Far below Canterlot Castle there is a series of caves of crystals and shadows, a place of whispered legends and old secrets. Ponykind have always been drawn to that place beneath the mountains. Always drawn to both the resources and a pull they could never explain. By royal decree only the upper levels where ever explored and exploited, only the very edges of this subterran realm touched by civilization.
Or so scholars and historians tougth, until they day the diarchs showed them otherwise. For it was not by mere chance that the second capitol of Equestria was built where it was, balancing on the side of a great mountain. After all... The best place to hide something of infinite value is to put it where everyone knows where it is, yet none see the value it has.
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The twin court of the celestial diarchs is the heart of Equestria. For it is not only the seat of goverment for the greatest nation of the world, but also the holy capitol of its faith. Every word in this place is measured and recorded, every act and movement by the god rulers of a world is watched and acted upon. From the twin thrones is law of spirit and body made real and manifest.
All citizens of Equestria may petition the thrones, wether it be religious or law in nature or even merely advice. This is why and where our story begins.
"Dancing Brush of the royal university of Canterlot, unified sciences department. You may aproach the throne"
A nervous looking earth pony begins to walk upon the red carpet to the throne of day, licking his lips and fumbling his notes as he prepares for the most important moment in his life. To make a request to a goddess.
Upon the throne itself her royal highness Celestia, princess of Equestria and goddess of the sun smiles gently down at her subject. She has seen many like him before. Awed by being in the presence of all he has been raised to worship and be loyal to. Always they are nervous, always they require a gentle touch and a kind word to make things easier,
"Be welcome Dancing Brush, my little pony. All is well i hope?"
The stallion jumps. Startled by the gentle words, but gathers himself quickly and responds as best he can.
"T-thank you your highness, i am quite well and i hope this day finds you in a favourable condition aswell."
Celestia continues to smile gently at the stallion. "I am well proffesor. What request have you come to make of us?"
The stallion resumes fumbling with his pappers, trying to find the words to express his needs, and the needs of his colleagues. It takes a while before he manages to gather himself enough to voice his request.
"Your highness, i have been tasked by my friends and associates at the university to ask for a lift of the ban upon researching and pursuing the means to pass beyond the atmosphere. We feel this limitation placed upon us is crippling the sciences aswell as the spirit of science itself. It is well within our grasp to achieve this through various means, and i have brougth with me documented proof to show this. Please your highness, read what we have compiled for you and reconsider your stance on this!"
Celestia is no longer smilling. For a moment she is still upon her throne, simply watching the stallion before her with eyes that are far away, seeing things only she can see. Eventualy she speaks again, her voice as distant as her eyes as she responds.
"I have been expecting this day for years now Dancing Brush, always hoping it would not come at all. The ban on the subject you wish to pursue was placed there for a reason. A reason that neither i nor my sister have ever shared with ponykind. But also a reason that is no longer valid, having long since disapeared from what both me and my sister have seen. We have simply waited for you to take the first steps upon this road."
A sigh escapes the ruler of the day as she rises from her throne.
"Gather the best and the brigthest of your colleagues in all fields of study, both magical and mundane my little pony. Return to us in a months time from this day. There are things that both me and my sister have long kept from ponykind that you now need to hear, old secrets that you need to see and learn. Of a test mortal ponykind must take without our guidance."
As Celestia gathers the magic of the day around her, turning and facing the great window above the twin thrones a sad smiles crosses her lips. It is barely percievable through the bright light surounding the diarch of the day
"A test you must take on your own. And a choice you must make. Know this my little ponies, now that this door has opened it can never be shut again. As the creators willed it, so must it be. I must leave now with my sister to prepare what they left behind for you. In a months time we will see each other again." As the diarchs glow begins to fade, so does she, leaving behind a chain of mirror images as she fades into another place.
"I know this is sudden little ones, and that it causes you much confusion. But in this i have no choice. I must leave as i was ordered to do so long ago. Be strong while we are gone and do not despair. What is to come will be the culmination of eons of waiting and preparation."
And thus she fades away. Gone, leaving behind an empty throne and a room full of shocked and confused guards and dignitaries. For a long time the room is silent, until with a roar panic strikes the crowd.
