from. After a visual investigation she walks to her desk slowly and sets it down before scanning the journal for any magic which could be the cause of the glow.
“Wow” Twilight says as her eyes widen in shock at the amount of spells engraved into the journal. One spell sticking out more than any other, some form of anchor or link which connects to another journal. Following the link Twilight levitates another journal over and sits it down on the desk. She scans it as well finding two links upon it, one to the previous journal and one to another. “It's some sort of pattern” She says allowed quietly before moving the next journal over and finding the same as before. After a moment she has each of the six journals laid out in order, she lights her horn to get a better look and notices that they are not in numerical order. Instead being six, one, three, two, five and four.
Twilight looks over the journals and ponders the meaning behind the ordering thinking it to be some sort of code or combination. Unable to think of a place which the code or combination could be, she shakes her head and heads to her bed to dwell on the new information and to get a good night's rest before trying to solve the latest mystery.
Twilight wakes with a long yawn, her internal clock seeming it appropriate to wake. She climbs out of bed and rubs her eyes with a hoof taking in her surroundings noticing that Spike is nowhere to be found and that the journal are still laid out upon her desk. She pauses and walks to her desk and looks at the first journal, after a moment of hesitation she opens it revealing a blank page. Frowning she flips to the next page finding the same as the last. Flipping through multiple pages shows the same trend of them being blank. She sighs deeply closing the journal before preparing for her day.
She takes a quick cool shower to fully wake herself before using a simple spell to brush out her mane and prune her wings. With these done she brushes her teeth, gets her saddle bags and walks out of the room finding both Arrow and Knight standing guard at her doorway.
Knight nods his head in greeting. “Morning Princess” He states before moving to her right flank as Twilight heads to the dining hall.
“Morning Knight, morning Arrow” Twilight greets her two guards smiling.
Before long the trio make their way to the dining hall, Twilight finding Shining eating some oatmeal while Spike enjoys a bowl of cereal. Neither noticing her as she enters. “Morning you two” She states happily before pulling up a seat next to Spike.
“I take it you had a productive night Twi?” Shining asks, as he pauses eating his food.
“More or less, I've come up with multiple theories, most being supported by small amounts of evidence” Twilight says brightly. “Oh, and I think I found some sort of clue about Sombra’s Journals” Twilight exclaims. “They were all connected in a specific pattern by a complex spell, which was acting as an anchor of sort, resulting in a specific combination of sorts” Twilight says before sighing. “Unfortunately I haven't seen or heard of a six digit lock in the palace or in Sombra’s possession” Twilight finishes with a frown as a bowl of cereal is placed in front of her. She looks at the maid as she walks off unable to give her thanks.
“Well. I'll have a look around for you Twi, we know that there's plenty of hidden rooms all throughout the palace. So one is bound to have something that can help you out in that regard” Shining says with a smile.
“If you want Twilight I can look for it” Spike says swiftly. “So I can help out”
“Alright Spike” Twilight says patting Spike’s head, giving him a good reason to not come with her to the structure. She then looks at Shining and gives him an apologetic smile. “Sorry about teleporting out of dinner like that. I was in a hurry”
“It's no problem Twi” Shining says waving his hoof dismissing the problem. “We both know how you are” He finishes with a chuckle as he finishes his bowl.
Twilight laughs hesitantly as she rubs the back of her head in embarrassment. “I had a good theory, pop up” Twilight states before looking at her brother. “Anyways. I should probably head to the Cathedral to insure I'm not late” Twilight says with a smile as she pushes her half emptied bowl away.
Shining rolls his eyes before speaking. “If you insist Twilight, I'll watch Spike”
“Thanks Shining” Twilight says with a smile as she swiftly stands and trots out of the dining hall followed by her two guards.
A short walk later, Twilight finds herself flanked by Shield as her other two guards fall in behind Arrow and Knight. “Good morning Shield” Twilight stats happily as they turn down a corridor headed to the main exit.
“Morning Princess” Shield nods as they continue forward.
As they continue on there way, another group walks towards them to the left side of the corridor. A familiar gleaming grey pony in the front of the group, his head held high and his mane styled to flow behind his head. Something Rarity would call ‘marvelous’, if she didn’t know anything about this Sir Crust.. Behind him where two younger ponies dressed similarly to him wearing tailored suits and sharing the same colouration. And behind them where three crystal guards which bore no marks of the Empire.
The two groups neared and Twilight manages to get a better view of the three guards, each has a crest on their chest plating showing a stalk of grain, each guard seemed to be armed with a blade strapped to their side. Suddenly, Sir Crust’s croup stops as he turns to face Twilight and looks down towards her being taller.
“Why, if it isn’t the Emperor's dear sister. Princess Twilight Sparkle” He says with a hate filled tone, his eyes gleaming with ill intent. Shield steps forward causing Sir Crust to move his focus from Twilight to Shield. “Ah, and her personal guards. How Lovely” He states with mild amusement.
Twilight glares at the noble before replying in a neutral tone “And what exactly are you here for, Sir Crust”
The stallion flashes her a smile which makes her back crawl, “Just an audience with your brother Princess. Nothing to concern your pretty little head over” He then pushes past Shield and his party follows, one of the younger stallions breaking his cold gaze to give Twilight an apologetic smile.
Twilight watches them round the corner which she had come from and huffs before walking forward, resuming towards the main entrance. “The nerve of that stallion” Twilight huffs. “I understand that I’m a new princess, and i may not even want to be bowed to. But that doesn’t mean he can just walk around as if he owns the place” She states with a stomp of her hoof.
“It’s alright Princess. Sir Crust is one of those nobles which your brother spoke of. I’m sure he’ll be sorted out soon” Shield stats as the other members of the party voice their agreement.
“I just wish it was Shield” Twilight begins with a heavy sigh “From what little I’ve read, when things like this happen. Princess Celestia would end it with a simple discussion. But she isn’t here. And Shinning is needing an army to help” She pauses to collect her thoughts for a moment as they turn again coming to the main hallway and towards the gate. “Equestria hasn’t have an armed conflict for over five hundred years! The closest thing to a conflict being the changeling invasion But that was ended within a day!” She exclaims before hanging her head in frustration.
After a long moment of silence and the palaces gleaming floors turning to the more rough cobbled crystal paths, Shield speaks up. “I’m not surprised you would think that way Princess” Shield begins. “But what the majority of the public doesn't know, is that equestria while not in a war for centuries has had its fair share of conflict. Primarily with feral dragons and diamond dog tribes. But there has been several large skirmishes. And after the changeling invasion. There has been far more activity along our borders with the bad lands. To say the least Princess. While most ponies do not know this things, there is conflict in equestria, however it’s kept to a minimum” Shield finishes looking at Twilight.
“If there is so much conflict, why doesn’t anypony know about?” Twilight asks after a moment of silence.
