Pandora's Box

OOT: Sorry guys. I had kind of written myself into a brick wall and only just today figured out a way to tunnel through it. So anyway, let's get back to this.

Twilight stared at Anthony a while before breaking the simmering gaze. Zerg, the word hung in her mind with an alien quality. No idea what that is, but I should probably have a peek.
Turning towards the area that Anthony had pointed at she set off stiffly. Without turning back she spoke, her words disinterested.
"Well I suppose you should get trotting. Since you're so eager to see this through."
Twilight vanished into the shadows of the hall.

Noire calmed down somewhat at her aunt's exit. The tension slowly vanished from her body and her stance shifted to a more normal position. Her wings folded themselves back against her sides and she allowed her face to return to the morose expression that normally dominated it. Beside her, Velvet let the rock gently crash to the ground where it lay among the rest of the debris. She too relaxed at Twilight Sparkle's exit; but her body held onto the anger at the ageless alicorn's presence.

"We should get going," Noire said flatly and took the lead back up to the surface.


She quickly got lost and with an embarrassed laugh allowed Velvet to turn them around and go the proper direction.

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As Twilight rounded the corner she set off briskly towards where the "Zerg" corpses were. It wasn't hard to find the charred corpses and they were definitely a site. Something like a preying mantis crossed with a changeling and a bear came to mind. Leaning in close she took a few experimental sniffs of the bodies. And then with a satisfying crunch she took a large bite out of one of the bodies. It was hard and crunchy but held on oddly satisfying taste. There was a hint of sea scent that managed to slip past the overwhelming taste of burnt stuff.
"Interesting," the pony muttered.
"It is, isn't it. Twilight." Gaelix said appearing from nowhere. "These creatures are unrecorded in Equis history. Not even my father knows what they are. If he doesn't know, Celestia and Luna for sure won't."
"I see," says the alicorn blankly.
The two stare at one another for a while. Twilight finishes chewing and swallows.
"I'm still hungry."
"Then eat more." Twilight sticks out her tongue, some black residue is left on the pink appendage.
"Ipths Nasteh," she replies.
"You can't always have good tasting food. Think of what you'll do in emergencies."
"Father..." Twilight began pleadingly.

Gaelix snapped his fingers and the lavender coat sloughed off of the pony before him. The mare giggled as her true orange coat shone through the brittle skin.
She giggled delightedly as the skin tickled at first but her expression grew more serious as she dashed to the nearest wall to start scratching off the dead skin and hair.
"It itchesss," Neon whined. Gaelix patted her head.
"Come along," he said. "We'll find you something to eat."

With another snap of his taloned fingers, a shimmering portal appeared on the wall. As the two of them stepped into the swirling sea of colors Neon spoke up.
"I met her, the one that looks like me."

 

Anthony trotted alongside Noire as they made their way out of the facility. He couldn't help but notice that she still looked a little tense and he quietly wondered to himself if he should bring it up. After a short time of awkward silence that felt much longer to him, he spoke up.
"So, uh...that was Twilight, huh? Seems like the three of you have quite a history together. You know, if you wanna talk about it..."
He trailed off, thinking it was probably best to drop the subject for now.
"Ahh, forget all that. Right now, we need to focus on more important things. Things like Matt and I learning how to use our new powers if we're not getting our own back anytime soon. Let me give it another shot."

He stopped and looked over his shoulder to the large rock that Violet dropped and focused his energy on it. Slowly, his horn started to glow red and the same red aura began to cover the boulder. Unfortunately...the most he could accomplish was causing it to shake slightly. The aura quickly dissipated and Anthony let out a noise somewhere between a groan and a tired sigh.
"Man...that would've been so much easier before all this craziness happened."
He muttered under his breath to nobody in particular and continued walking with the others.

 

Matthew noted he didn’t have magic like Anthony and Violet... he appeared to be the wrong kind of pony. “Kinda a caste system going on here...”
He pressed a hoof against the wall. When he pressed it harder, he felt the wall give under the pressure.
“Enhanced strength... useful. Easier to handle too. Kinda used to it,” he mumbled. He looked up at Violet. “Do we have a plan?”