And infront of the twin thrones, one very frigthened and confused university proffesor wonders what he did wrong.
Beneath Canterlot two shapes are slowly making their way deeper into the mazelike system of caverns and mineshafts. One deep blue with a mane like the night sky the other white as alabaster with a mane of cascading colours. They are nervous, this is obvious to any who would see them, eyes that shift without focusing and body language that speaks of unease. Eventualy the younger of the two shapes voices her concern.
"Are you certain that this is wise sister? Tough our orders are clear, we where never given proper instructions as to what will be expected from our subjects and us once this test of the Creators begins."
There is a brief silence as the older sister gathers her tougth and considers the question. Eventualy answering the question with reluctance.
"Trust in the Creators Luna. They might not make sense to us all the time but there was always a reason for their actions. If they belived this had to be done then i am inclined to trust them, even if i have doubts in my heart."
Luna looks away from her sister for a while, before she turns back and replies
"I am not so sure, we barely remember our time with the Creators. The only thing that is clear in our memory is the instructions they left with us before leaving. I am... Uncertain of their motivations."
A sigh escapes Celestia at her sisters words.
"So am i dear sister, but still we must do as they commanded. Duty if nothing else binds us. Besides, i am curious what the Creators would considering a proper test."
The sisters fall into silence once again as they move deeper into caves, eventualy leaving behind the maped parts of the complex and reaching the wild untouched sections and eventualy go even beyond that. This final part of the tunnels is older then the caves themselves. Walls linned with perfectly cut walls of unkown material, tunnels lacking any clear source of illumination yet still bright as a summer day. And at ther end, doors with no handles nor any signs of hinges await the sisters as they aproach.
The twin sisters momentarily halt before both initiate a complex series of spells that at the begining look like they would acomplish nothing but as they are added in greater numbers and complexity begin to interact. Like a puzzle the spells begin to melt, combine and interact with each other eventualy uniting into a singular spell of many layers and great in complexity and as they do so the doors at the end of the tunnel begins to absorb them in turn until at the moment of completion the doors have absorbed them in theyr intierty. For a brief moment the spell matrix that formed from the unification of the spells lingers inside the door, like a constelation of magic in a night sky before both it and the doors begin to fade revealing a cavernous room behind it.
As the sisters enter a silver monolith in the center of the room begins to softly glow. As the sisters make their way to the monolith they observe the room, what little of it they can see. Bar the doors they entered through and the walls around it the rest of the room stretches out into darkness, far beyond even the eyes of an Alicorn can percieve. As the sisters eventualy reach the monolith the air shivers infront of it, and after a brief moment forms into a semi-transparent image of a biped covered in robes that hide all but the hooves of the figure that strongly resemble the paws of a dragon.
The sisters watch the figure for a while, gathering their tougths. The figure says and does nothing, simply hoovering in the air infront of the sisters as if waiting for them to act. Eventualy Celestia takes a step forward and adresses the image.
"I am Celestia, designated prime administrator of world Equs, guardian of species E-01 through E-04 with supervisor status over species C-84 and D-09. The one with me is my sister Luna, secondary administrator of world Equs and chief of security aswell as commander of the defencive magitech array supplied by the creators - classification S.T.A.R.S. In acordance with the will of the Creators i am here to report that species E-01 through E-04 are ready to be tested."
The image is silent for only a second after Celestia finishes before giving its reply.
"Acknowledged. Preparations for evaluation commencing."
The image falls into silence once again, clearly awaiting further interaction by the sisters. Taking it as an invitation for questions Luna steps closer.
"If i may ask, what are you? I do not believe i have ever seen a... Creature such as you before"
"I am Sentinel"
"Sentinel? Tis a title or a name, not being. What are you?"
"A machine."
"A machine? Mayhap thou wouldst expand on this?"
"I am an artifical lifeform, a tool for the Creators."
Both sisters consider the answer for a moment, before Celestia this time voices a question.
"Sentinel what exactly is your purpouse? Why where you left behind in this room? Would not another location have been better?"
"The later part of your question is flawed, what you are interacting with is but a user interface device. My being is stored in another instalation located off world. The reason for leaving behind said device in this place was to limit chances of discovery while still being within easy reach when the time came for interaction. As for my task, it is to guard the worlds of this galaxy from all outside threats and to wait for the days of ascension."