“Simple. It would provoke fear from the citizens. Especially when there's no need for it.” Shield stats indifferently. “Ponies are happier thinking that everything is going well. Hence why your brother assigned us to you. Unlike normal guards we are combat trained and tested” She pauses as they past a trio of crystal guards bearing crests of some noble. “And from what little we know. The Crystal ponies are no stranger to warfare”
Twilight nods her head as she takes in the information. “That makes sense. Judging from my experience in Ponyville when Zecoria came to town the first time, i would think that most ponies would faint if they heard of armed combat” Twilight states.
The group walks in relative silence as they take the main road towards the cathedral. There’s a fair amount of crystal guards walking about as well as Solar guards. All of them armed with some sort of polearm, weather a spear or a halberd. A new sight for Twilight, seeing all of the armed guard walking about.
Finally, she turns to speak to Shield once more. “Do you think there's going to be a revolt?” Twilight asks, causing Shield’s face to harden as she clearly thinks.
“Hopefully not” Shield stats after a moment, avoiding the answer.
“That's not a very good answer” Twilight says slowly as to not sound irritated or displeased with Shield.
Shield sighs deeply before speaking “If you truly want the answer Princess. You just need to look around you” She gestures to the various guards about the streets. “Both sides are out in force, your brother’s guards and the Nobles soldiers. And all it takes is one action to light a fire” Shield states solemnly.
Nodding her head sadly, Twilight puts on a smile to hide the tell tale signs of depression. “Thank you for trying Shield, but i think i understand what all of this means” She chuckles sadly “I have read a lot of books after all, more than one about some of the other races history. And some of Equestria's as well” Twilight says before growing silent.
The group walked in silence the remainder of the trip, as they approached the Cathedral. It became apparent that it was now under heavy guard and certainly a hot topic for news ponies.
A dozen or more Solar Guards stood at attention keeping the crowd of news ponies away, multiple cameras flashing and a babble of voices making it impossible to tell what was being said.
“Maybe a different route?” Arrow suggests earning a nod from Shield and Twilight's other guards.
“A good plan private” Shield stats as she turns to Twilight waiting for her opinion on the subject.
Twilight meanwhile looks over the crowd before shaking her head firmly. “No, there just reporters” She begins firmly as she walks forward with purpose. “We'll have to deal with them eventually. And better now then later”
Shield falls in next to Twilight “Very well Princess. We'll do it your way qy” Shield states as the other guards maneuver into their correct positions.
The group approaches the mass of ponies and a few griffins all trying to get the latest scoop of information. The babel of shouts becomes understanding, primarily the reporters questioning the heavy presence of guards in the area.
One of the Solar guards notices Twilight and shouts behind him to his commanding officer. A Sergeant from what Twilight can tell. The Sergeant turns his gaze towards Twilight and her escort before stepping forward.
He seemingly puffs up his chest before shouting with a thunderous voice “You shall all maintain a professional level in front the Princess! If you continue to violate the laws of Equestria, you shall be arrested!” The effect is emiddient, nearly every reporter stops speaking and turns towards Twilight. The Sergeant then steps back and calls over his shoulder, the Cathedral doors open and several more guards come trotting out to push the reporters apart making a path for Twilight.
Twilight and her guards walks through the silent reporters, all that can be heard are quills on parchment and hoof steps. She makes it to the top of the Cathedral steps and turns to address the reporters after giving the Sargent a smile.
Twilight takes a breath to calm herself before beginning, “Hello Everypony and Everygriffon. As you all should know. I am Princess Twilight Sparkle. And I would request that you all leave these good guardponies alone. And in return I'll answer three questions. As my day is fairly busy” She finishes with a smile being as truthful as she can be with the crowd.
The crowd of reporters stare at Twilight silently for a moment before barraging her with questions and frantic hoof and claw waving to get her attention. Looking through the crowd she chooses a random reporter and sounds of disappointment are heard as they grow silent.
The reporter chosen is a brown earth pony stallion with grey mane and a simple jacket. He holds are small notepad in one hoof. He smiles are speaks up so all the reporters can hear. “Princess Twilight. What is it that could possibly require so many guards and your presence? And cause you to avoid the press at every turn?” Many of the reporters present nod there heads in approval of the questions, while all ready themselves for the answer.
Twilight smiles at the questions “That was two questions but, I'll allow” She begins. “The reason for all of this is because I'm doing a private project with several other historians. And, the guards are because my brother. Prince Shining Armor is still as protective as ever” She giggles slightly earning few chuckles from the crowd. “He even went as far to have several personal guards assigned to me” Twilight states earning multiple cynical stares and dozens of camera flashes.
Shield all the while stands like a statue next to her. To any onlooker it would appear that she is calm like all the other guards present. But Twilight can hear the distinct sound of grinding teeth. She pushes multiple thoughts to the side and speaks once more. “And the reason for avoiding you fine reporters is due to the fact that I have been quite busy as of late and don't want to be distracted”
The reporters quickly jot down what little information they can before looking for attention once again. A particularly large Griffon taking to the air as to stand out more shouting Princess repeatedly. After a moment the large Griffon is pointed at and the others groan but settle down.
The Griffon is clearly male and has dark brown feathers with black tips and golden fur, a camera is slung around his neck, he holds a quill in one claw and note pad in the other. The Griffon clears his throat before speaking with a rough voice “Princess Sparkle, if it isn't a bother, could you explain to us just what this project of yours is?”
Twilight smiles at the large griffin before replying. “Well. As I said before it is private project. And as I am not the head of the project it wouldn't be my place to state much about it” She gives the Griffon and the crowd an apologetic smile before continuing. “However I can indulge you all in a little information. The team is being lead by the famous Professor Tombs and we are currently searching through an ancient excavation site” This earns multiple looks of surprise as the many reporters write down the new information. Some heading off back towards the center of such town.
Then the frenzy of asking the last question begins. The reporters practically jumping over each other to be acknowledged and in few cases doing just that. After a moment a thought Twilight points to teal unicorn mare with a light blue and white mane. Earning more groans from the others as they quiet down.
The mare steps forward and with as large grin begins with a thick manehattan accent. “Minty Press here from the Manehattan Times, Princess. Now if you don't mind. Would you mind sharing information regarding the Increase of guards from both Solar Guard and Crystal Guard present in the city, as well as multiple trains coming in dropping off even more guards into the city?”
The crowd of reporters suddenly grow completely quiet. Not even the sound of writing can be heard as the reporter's look at Twilight eagerly. Twilight puts on her best ‘Princess’ face which is meant to show a calm and collected leader. But Twilight has yet to master the face, she begins thinking of all the possible scenarios involving this knowing her next actions can affect many things.
“Well Princess?” the reporter Minty Press asks expectantly.
Pushing her anxiety to the side Twilight begins to speak, forcing herself to not stutter. “Well. In regards to that. I know little about that. As I have been focusing on this project of mine. And other. Private matter” She states with a forced smile before slowly backing towards the door. “Now. I must be going. So have a good day” Twilight states before making a quick retreat inside the Cathedral followed by her guards.
Just as the large Cathedral doors close with a thud she can hear the shouts of the reporters. Just as bad as before, if not worst. Sighing deeply she looks around the room spotting a clearly irritated Shield giving hush orders to other guards.