 

"Our relationship has been... strained," Noire replied curtly to Anthony's question. She sidled over to Matt as the two of them practiced their new abilities.

"You'll have more room to practice outside. The fresh air helps too," Violet said with an encouraging smile.
Noire quickly led the way topside. The party climbed up into the bright sunshine on the outskirts of the Crystal Empire. It was an incredibly welcome sight compared to the darkness of the demolished compound.
'Much better,' Violet sighed as she felt the soft grass under her hooves. She turned her attention to Anthony.
As a newly born Unicorn, he hadn't yet learned how to use his magic. Though she was no slouch with magic, she wasn't a teacher either. She growled inwardly as she saw Noire gently leading Matt away from Anthony and her.
"Sooo...." She looked at Anthony uncertainly before steeling herself. "I can't give you anything fancy, but I can teach you basics of Unicron magic. If that's alright."

A bit of a ways away, Noire leaned in close to Matt. "Don't be jealous of them and their magic," she spoke of the two unicorns. "Let them have their flash, the two of us have our own special abilities that even the odds for us."
She took a few steps away and shook out her wings. A look of delight came across her face as she cracked her wings together creating a small sonic boom and lightning crackled down the feathers. Launching herself into the air she snagged a low hanging cloud and dropped down, blasting the ground with a bolt of lightning. She landed delicately on the ground near Matt.

"You're an Earth Pony. That means that you're good with plants. Growing things faster than they normally do. Good with animals, all of that. Make good farmers and things. It sounds kind of stupid, but then so does cloud rancher. But with your level of power..." Noire smacked herself in the face and trudged away.

 

Matthew pressed his hoof to the ground, and for a moment he didn’t say anything. He could feel a primeval pumping in his ears, a heartbeat of something all around him, below him, above him, everywhere. He felt a crack in the rhythm, a way of moving further into the sound – and he took a hold of it with his mind. He willed it upwards, letting it move through the earth, and then with a sound like an earthquake an enormous tree tore rocketed through the soil, fully formed and fully grown. It was hundreds of feet tall, and luscious apples hung from every branch.
Matthew stepped back a few hooves, and raised an eyebrow. “That... is not bad, I guess.”

 

Anthony had an intrigued look on his face and a slight glimmer in his eyes.
"Unicorn magic, huh? Sounds interesting."
He tilted his head in thought for a moment.
"What kind of magic DO unicorns use, anyhow? And how do you learn new magic? Ooh, is it like Skyrim where you read a book and you get a new spell? Oh yeah, speaking of that, how about controlling the elements like fire, ice and lightning? Ooh, and summon magic, that'd be pretty handy!"
He was basically lost in his own little world at this point.
"Ooh, hey, do some of the spells have incantations? Like where you have to say something cool while you're casting like "I am the bone of my sword" and stuff like that. Hold on, I almost forgot! That Twilight pony used some kind of teleportation spell, didn't she? Sweet! And it looked like you were using telekinesis, so we definitely have that. Let's see, was there anything else--"
His seemingly endless barrage of questions was interrupted by a sudden, loud gasp as his eyes went wide.

"That's right...Noire said something about Megadeth spells! I don't even know how you guys know about that but I definitely wanna blow some stuff up with the power of heavy metal!"
He let out a loud "WHOO!" and kicked up his front hooves, laughing gleefully as he remained completely oblivious to the fact that Violet had no idea what he was talking about. After a few moments of slowly fading laughter, he finally started to calm down and his ear-to-ear smile shifted to an embarrassed grin.
"Eh heh heh...I took it too far, didn't I? Yeah, way too far."
He cleared his throat and spoke in a very calm and composed tone.
"I'll gladly accept whatever lessons you have for me, Violet."

OOT: Might add more onto this later to get my sub-plots moving along.