The sisters look at each other briefly before Celestia once again asks for clarification.
"Sentinel, what is these days of ascension you are reffering to?"
"Defenition: Days of Ascension. All children who survive beyond a certain point will aquire the means and the knowledge to begin interstelar travel and exploration aswell as the ability to commence deeper studies into the metaphysics of the universe. Unless guided by an elder race or having achieved a certain level of racial maturity this is the period in a sentient species history where it is the most likely to acidently cause a global extinction event. To prevent this the Creators decided upon a set of restrictions and methods to prevent younger species from reaching this level of understanding unprepared. The culmination of these efforts is a test of racial personality, morality and deeper understanding of reality and the physics that control it. This test and the period required to undertake it is was labeled the Days of Ascension by the first children to undergo it."
Another brief glance betwen the sisters. This time Luna asks the question that follows
"What is thine part in this?"
"Upon the days of ascension i am to evaluate the children of the Creators upon a world. If they prove themselves ready they will be raised to the stars, to stand at the side of their siblings in the garden left to them by the Creators. If they are not i am to prevent them by any and all means short of racial extermination from stepping into a world they are not prepared for and wait for a specific amount of time before alowing another atempt. This time period is dependant on the readiness shown by the children during the evaluation."
Both sisters are taken aback with the bluntness this answer is delivered with. Both share worried glances betwen each other before they speak again.
"This... Is not what we expected. We tougth we would find some puzzle or a set of riddles, or perhaps be faced with a Creator. We did not expect any of this. Sentinel, if we may ask, where are the Creators?
"Gone"
"Gone? Where? Why?"
"The last message from the Creators this instalation recieved was eigthy thousand years, five months, two weeks and eleven minutes ago. Message contained modified orders for all instalations currently standing guard over children not yet ready for ascension. And an explanation for the Creators need to withdraw from this part of the universe."
There is a brief pause before Sentinel continues
"The Creators felt the presence of Old Ones such as them would be disruptive and possibly even crippling for the further development of the children once they achieved ascension. Once this was decided, a full withdrawal of all Creators from galaxies set aside for cultivating and uplifting children was initiated. Once completed, modified protocols and orders where dispatched to all left behind instalations and overseers. No further information was contained in the transmission."
"So. You dont know where they whent?"
"No. That information was not deemed necessary for my mission and as such was not supplied.
The sisters consider the answer briefly before luna responds.
"Sentinel, if thou where to make a guess, where wouldst thou say the Creators whent?"
"This instalation was not supplied with more then a general understanding of the goals of the Creators. But fellow A.I's of other instalations shared information with this one on certain subjects that points to the Creators being involved in research in the fields of temporal manipulation aswell as the creation and aplication of technology to observe and create pocket dimensions and alternate planes of existance. Given Creator rate of progress in these fields before withdrawal it is possible that they may have evacuated to such a place to further ensure that no contamination of younger species occurred"
The sisters stare dumbstruck at the image for a long time. Eventualy the imagine flickers and once again speaks.
"If there are no further questions, this one would suggest you return to your assigned sentients to begin preparing them for the evaluation. It will consist of a series of test to evaluate understanding in the fields of physics and magic aswell as tests to gauge racial maturity and morality. While the later cannot be prepared for this one would recomend you ensure that the brigthest of your assigned sentients are present for the evaluation to ensure optimal results. This one will be ready to administer the test in seventy hours, but protocols allow a wait for up to five standard planetary cycles before returning to standby mode for a period of no less then one hundred planetary cycles."
The sisters briefly confer with each other before Celestia respons.
"We still have many questions, but you are right that we should prepare our subjects for this. Once it is over there will be time for questions. Goodbye sentinel, we will return shortly to begin the test"
The image flickers before responding
"Acknowledged"
And with yet another flicker the image disapears and the monoliths glow begins to fade.
As the sisters turn to leave Luna briefly looks back at the monolith before speaking to her sister.
"We are still unsure that this is wise."
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Picture belongs to Claire Thompson
MLP belongs to Hasbro
I need a beta if anyone is up for it.