“Don't worry about it Princess” A guard stallion says to her left. “From what I know, the Lieutenant means well. She's just well…” He trails off for a moment. “You know”
Twilight looks to the guard noting that his Enchantment is currently activated making him look like all the other solar guards. “Thank you…” Twilight begins.
“Oh! Private Maple Wood your highness” He says with a smile and a quick bow.
“Well. Thank you Private. It's good to know that others understand Lieutenant Shield” Twilight starts with a smile before Maple looks up and puts on a stoic look and giving a crisp salute.
“Return to your post Private” Shield states with a harsh tone before looking towards Twilight and giving a quick bow as Maple Wood heads off without a peep. “We are prep to move out Princess. The Guards up here have the situation under control”
Twilight gives her a small smile. “Very well. Let's meet up with the professor then. Shouldn't keep him waiting much longer” Twilight says before walking towards the excavation site. Being down the main hallway to the left. Quickly they find themselves in the bland hallway as before and then walk into the excavation room finding a pacing Professor Blade and the rest of the team minus Gem Cutter Cutter and the two blacksmiths.
“Ah! Princess! Glad you made it” Tombs shouts happily causing the clearly troubled Professor Blade and the others to look towards her. “Take it the rabble outside slowed you down yea?” Tombs asks pleasantly.
“Yea, but nothing I couldn't handle” Twilight states with a smile before thinking over the events and giving a deep sigh. “Unfortunately, i had to tell the reporters something otherwise they wouldn’t leave. And I happened to mention that you were leading the team” She says with an apologetic smile.
Tombs shrugs indifferently to the news while the rest of the team simply return to their work. Professor Blade however continues to pace grumbling something. “It's no biggy Twilight, they were bound to catch wind of this. And that's why we got Dusty here. He’s both an experienced historian and he has a way with the crowds” Tombs chuckles lightly before looking at Dusty who’s reading a book at the back of the room. “Ain’t that right Dusty?!” Tombs shouts at him earning a glare and an odd gesture of Dusty raising a foreleg and then crossing it with his other standing on his hind legs for a moment. Earning a laugh from Tombs and the others. “Yea, Dusty has it covered Princess, don’t you worry” He then gestures her to follow him as he heads towards one of the tables with multiple charts.
“Anyways, come along Twilight” He states as Twilight follows next to him. “Your tardiness is actually a stroke of luck on your part, as just a few minutes ago the Stroke lad came in with the first of many reports regarding the metal they extracted from the structure. And you are just in time to look it over, rather than having to wait around if you were on time” He chuckles as he stops at the table propping himself up as he moves a sheet of paper with a table into view.
The table shows multiple natural metal compounds along with a percentage for each compound. What is most not worthy is how the vast majority appears to be simply iron with another large percentage being tungsten. However, a quarter of the metal remains unknown.
“Quick Stroke says his father believes that this is some sort of steel, however something which is centuries more advanced than anything we have access to. He thinks the reason why it's lasted so long is due to the process which was used in making it, but he hasn’t the slightest clue about how it was made. Hence why the Stroke’s are not with us” Tombs explains calmly before sliding another paper into view. “Now, this is what I wanted you to see Princess” Tombs states seriously. “It's the first test result from samples taken from the damaged bits of the Structures.”
Twilight pulls the report into view and begins to read it in relative silence.
Metal Slag Sample #1 Researcher Silent Charm
I shall be using an Arcane Extractor to process the metal slag we have recovered from the damaged areas the structure to give us a more clear image of what has occurred.
From initial readings from the extractor there is multiple unknown components which it cannot read which was to be expected, however the device seems to be encountering multiple problems with the extraction of data. Almost as if this metal is resistant to magic. I shall decrease the speed and increase power in hope this will help.
I’ve seem to find the correct amount of power to use and the device is working efficiently once more. However the readings are showing that there is air bubbles within the metal slag, and that it may be these pockets which hold the source of the problem.
After slowing the device even more I have determined that when the extractor breaches one of these pockets, the device begins to lose power as if the matter inside the pockets absorbs the magic.
After further testing I believe this to be the case. However I do not believe this to be intentional. It would appear that when when the metal was melted some sort of matter in the air was trapped inside the pockets. I believe this due to the fact that the non damaged sample has no such problems and that. The device just broke down.
It would appear that whatever was inside those pockets proved too much for the device to handle. From this point forward it is advised to be careful when near or within the structures and report if one's natural magic is affected.
Researcher Silent Charm
After reading the small report Twilight frowns in thought unsure what to make of this information. After several moments she looks to Tombs and speaks. “Was there anything else?”
“Nothing besides the fact that when the structures were damaged something in the air was locked away and it absorbs magic or neglects it completely” Tombs replies. “I think we should ask Hope about that when we meet with her again”
Twilight nods her head in agreement “Could you bring one of the samples with us?” Twilight asks.
“Of course” Tombs replies with a smile as Professor Blade walks towards them with a huff.
“Can we get a move on. I want to have a look at this ‘Unmare Armor’ of yours and speak with that machine” He says with clear annoyance.
“Why of court Professor” Tombs says with an exaggerated smile before walking past Professor Blade and calling out to the others “Alrighty everypony. We've got everything on the ground via the crane. And now that the Princess is here we can get a move on!”
The team quickly pack up what they are doing and head down the stairwell to begin the day of historical finds.
It became apparent to the ponies as soon as they came into view of the structures that things were amissed. Small beings moved about building multiple structures, connecting slabs of metal with a bright light. Larger beings moved in and out of the structures carrying large boxes and crates which the smaller beings quickly converged upon.
As they got closer they found that these strange begins where not so strange after all. But resembling the ‘Drone’ and ‘Bots’ as they performed their tasks. It was clear that a wall was being built as well as support beams which came from the ground to the cavern ceiling. And finally hundreds of lights lit up the entire area.
Twilight finds herself looking over the many different types of machines. There are two main small machines, one being like the drone which floats above the ground but having two arms. One to look hold things and arms out her which creates the bright light. The other small machines being bipedal and having a scrawny looking body which was almost skeletal and a flat dome shaped head with a single eye like area. They seemed to be used as carriers moving the smaller supplies about. Both being close to the size of a pony.
Then there where the large machines which were also bipedal but seemed to be slow and precise and able to carry large amounts of weight. They looked identical to the small bipedal machines but larger and bulkier. These machines were easily the size of a small single story building.
As the group approached the machines paid them no mind and even machines around the group to not hinder their progress. The ponies gawked at the sheer amount of work being done and all the machines moving about without any problem.
Suddenly Strong Hoof shouts in annoyance drawing everypony to look at him. Finding one of the larger machines trying to look pick up the cart which held all of the team's equipment.
“You leave this alone” He states glaring the ‘eye’ of the machine. The group seems to tense up. But after a moment the machine let's go of the cart and heads off to perform another task. Strong Hoof grunts and heads forward again. “What are all of you gawking at?” He questions with a glare earning a chuckle from Tombs as the group moved on.
As they entered the main structure noting that the door was now wide open, the same being for the other structures. The inside was cleaned and all the lights on. The side hallway was cleared of the skeletons and the place seemed pristine. Even though the colors were bland and nothing shined.