 

Violet froze when Anthony mentioned Megadetonations.
"I will never teach you that," Violet said with more force than necessary.
Getting her voice under control, she continued in a gentler tone.
"I have no idea what "Skyrim" is, but basically yes. You read books and you learn magic. All of our magic is science. The formulas combine with our aura to produce a feedback allowing us unicorns to bend our auras. This is unlike the Earth and Pegasi who can't control theirs. Once you learn the formulas, you can do the magic. With concentration you can do pretty much anything. Although if your aura is weak, it will limit what spells you can do. For right now, I think levitation will pretty much be your peak, or close to it. No teleportation."

"Incantations are ancient magic. Depending on how you stress the words can grant you success or could kill you very, very... very, violently. Best to steer clear."

Violet lifted a stick up with her magic and began etching symbols into the dirt. It took her a few minutes but the ground was covered with circles and half-circles and triangles. Random squiggle lines and what could be numbers surrounded and filled the shapes.
"So none of this makes any sense to you. But this here," she pointed to a triangle with a set of squiggles surrounding it. "This is how to control levitation. I'll explain it too you--"

"So... yeah, that's pretty much it." She said sheepishly with a look at Anthony's over exposed face.


.******************************

Noire looked up at the tree.
"Impressive. How are you feeling?"

 

Matthew looked up at her. “I feel... good,” he admitted. “I feel... like I wanna do more.” He closed his eyes, let the thrumming fill him again, and gave it direction once more. The earth seemed to heave and thick vines sprung from the soil, wrapping around the trees. Thick barbs hung low from them like the pistols on the belt of a gunslinger. His eyes opened again and he surveyed his handiwork. “Is this... normal?”

 

OOT: Sorry for a while to reply, things got kinda busy around here. And I started playing SC2. Bad combination for getting anything else done.

Anthony's eyes went wide and he took a step back when Violet snapped at him for mentioning MegaDet spells.
"Note to self. Don't bring up that spell again."
He thought this to himself as he listened to Violet's explanation. As she continued on, he nodded a few times to show that he was still listening and although he looked a little lost a few times, he seemed to get the gist of it.
"Alright, I think I've got the basic idea now. Let's see...what can I try it out on?"
He looked around briefly and saw a boulder nearby, similar in shape to the one Violet picked up earlier.
"Hey, that should work just fine. Okay...I've got this. Here goes something...hopefully...maybe...we'll see."
His voice trailed off as he stared intently at the boulder.

After a few moments, his horn began to take on a faint red glow.
"Come on...focus. This isn't your first rodeo, Tony. You've got this. Try to do it like before...just, y'know, with pony power. Let the pony power flow..."
He muttered under his breath as he concentrated on controlling his power. The red glow soon expanded, becoming much brighter as a similar red aura formed around the rock. The rock then shook slightly, though it didn't seem to move all that much, much less levitate.
"Okay...almost there...now..."
The glow around his horn suddenly grew wildly.
"...Push it to the limit!"
Sparks came out from his horn which now glowed brightly with a large, surging red aura. Similarly, the aura around the stone grew and distorted, easily lifting the rock...and just as easily flinging it around from place to place. Anthony's ears lowered and he had a worried look on his face as he soon realized that he'd completely lost control of his power.
"This, uh...this isn't supposed to happen, is it?!"
He dug his hooves in and gritted his teeth, trying to control the power that was now raging out of control. But no matter how much he struggled, the red aura on his horn kept growing and soon surrounded his entire body.
"Not good, not good, NOT GOOD! Agh...come on, stop that! Come on...bring it back down..."

He sent a bolt of energy towards the rock, trying to bring it back down. He did...but the rock then grew a pair of arms and legs, and let out a low growl from it's newly formed mouth. In his panicked state, it seems he accidentally created a stone golem.
"Yeah...yeah...pretty sure that's not supposed to happen."
He closed his eyes, desperately trying to regain control of his power. However, he inadvertently sent out more bolts of energy, with varying effects. One of them hit a tree and turned it into a picnic table. Another one hit a nearby lake and turned the surface of the water into ice. The last one hit a nearby squirrel and made it grow to about five times its normal size with large, bulging muscles. All the while, Anthony was hovering off of the ground slightly, surrounded by his magical aura all the while keeping his eyes shut and groaning from the effort of trying to regain control.
"No more...that's...enough..." he said, almost in a whisper as he mumbled to himself. "I said...ENOUGH!"
The very moment he said that, his aura dissipated in a flash of light and he fell to the ground. He felt drained and he was practically gasping for air, but he still managed to look up and Violet and give a weak smile.
"So, uh...how...was that?"
As he asked this, the stone golem also turned to face her as if it was curious as well, though you wouldn't know it as its "face" was as blank as ever.

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Aboard the Gantrithor, a member of the Templar caste approached Tassadar and respectfully bowed to him.
"Executor, I come with urgent news."
Tassadar turned to face the Templar.
"Very well, speak quickly."
"One of our Observers has detected a faint trace of what appears to be a cloaking field in one of the furthest reaches of Equestria. We have redirected the vessel to investigate further."
"A cloaking field?! How can that be? Nothing on this world could even approach such a feat, much less create a field that has evaded our sensors for this long. That means it must be..."
"As you presume, we believe it comes from an era long past. It could have even been crafted by the Xel'Naga, though we believe it is more likely that this technology was created by our ancestors."
"The Protoss who fought in the Great War, when Aiur was at the pinnacle of its glory...I see. Well done; continue your investigation and report any further findings to me immediately."
"Yes, Executor."

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Somber stared at the crystal, seemingly enthralled by it after laying eyes on it for only a brief moment. Even though psionic energy was completely foreign to them, both Somber and Cadence could tell immediately that this was an artifact that held some sort of immense power. Cadence had a look of deep concern, while the faintest smile crossed Somber's lips. He spoke up, still staring deeply into the crystal.
"The Khalis, you say? Hmm..."
Up until this very moment, Somber still considered forcing this stranger out of his castle-- by force if necessary-- but now his wary mind has calmed down and he found himself quite intrigued by this mysterious Prophet.
"Say I were to accept this offer of yours...what would you ask of me?"

The Prophet could tell right away that he had the king's heart within his grasp.
"I merely ask that you continue what you have doubtlessly wanted to do for quite some time. Surely, one possessed of an ambition as great as yours has secretly desired this in your heart of hearts and I will give you the opportunity to act on it. Reignite the flames of war. Join your forces with mine and invade Equestria once more."

"NO!"
Cadence stepped between the two, staring directly into Somber's eyes with a look of fierce determination.
"You can't...please, not again! Think of all the chaos and devastation that came from the last war! Think about how our people suffered, and how Equestria suffered, think of all the families that were ruined because of that war. Can we really put our people through that again?! I can't...I can't do it. I can't go to war against my own family again."

Somber briefly glanced at Cadence as she was blocking his view, but he soon stepped around her and stared at the crystal again.
"Not to worry, my dear. You will not have to do a thing."
He took a few steps forward and touched the floating crystal with his outstretched hoof.
"With this power...our people will never suffer again. My reign will be absolute and unending. Even Celestia and Luna will bow before me and all who dare oppose my will shall be given the fate they deserve!"
He had a crazed look, like a man possessed. Thoughts of absolute power and domination flooded his mind as he felt the hidden power of the Khalis flowing freely from its crystalline frame. It was questionable how much of Shining Armor actually remained now as Somber Shield began to give himself over to his lust for power.

 

"Well..." Noire said staring at the small jungle that had suddenly appeared. "Not exactly."

She walked through the small copse and then back around the outside. Standing next to Matt she grinned in appreciation.
"Your craftsmanship is superb. I know a few farmers that would love to have you working for them."

"But anyway. Earthies like you have heightened strength, speed, and stamina. You lot are all around good competitors. Perfect in many ways."

---------------------------------------------------

Violet looked at Anthony and then at the rock golem. Then back and forth again. She began coughing and fell over on her side, rolling onto her back. As she lay there her head flopped back on the ground and she started howling with laughter.