“Well. Looks like they cleaned everything up” Tombs says casually earning multiple looks of ‘You think?’, “My only question is why?”
“I don't care why! I want to know who!” Professor Blade exclaims. “They are removing historical data!” He shouts earning a few glares which he ignores.
“Now, now Professor. You need to remember. None of this is ours. It's not like it's some abandoned city. There clearly someone living here” Tombs explains to Professor Blade as if he were a colt.
“Don't paintranize me Tombs. I'm the most experienced historian here. And this is outrageous. This machine know why we are here. And should have left everything be! And now it's off building something as we speak as well as desecrating historical data!” Professor Blade shouts angrily before stomping off deeper into the structure.
“Shouldn't we make sure he doesn't do anything?” Strong Hoof asks.
“He'll be alright Strong. And if he does anything I'm sure Hope can stop him” Tombs replies with a smile before moving on.
The group heads deeper into the structure passing machines and finding much of the same. Inside the warehouse they find the place in a frenzy of organized chaos. Machines of all types zipped about carrying parts and boxes. While bigger machines moved crates to different areas our outside.
As the group looks about two bipedal machines approach them looking similar to the creatures in the videos. But more angular, as well as having heads as if they were a helm. Each appeared as if they wore armor, and yet they still moved without problem. They stopped in front of the group and one spoke something in there natural language. Earning confused looks from the equestrians.
One of the machines then gestures with its hand as if to follow them. The group wordlessly follow the two machines back to the center of the warehouse where they find the computer and then Hope as she appears in front of them once more giving them a warm smile. As warm a picture can give that is.
“Hello Everyone. And welcome” Hope begins “I hope that the activities are of no problem?” She asks.
“Well. No problems. Just curious as to why. And why you cleaned up all skeletons and basically everything else” Tombs says.
Hope looks at him and nods. “I am constructing the staging area as I'm instructed to do so. It's a primary building which will protect all of the bunkers and act as a control center” She begins calmly. “As to removing the Skeletal remains. It seems like the proper thing to do according to my data banks”
Tombs nods slowly “I understand. However you've mentioned ‘data banks’ several times now and I'm wondering what those are” He asks pleasantly.
“Data Banks are where all the information which my creator have given me. All of the information of humanity. From their darkest actions to their most brilliant achievements” Hope replies neutrally.
“So. Everything about ‘Humanity’ is in your data banks?” Tombs asks slowly, earning a nod from Hope. “Alright. What's this about following instructions all about?”
Hope smiles somewhat “I have a list to follow after my activation. My first task is to construct a secure complex and get all defenses online. From this point I will activate the farming complexes as well as manufacture to begin proper production. Then I will assert the Next. However due to my connection with all the automated systems. I can perform all of these tasks at the same time” She explains.
“Now. That's quite a large amount of work you have to do. Mind if I ask why you need to get defensives up and running?” Tombs asks pleasantly.
Hope seems to look bashful for a moment before adopting a calm expression once more. “The list advices this as one of the primary objectives to do. And from what I gather. My creator enjoy the saying ‘Better safe than sorry’ and I believe this is the best course of action” Hope explains earning a nod from Tombs.
Twilight steps forward and smiles at Hope. “If you don't mind I have a few more questions for you. Before we start with the lessons you had planned for us” Twilight says.
“Very well” Hope says simply.
Twilight smiles and looks behind her levitating a container housing one of the metal samples from the damaged structures. “We were running our tests and found that there is some sort of matter in the air pockets which caused our equipment to malfunction. Is it possible you could tell us what it is?” Twilight ask with an enthusiastic smile.
Hope nods “Please remove it from the container and place it on the ground infront of you” She says as Twilight does as instructed. A hum then fills the air as Hope closes her eyes as if in thought.
After a moment she opens her eyes and speaks calmly. “The matter in the pockets is condensed radioactive particles, however it appears to be more stable then normal which is the only explanation for how the matter to still exist”
“Radioactive particles?” Twilight asks slowly clearly confused and curious as she levitates her notepad to take notes.
Hope looks at her for a moment as if debating sharing the information. After a moment she sighs and begins. “The quick version is that radiation is a by product of two atoms fusing together. And if you do not know what atoms are, It'll take to long to explain”
Twilight nods slowly wanting to know more but respecting what Hope said. “Alright. So. Can we begin with those lessons?” Twilight asks enthusiastically.
Hope smiles and nods her head “of course. It'll take some time but I'll be here to help you if need be” She states as several drones hover over dropping off large stacks of paper, enough for each pony present. “We shall begin with the translation of sounds and move on from there” Hope states earning a very un-princess like squeal of excitement from Twilight and looks of shock from the others.
Twilight leans over the console peering at the screen as she slowly types having mastered the basics of the ‘English’ language. Now able to read and write most words and having the ability to just find the definition of a word new instantly thanks to the ‘Computer’.
The others for the most part seem to be progressing at a steady pace. Mostly thanks to most of them having knowledge in ancient pony languages and access to translation spells. Unfortunately. All of them had difficulty pronouncing the sounds needed for the various letters in the human alphabet. Making speaking it nearly impossible.
Hope meanwhile sits by the console looking over the group of ponies trying to learn a language they can't even speak. “How is it you were able to grasp English so well Princess?” Hope asks sounding interested.
“Well. I've always been one to seek new knowledge. And once i figured the base rules of the language and how sentence structure works. I was able to accurately predict the meaning of the words and how to use the ‘Computer’ allowing me to easily find new words and more information” Twilight states proudly as she levitates her note book jotting down more notes.
“And I take it you are translating the online data banks of the English dictionary to Equestrian?” Hope ask earning nod and more button pressing.
“Since I understand the basics. I may as well try and help the others. And this feels like the best method” Twilight states before pausing in her quest to look at Hope. “How goes your understanding of the Equestrian language?” Twilight asks pleasantly having given hope several foal teaching aids and an equestrian dictionary for when she understood enough to move on.
“I've mastered your language and created a English to Equestrian dictionary and currently I am working on other translations of well” Hope says indifferently as Twilight look at Hope bewildered.
“But. How. I'm not even close to being finished and I've been at this for an hour!” Twilight exclaims.
“I have greater proceeding capabilities then you” Hope says simply as if saying that the sky is blue.
Twilight sputters for a minute before removing herself from the ‘Computer’, planting her hooves upon the ground and huffing. “Well in that case. Could you please give some copies to the others”
Hope frowns for a moment before nodding “Very well Princess. Is there anything else I can help you with?” Hope asks somewhat neutrally.
Twilight gives her a small smile before replying “No thank you. I think I'll continue to make my own dictionary”
“If that's what you want” Hope states before slowly standing. “I'll return in a moment. If you need me ask” She states before vanishing, the domes that project her dulling.
“By Celestia! This Language doesn't make any sense!” Tombs suddenly shouts in frustration as he sets on his hind legs and crosses his fore legs huffing.
Several hours and many frustrated outburst later, the group calls it a day and heads back out. They said their farewells to Hope and met with Professor Blade and Strong Hoof by the entrance to the structure.