"That was perfect," she giggled as tears started welling up. "Though we need to do something about that squirrel."

With a thoughtful spell Violet zapped the squirrel that was learning just what its new form could accomplish, and turned it into nice, succulent steak. They were already cooked perfectly and steamed slightly. She dropped them on the picnic table that Anthony had made, onto plates that were somehow already there.

"There, perfect," she smiled.

Grabbing Anthony's tail with her mouth she tugged him towards the table until he began walking on his own.

"Now here's the second edge of our magic. The more you use, the more energy you spend. You cast a spell that's too big... and it'll kill you. Some unicorns are born with larger reservoirs and some with smaller. They grow as we age. With your powers as they were... I honestly don't know how much you have. Once we get to a city I can do a test to see how much you have."

She sat down on the bench and prepared to eat.
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Noire sniffed the air then let out a sigh. "Seems like it's lunch time."
She looked over to the table that Violet had already ushered Anthony to.
"I'm not sure how the transformation has affected your tastes, but my sister is a bit... odd. So if you're hungry we can go eat with her."

 

Anthony nodded firmly at Violet's warning.
"Stay away from the bigger spells until I know how much magic I'm working with. Got it."
He then looked back up at her, his head tilted slightly.
"You said something about going to a city, right? Where are we going, exactly? Well...I mean, it's not like I'd know anything if you just told me what it's called so let me put it like this. What kind of place is this city we're going to?"
As he thought about it some more, he groaned a little with a troubled look on his face.
"And...more importantly, is anything gonna try to kill us when we get there? Because that seems to be a pretty big theme in Equestria."

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"I...I won't allow it!"
Cadence's voice was resolute, though with a slight tinge of desperation mixed in. Her horn began to glow and a magical aura surrounded the Khalis, which soon flew across the room and out of Somber's grasp. She slammed her hoof on the ground and stared directly into Somber's eyes.
"Shining Armor...please, I know you're still in there! Just like I know you won't go through with this...not if there's anything left of you in the stallion standing in front of me. I'm begging you...for the sake of all ponies, stop this at once! Don't let Sombra take over you!"

Sombra turned his attention away from the crystal and towards his wife. He slowly took a few steps forward, his eyes closed and his expression blank as he wrapped one of his front legs around her. He gently whispered in her ear.
"Do not be afraid. Everything I do, every decision I make, every last sacrifice is for us, my love. We will be together forever."
His glowing eyes opened and his face contorted into a cruel smile.
"Soon, you will become the bride of a god."

Cadence gasped, her heart sank and her eyes welled up with tears. She could hardly believe what she was hearing. She was too stunned to even move or breathe. The realization had finally hit her. Sombra had manipulated Shining Armor's fear, his desire to stay alive, his need for more power. And it seemed he had consumed him entirely. She wondered if there was even anything left of Shining Armor to save and the mere thought brought her unimaginable pain.

And so Cadence watched helplessly as Somber made his way across the room, his eyes shining brighter and brighter with desire as he walked up to the crystal on the floor. Both his eyes and his smiled widened as he picked it up and he could faintly be heard cackling to himself as he admired it. He then turned to the Prophet.
"If I understand your proposition clearly, you wish for me to rend my enemies asunder and for this, you will give me the Khalis. Is that correct?"

The Prophet turned to face Somber.
"I offer to you the power and glory you desire. All you must do is reach out and take it."

Somber took a few steps closer to the Prophet and looked him directly in the eyes.
"I still cannot bring myself to put much faith in your honeyed words. However...I believe that we can come to some sort of agreement."

 

"We'll be heading towards one of the settlements at the base of the mountain that Canterlot is perched on. That's as close as we need to get for now. Hopefully the Diggers won't keep us for too long." Violet said calmly. She levitated the steak to her mouth and took a bite.

 

Matthew approached the table with Noire.
“Steak. Neato.” On a whim, he tapped the ground with a hoof, and a carrot flew up out of the soil. “That could be useful.” He rubbed some of the dirt off before snacking on it. “How’d your training go, Anthony?”