Blade looking quite pleased with himself, despite his earlier remarks. Strong notices the group first and gives a relieved smile before calling out to them. “Good day I take it? You lot look more worn out then us”
“You don't know the half of it” Lyra moans out as she slumps along.
“Tough day?” Strong asks with a chuckle.
“Tough is one word for it, Hope forced us to master her native language in a day” Tomb says with a tired sigh. “Knowledge overload. Plus the fact that the language makes no sense. All the rules that break each other and some words having the same spelling but different meaning. It's horrible” Tomb states earning mutters of agreement and a laugh from Strong.
“Well. We had a good day. The Professor managed to track down where the machine’s remains where and was able to inspect it. And I was able to collect multiple medical supplies and catalog different machines for you Silent” He says with good humor to the unicorn. “But that's not the best part. Just look at all the work those things did in the span of time”
As the group looks about, it seems as if they have entered a new building. Made out of the same material but a completely new addition. The stepped into a hallway which leads to another set of large doors currently open which lead to a T section.
“You two been through here yet?” Twilight asks suddenly.
“No, we’ve been waiting here for the rest of you” Strong says over the sound of machines in the distance.
“Well, best just head forward then” Tombs states proudly before walking forward taking the right corridor, his hooves making loud clops upon the metal flooring. The others follow him passing several doorways along the way, all thick doors which have no obvious method of opening. Before long the group reaches a rounded corner leading to another long corridor almost identical to the last.
“You’d think they would at least change things up” Tombs remarks as he heads forward.
“I don’t think this place is supposed to be pretty, but instead functional” Twilight states as she overlooks the large doors and the multiple supporting arches throughout the corridor.
“Right you are Princess” Professor blade state's cutting off Tombs before he could even respond. “From what I’ve gathered these people were heavily reliant on efficiency and order. Which explains why there machines are made to be so orderly. They build what's needed not what's wanted” He finishes with a smile of sorts.
“But” Tombs begins as he moves to walk beside Professor Blade, “This is a Military Complex. And Order is apart of any military. We can’t use one place of reference to determine the entire race” Tombs finished as if explaining an obvious answer.
Professor Blade scuffs as a hovering machine fly's by them giving off a slight hum, “And this facility proves they were an orderly and militaristic people. Why else would they build shelters like this? If not because they were a warning people” He states back with certainty.
Twilight meanwhile frowns in thought as if mewling over something that the Professors said. After a moment of thought she takes out her notepad from her saddle bags as well as a quill and begins to jot down her thoughts. “Perhaps you are both right” Twilight states as the group pauses at another T section, this one having a way forward and to the right.
Professor Blade looks as if he wishes to argue for a moment before smiling at Twilight, “Alright, go on then Princess” He states earning a slight nod from Tombs in agreement.
“Well, from what the recording we found told us” Twilight begins as she turns right figuring it's a way out.”These facilities were made to save their people. From a great war and a plague of sorts. It leads me to believe that these people started off as something like ourselves or any other nation. But where drove to become a militant people to combat many threats” Twilight states as they walks towards a great door much like the one which the original facility has.
As they get closer it begins to open an alarm goes off causing the group to flatten their ears from the horrid sound. While a flashing orange light above the door at the center seems to spin so the light moves along the walls and ground. Before long the door opens half way and the alarm ceases allowing the ponies sensitive ears to recover. Looking through the wide gap they can see the nearly fully illuminated cave which the facility resides in, as well as multiple machines going about their tasks.
“A decent guess as any Princess” Professor Blade states as he passes Twilight taking point, the rest of the group following behind him as they returned to the surface for a much needed break.
Twilight hums to herself as she walks up the stairwell to her room. Fortunately there was no commotion outside the Cathedral, the reporters having gone elsewhere. Allowing the party to head there various ways.
Twilight decided it would be best to head to the palace as it was already getting late. Her guards followed behind her ever dutiful even though the comment of sore hooves was raised quietly more than once.
However, none of this fazed her as she had a mission on her mind. This mission happen to be of the utmost importance. And she she would go to tartarus rather than to fail this task.
She walks past the many portraits and priceless heirlooms of the palace as she narrows her sights upon her destination. As she finally makes it to her door, after what felt like an eternity she gives her escort a pleasant smile and quick suggestion.
“You can all leave if you wish. As i won't be leaving this room for some time” Twilight says with a smile as she slowly opens the door and scoots in before she can get a reply.
The sweet aroma of cheese and fried goodness fills her nostrils as her stomach growls from lack of nourishment. She looks towards her desk finding the object of her desires.
A plate of cheesy fries covered in an Italian sauce, served with a bowl of garden salad. Her objective in sight she quickly moves foward to enjoy the heavenly food.
Twilight takes her seat after removing her saddlebags with but a thought and grasps the fork in her magic, shoveling the delicious food into her muzzle before somepony intrudes upon her.
Halfway through her display the door opens and closes before a familiar voice speaks up. “You know Twilight. It's not very Princess like to use your fork as a shovel” Spike states with a smirk.
Twilight turns herself towards the little dragon as she chews her food, sauce staining her muzzle. She swallows and glares at Spike before huffing “I do not shovel my food. And I would appreciate it if you and Shining would stop saying such” Twilight says hotly.
“Yea yea, got to make sure you don't ruin your image” Spike says with a hint of sarcasm earning another huff from Twilight.
“Can I help you Spike. I am busy as you can see” Twilight says narrowing her eyes at her assistant, who simply shrugs it off.
“Well. I searched the palace with Shinning today like you wanted” Spike begins with a smile peeking Twilight's interests. “And you'd be happy to know. Behind a bookshelf in the library and up some stairs. We found a door with a combination lock” He finishes.
“Thank you very much Spike” Twilight beams happily.
“Does that mean you'll share?”
“Not a chance” Twilight states with a smirk before returning to her food earning a grumble from the little dragon.
After finishing the meal fit for any Princess, Twilight heads to the the library looking for the passage which Spike had mentioned. Currently said dragon was sitting upon her back munching on some gemstones with a large smile.
“Sixth shelf down along the southernmost wall” Spike states before chomping on another gem stone.
“Thanks Spike” Twilight says as she walks towards the southern wall, deep in thought when it comes to this new find and the possibilities of what could be hidden within. After all. Sombra did leave a fairly complex puzzle behind.
After a few moments of brooding, Twilight finds herself standing before the false bookshelf. With a simple push of her magic it swings open revealing a hidden stairwell up and gaining an irritated sigh from Twilight. “What's with that Stallion and Stairs?!” She cries out earning a chuckle from Spike as she walks forward.
Thankfully the walk was short and just as Spike had said was a door with a six digit combination lock. Twilight then takes out one of her notes with the order of journals and enters 6,1,3,2,5,4. This task done and her heart racing she paws at the ground with indecision.
“Alright here goes nothing” She says loudly, more to herself then Spike as she pulls the handle with a click and swinging the door open revealing a simple room covered in dust from lack of use and a bed in the right corner. Along with some lighting crystals hanging from the ceiling in the center.
Looking about, Twilight scans the room for any hidden traps finding nothing remotely close to a trap but instead finding the room heavily warded. “Alright. Be careful Spike. I'm going to set you down” She says gaining an affirmative from Spike as he is set down.
Walking around she finds nothing out of order, not a hint of Dark Magic or hidden trap. She even went so far as to look under the bed. “I don't get it Spike! All this trouble for a room that's never been used!” Twilight shouts in annoyance.
“Maybe Sombra never got around to using the room?” her trusty companion suggests as he sits on the bed kicking his feet, looking as bored as Twilight felt.
“Sombra had a lock and everything though! What's the point if you don't use it?” She says circling the room again, becoming more irritated with every moment.
“Well, I'm not an evil king. I don't know why” Spike says huffing at Twilight who frowns and sighs.
“Sorry Spike I didn't mean to shout. I'm just bothered is all, why would Sombra go through all of this trouble just for nothing?” She says apologetically to Spike who begins to respond as a crash is heard from behind them.
Jumping slightly and not letting out a frightened shriek, Twilight finds that half of the chains holding crystals fell, causing most of the crystals to shatter only leaving three of them. One faintly glowing. Catching her breath and giving Spike a sheepish smile she levitates the chains and finds the broken ends to be rusted, the most likley suspect for the damage.
“Well. Looks like this room was still affected by time” Twilight says to Spike as she levitates the chains and other fallen bits to herself.
“Shouldn't we leave it where we found it Twi?” Spike asks, causing Twilight to frown slightly before the thought vanishing.
“Maybe. But I doubt anypony will be around to clean this up. So we may as well. Besides. It's just light crystals and some chains Spike” Twilight says reassuringly.
“If you say so Twilight” Spike says before hopping of the bed walking to the door. Twilight right behind him.
As she steps out she looks over the room once more and frowns before closing the door once more and following her assistant down the steps.
After dropping off the crystals and broken chains to a servant pony, Twilight and Spike in tow prepared themselves for a night of well earned rest. Twilight preferring to do some late night studying but being convinced otherwise by Spike.
Said Dragon just finished brushing his teeth and now getting into bed. Twilight tucking him in before getting into bed herself. Exchanging good night's before she relaxes into the soft matters now just realizing how much she needed this. In just a few moments she finds herself in the realm of dreams not a care in the world.
That is before an unpleasant sensation, followed by a freezing gust of wind disturbs her forcing her to reach for a comforter and finding nothing. Slowly she opens her eyes finding that she is no longer in her bedroom and in fact is in a cave mouth looking out over some frozen tundra.
Her mind reeling she begins to go over all of the events leading up to her being here. Finding no explanation in her memories she begins multiple scans of herself and the area, the results both telling. One that there's faint signs of a long distance teleportation. Two, there's a spell faintly connecting her to the point she woke up from. The spell being eerily familiar to the many anchoring spells she found on Sombra Journals.
Suddenly her eyes open in realization as she search the nearby area, her horn blazing as it illuminates the cave. Only to find nothing but stone and a tunnel that heads deeper into the cave.
“Should have just listened to Spike” She mutters to herself as she swiftly dispelled the anchor upon her and looks back to the cave entrance. Seeing the bellowing wind outside and feeling the bite of the cold air, she shivers before heading into the cave proper. Her horn glowing in preparation for anything that is to come.
Twilight's hoof steps echo as she descends into the earth, mentally berating herself for the decisions she made. However, for all the negatives she no longer feels the cold wind, unfortunately it's still quite cold.
If she didn't know better, Twilight would assume that the cave system goes through a glacier as the stone around her steadily becomes ice. At the very least, the light from her horn is being reflected nicely making sure she doesn't miss her footing.
With that thought in mind she slowly makes her way through the tunnel before finally arriving at the top of a massive cavern which looks to be pony made. At the bottom there seemingly being a table of stone and some sort of passage. As she peers over the ledge she guess that the cavern is easily 10 meters across at the smallest being where she is, and 30 at the bottom.
She's about to make her way further down when a light comes from the passage causing her to lower herself and peer over the edge as quietly as possible. Her heart pounding in her ears as she tries to slow her breathing thinking even that is to loud.
Out from the passage comes a pony that's unmistakably King Sombra, holding a torch in his mouth which he puts in a holder by the passage entrance. Somewhat shocked by his lack of magic Twilight continues to watch as he looks over the room, never looking up before he seemingly finds what he's looking for. He lets out a throaty chuckle as he approaches the table and grabs something with his hoof before putting it away in a small satchel Twilight previously missed.
That simple task done he grabs his torch and heads back the way he came. Once the light fades completely Twilight mentally counts two minutes to both calm herself and insure he doesn't come back. This done she focuses on her new task. Stopping Sombra.
She with as much speed as possible without tripping or making much sound she descends into the cavern. Gently flapping her wings before landing gracefully to the side of the passageway. Pausing just for a moment to see if she's been caught, Twilight casts a silencing spell and rushes down the passage without a sound, finding it to be made of hewn stone.
Storing the information away for later she charges down the hallway making a right and slows as she comes to a doorway. She takes a few deep breaths and scans the doorway, finding a grease enchantment she smiles and slowly pulls it open enough to peek through. Thankfully the enchantment making it open without a sound.
Peering into the room Twilight sees what looks to be a fairly simple sitting room lit by a fireplace. A few sparsely used shelves and a chairs, but no sign of Sombra. As she pushes the door open more and more she sees what looks like a doorway off to the right hoof corner and an ever burning fireplace to the left. She slowly walks in her spell still masking her hoof steps.
The doorway in the right corner suddenly opens as Sombra walks out carrying a tray of bread and cheese on his back a content look on his face. Before stopping dead in his tracks as he stares wide eyed at Twilight who's returning the favor in kind.
Sombra begins to open his mouth as if to speak, but is cut off swiftly by a bolt of magic from Twilight. A shout and scowl being the only tell before he dives behind the cover of a chair. The food forgotten.
“You monster!” Twilight yells as she blasts the chair back gaining a yelp from the defeated king who rolls under a table as hay and dust burst from the chair.
“Let me ex-” The Dark king's begins before letting out a yelp as his cover is blasted apart by magenta beam of light. He rolls out from the ruins of the smoking table diving out of the way from another shot. A bookcase exploding with a thunderous clap. Paper and bits of wood flying in the process.
While Twilight is saddened from the loss of books, the matter of Sombra is still precedent. She let's loose another beam of magic catching Sombra in the barrel, gaining a surprised yelp and knocking him into one of the shelves.
Marching over to the fallen King amongst the damage and debris, Twilight finds it odd he hasn't fought back as he begins to stand up only to be pushed into the wall and restrained by Magenta chains. Forced to look at the angered Alicorn. He struggles to no avail against the restraints but swiftly stops letting out a defeated groan. Or at least that's how Twilight sees it.
“My brother defeated you Sombra! What are you doing back!” She shouts, filled with anger for the harm the pony before her caused. She fumes for a moment as Sombra seemingly catches his breath before finally responding in a hoarse voice.
“What I tried to say. Before” He begins flinching slightly as Twilight's horn glows brighter for a moment. “Your brother freed me. Not defeat”
This statement caught her off guard her spell coming apart causing the Dark king to fall to the ground in a heap. Shaking her head she glares at him again stepping back horn glowing. “What do you mean by that?” Twilight demands.
“What I mean. Is that I was possessed. And the heart freed me” Sombra says as he seemingly checks himself over and bending his head where Twilight notices a lack of horn upon his head and a lack of all his more villainous features. Like fang like teeth and armored form, all of this overlooked in her anger induced haze. She can even see his cutie mark, that being a cluster of red crystals.
Pushing the observation aside she speaks again “And I'm supposed to believe you why?” Twilight states firmly.
“Because, If I wanted to fight I would have won” He says sounding confident as he looks her in the eyes, where she notices his pupils are now round rather than slits.
“You lack a horn and any weapons Sombra. I doubt you could do much against me” Twilight says her voice filled with conviction as every instinct tells her to knock Sombra unconscious and move on.
“Dark Magic requires no horn, any pony can do it. And as I'm sure you are well aware. It's far more powerful then normal unicorn magic” He says casual before sitting where he is and leans against the wall. “However I must say. I'm surprised Princess Sparkler”
“It's Princess Twilight” She says grinding her teeth in anger at his comment. But cannot find fault in his logic regarding dark magic. As it didn't require a horn to channel.
“My apologies. That time is mostly a blur of rage and random thoughts” Sombra says bowing his head slightly, the action alone catching her off guard.
“Apology accepted” She says unsure of herself and the Dark King's words. Only earning a chuckle from him.
“Now. I hate to be a poor host. But could you perhaps not attack me while I grab myself a drink? Nearly dieing makes you thirsty after all” He says almost jokingly, however gaining just a glare for his efforts.
“And how do I know you won't attack me?” Twilight asks with a raised brow, her horn glowing with the statement.
“For starters. I already said I could have by now. Secondly I want to return to my Kingdom with a much good graces as I can get. Attacking you hardly helps that endeavor” Sombra states calmly before standing and walking to one of the shelves seemingly undamaged. He then grabs a bottle with a hoof and pulls the cork off with his mouth before downing whatever liquid was inside.
Twilight watches all the while, cautious of Sombra but unsure of his intentions. The Sombra she knew would have attacked her by now. However it's possible this is just a clever scheme to lure here into a sense of security.
“Your face scrunched whenever you think Princesa” The pony of her thoughts comments sounding slightly better as he puts the bottle away and surveys the damage. “And looks like only the couch survived your attacks” He says with a sigh.
“How was I to know you wanted to talk?” Twilight says defensively causing the Dark king to raise a brow.
He looks as if he wants to say something but pauses before speaking. “A fair point considering my actions of the past. Now. If you want you can take a seat, while I grab myself a seat and some food. I'd offer but I'm sure you'd think it's poisoned” He says before walking into the doorway before Twilight can say anything to stop him. He doesn't bother to close the door as his hoof steps fade slightly.
She then looks about the damaged room, shocked by the damage she caused. What once could have been called a homey atmosphere looked like something of a battle ground, wooden bits scattered about and scorch marks lining the walls. She considers leaving it as is but thinks better of it. Seeing as Sombra so far seems to be friendly enough and he nay be her only way to the Empire.
She focuses and casts a massive ‘Fix it’ spell repairing the broken furniture and removing the scorch marks from the walls. As well as cleaning up the bits of destroyed books and items, the spell unfortunately unable to replace finer things. Looking about the now restored room she feels slightly better by mending the wrong she committed.
Shortly after the magical display, Sombra walks out with a tray holding more cheese and bread along with a pitcher of water and two glasses. He seems shocked by the repaired room but doesn't let it hinder him as he puts the tray down on the now restored table adoring the center of the room.
“I thank you for repairing the damage” He says taking a seat and munching on some bread.
Twilight looks at him with indecision before sitting across from Sombra trying not to give him a dirty look as he eats.
After a long period of the crunching the bread and occasional gulp of water. Sombra let's out a content sigh. “So, I shall not pretend that you and I are friends. However I ask that you listen to my side of the story with an open mind. Once done I'll answer any question you have so long as I can ask a few of my own” He says his voice sounding more akin to what she remembers, just calmer and filled with conviction rather than malice.
Twilight nods her head in agreement. “Very well. But do not try anything” She says with a glare, only earning a nod in return.
“Now, I'm unsure what you've been told about my rise to power or even my time as Emperor. My family was among one of the few southern houses to remain after the unification three hundred years prior and after an illness befell the Royal family my father was crowned Emperor. Being he was the closest related relative to the previous Empress”
“My father at the time was merrily a young stallion who had yet to be married and never expected to be in charge of the entire Empire. Tensions were high and everypony wanted more power. However my father did something unexpected and married a merchant's daughter sending the majority of Nobles into outrage”
“The following years where tartarus for him as-” Sombra says before being cut off by Twilight.
“I fail to see how this explains anything” Twilight says, pushing her scholarly side away to stay focused on the matter at hoof.
“I'm merely explaining in detail what occurred but very well. I'll, skip to my coronation” Sombra begins with a sigh.
“After my father lived a long life, being the eldest child I was crowned as the new Emperor, I had already found a wife and we were happily married out of love rather than power. Another upset to the Nobles. However I was the Emperor of the people and thus I had more sway than even my father. And I sought to end the division of the common pony and noble. Trying to bring about something like the Crescent Republic, with the Emperor simply being a figurehead who looks after the best interests of the people”
“The northern nobles were hardly happy with this image of mine and tried everything in there power to retain their power. But all was for nought as they slowly lost their power and the people gained more. Finally the Nobles started a civil war and convinced the Equestrians that I was a tyrant. Even though the worst of my crimes was put prisoners to work mines” Sombra snorts as if remembering a foul memory.
“But then my problems took a turn for the worst. As even though I was fighting a war on two fronts, my life was still calm and victory was still in my grasp” He sighs sadly and shakes his head. “An assassin sent by the Equestrians killed my wife and daughter sending me in a fit of rage. One that never ended”
He looks at his hooves upon the table as if in thought before continuing no longer looking up as he slouches. “Something dark and Evil latched onto my hate and refused to leave. I remember bits and pieces but hardly enough. It's only during my battle with the Princesses that the fog lifts, the thing controlling me jumping to the Princess of Night. Free of its corruption I redoubled my efforts focused now on saving her from that thing. However it's during this time that Celestia rejoined our fight and pushed me to the limit. I felt the haze suddenly return and then I remember nothing until seeing the Crystal heart activate and the sensation of the corruption being burnt away” Sombra chuckles lightly shaking his head a smile on his muzzle.
“It hurt beyond imagine your highness, but the pain was worth it. However it all went dark and I really awoke here several hours later” He gestures around him. “Since then I've been content to regain my strength before heading out to face that corruption once more” The stallion finishes.
Twilight takes a moment to digest everything. Finding the holes in the story and filling them with information she knows or deeming it a question that needs to be addressed. Finally she looks to Sombra again and speaks.
“You are telling me. You were evil because of the Nightmare?” Twilight asks slowly causing Sombra to frown.
“You have a name for it?” He asks, his voice as cold as ice.
“Yes it's what causes Princess Luna's fall into madness and then the civil war shortly after” Twilight explains swiftly watching Sombra expression become saddened.
“I take it she is now killed?” He asks solemnly causing Twilight to recoil in shock.
“Of course not! What would make you think that?! She was banished by the elements of harmony and then freed recently by them”
Sombra nods his head a small smile gracing his muzzle. “The why doesn't matter. However it is good to hear that the reached thing has been defeated. It can no longer ruin lives and that's all which matters”
Looking as if she wants to refute his claim, Twilight stops herself and speaks again. “Saying that I take your word about the Nightmares involvement. Why would Equestria kill your family? That goes against everything we stand for”
This question earning a chuckle from Sombra as he shakes his head. “Perhaps today, but back then your Princesses dealt with things efficiently. However it could have just as well been one of the Nobles from Equestria. As for the why. The assassination was meant for me. But I was walking the halls when my chambers where lit ablaze, my daughter having joined us prior due to bad dreams” Sombra says with a slight edge to his voice, almost as if he is restraining himself or on the verge of tears.
Twilight frowns and looks away from the Stallion giving him a moment to calm himself. “Sorry your highness, even though it was centuries ago for you, it was but years for me. The wounds are still very much open. Do go on”
“It's alright, there's no reason to apologize” Twilight says sincerely. “Now while I would love nothing more but to ask about the past. I need to know how I got here. And how I get back”
Sombra frowns as if not expecting what was said. “How you get out is simple, we walk a few hours south to the capital. As for how you got here. I don't known. I'd imagine that you found my little puzzle and entered the empty chamber. But that was set in place to release my means of restoring the Crystal heart if it ever fell into the wrong hooves”
“However that is no longer needed so it simple transported a useless gem I hid away and some chains” He finishes with a shrug.
“You mean I can just walk to the capital from here? No trouble? And that you didn't play a role in me being here?” Twilight asks skeptically.
“Besides the cold yes. And for you being here, why would my emergency escape transport other ponies?” He asks pointedly causing Twilight to frown in thought.
“I guess that wouldn't make sense. But doesn't explain why I'm here” This only earning her a shrug from the previous king.
“Wouldn't know. I never tested the enchantments. Perhaps I messed something? However the problem at hoof is. What will you do knowing about my survival?” Sombra asks, his calm demeanor not wavering.
Twilight sits in thought got a moment before looking to the dark stallion opposite of her. “We return to the Crystal Empire. And you stand trial for your crimes” Twilight says simply and nods her head more to herself then him.
The stallion before her frowns at her plan but bows his head after a moment. Twilight let's out a breath she didn't know she had. “Very well Princess. If that's what it takes to clear my name” Sombra says calmly as he finishes the last of his food.
Twilight gives him a strained smile, still unsure about the tale Sombra told. “When can we head for the Capital?” She asks after a moment.
“Whenever you want. However it will be cold with the winter winds and it being night. We can just wait here tell morning” The stallion says waving his hoof around the room.
“I'll respectfully decline the offer Sombra” Twilight says her distaste for the stallion leaking into her voice. “We shall head out now. I know enough comfort spells to keep warm” She says straining to keep her voice neutral.
“Very well. Let's not tarry” Sombra says standing from his seat and walking to the door. Forcing Twilight to stand and follow him out, her horn glowing once more lighting the hallway for them.
“You seem a little eager for somepony to be put on trial” Twilight says in a conversational manner, earning an amused chuckle from Sombra.
“Still doubting me. Understandable considering our brief past. However if you must know. I have nothing to fear from a trail. I was not in the right state of mind” He says with amusement in his voice.
His calmness only irritates Twilight further as she follows behind. “If you are to be believed” She says insuring Sombra knows exactly what she thinks.
“Most certainly. If you want I can even tell you how to suppress my dark magic. Considering that's all I can do without a horn” He says as they enter the large cavern walking to the side to start his way up.
“And how do I know it's not some trap?” Twilight asks skeptically, yet curious about the possibilities of what he could show her.
“Well. You don't need to cast it. And I doubt I could show you in this cave as is. Unless you want to go back” He says looking over his shoulder at her, his tone still calm.
Twilight narrows her eyes at him unsure what he's trying to do. “I see. Then you can show myself and the court mages how to block dark magic. When we reach the Capital”
“Very well Princess” He says as they reach the halfway point of the walk up the cavern.
About to speak Twilight pauses mid step and looks to the stone table at the center of the cavern then returns her focus to Sombra who didn't seem to notice her falling behind.
“Sombra. When I first saw you, you came to this area and grabbed something. What was that?” Twilight asks as she catches up keeping a few pony lengths between them.
“Oh that? A trinket is all” He says casually brushing the question off.
“What kind of trinket” Twilight presses already irritated with the Stallion.
“One which is imp-” Sombra begins before Twilight's horn brightens greatly. “It's a phylactery” Sombra states swiftly and slowing his pace as he reaches the top.
His answer catches Twilight off guard. Having heard of such things but never seeing let alone knowing of somepony using one. “You” Twilight begins as her mind goes through a turmoil of emotions. “Made a phylactery. That's how you survived isn't it?” She says, her voice low.
His composure weavers for a moment as if unsure what to say. His voice sounding unsure. “Ah, yes. That's how I survived”
“Did you make it before or after your possession?” Twilight asks pointedly her voice still low.
“Before if I'm to be honest” Sombra says regaining his composure.
“Why?” She asks simply, a question that Sombra tense at slightly.
“I'm surprised you're taking this so well” He says with a small chuckle, earning a glare at the back of his head.
“Why did you make the phylactery?” Twilight asks again her voice holding an unusual edge to it. Something she is even surprised by.
He lets out a small sigh and turns looking at her. “Because I wanted to insure my survival. I already knew dark magic. What is Necromancy on top of that?”
“A perversion of magic! Of life!” Twilight shouts stomping her hoof down sheathing in anger at his lack of remorse. “It's horrible! Disgusting and Evil! I thought that maybe you were a victim! I sustained the idea! But this is proof of you being evil!”
“Does that make guards evil?” Sombra asks having stopped to look at Twilight.
“That hardly matters. What you've done is a crime against everything ponies stand for!” She sheaths her shouts echoing through the cavern.
Sombra nods his head “But it does matter. All magic is a tools. If I'm evil for using a tool. Then Guards are evil for using weapons” He says simply shrugging.
“That's a poor comparison and you know it!”
“Poor yes. But valid still” He says with a smile and a shrug. Twilight staring at him with hate in her eyes but after a moment let's out a long breath.
Seeing that she's done Sombra continues forward at a steady pace. Not saying a word as Twilight follows behind him, trying to bore a hole through his head with a glare.
The two travel in silence before they reach the cave mouth. Twilight casting a thin translucent bubble around them to make the temperature and wind bearable before the two walk in silence, the Dark king leading the way through the snow. There only source of light being Twilight's horn.