 

"I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. Let's see if I can make this work..."
Anthony furrowed his brow in concentration and his horn began to glow once again. He made one of the steaks levitate and brought it to himself...which almost worked, except it went a little too fast and smacked him in the face. He groaned, a look of sheer, unadulterated annoyance on his face as his steak slowly slid down to his plate.
"Yeah...still needs a little work."
Following Violet's example, he levitated the steak to his mouth and took a bite.
"Hmm...never had cooked squirrel before. It's not half bad, actually."
He then looked up to Violet and tilted his head slightly.
"Come to think of it, I never really thought of ponies as the meat-eating type. I thought for sure you'd eat grass and vegetables and...I don't know, other non-meats. Am I just talking crazy here?"

 

“I’m not complaining,” Matthew remarked. “And most likely, seeing as these creatures are not the ponies we know back on Earth, adding the fact that most dominant species are omnivores as a rule of evolution, I’m guessing they function a tad differently to us.”

 

Violet and Noire laughed as the steak slid off of Anthony's face.Violet looked away slightly embarrassed with a smile on her face.
"Normally we eat vegetarian," Violet began. "I've just always enjoyed eating animals. The thought that I'm killing something that is just as alive as I am is exhilarating." Violet kept smiling as she looked back at Anthony and Matt. She was bouncing just a little bit on the bench in excitement from what she was saying.
"Yeah, so Sister has always been a bit of a horrible pony," Noire said with a teasing smile.

"Anyway you're doing well. You both are," Violet smiled reassuringly.
"We should probably head for the Digger town before sunset. Being out at night isn't as safe as it used to be."
Noire took a bite of the steak and chewed it for a while. Violet on the other hand had finished hers already and was staring at Noire's with longing.

 

Violet's rather...odd remark made Anthony stop in mid-bite, his eyes slightly widened and his mouth agape. The bright smile on her face made his left eye twitch.
"I'm...just gonna let that go and keep eating like I didn't hear anything."
Keeping his thoughts and, quite frankly, deep-seated concerns to himself, he took another bite of squirrel state and let himself relax a little. Once he swallowed that bite, he turned to Noire.
"You said something about a Digger town, right? What's that place like? And for that matter, what's a digger?"
Before he could get a response, Anthony and everyone else around the table heard a familiar voice.

"My apologies for the interruption; we have made an important discovery that you should know of immediately."
"Tassadar? What's going on?"
"We have discovered a Protoss temple hidden within an area known as the Everfree Forest. We have temporarily nullified its cloaking device and although you have been through much already, I would ask that you investigate the structure's interior."
"Wait...I thought you said the Protoss hadn't been to this planet before. How can they have a temple here?"
"We believe that our ancestors may have come to this world many years ago, long before you or even I were born. As for why, I cannot say. Truthfully, I hope that the answers to all our questions lie within this temple."
"And you can't send your own people to investigate because...?"
"Though we managed to nullify the cloaking device from here, it seems there is another device within that is disrupting our communications. We cannot risk sending Khalai warriors into the temple as there is an Equestrian settlement nearby and we would be unable to warn them that their movements may be discovered."
"So basically, if something goes wrong and a curious onlooker wanders by the temple, it'd be a lot better for them to see us poking around than a bunch of Protoss."
"Essentially, yes."
"Alright, sounds like a plan. But could you maybe give us a few minutes to talk it over and, you know, finish eating dinner before we leave?"
"It will not be necessary for you to travel there on your own; we have already made preparations. Arbiter, prepare to Recall them to the temple's entrance."

A brief, awkward silence hung in the air. Anthony tilted his head slightly, looking a little concerned.
"Uh, if you don't mind me asking, what do you mean by--"

Before he could finish, a swirling blue portal opened directly above the group and in an instant, they were teleported to the Everfree Forest in front of an enormous alien structure. Fortunately, the dinner table went with them.

"...Recall?"
Anthony blinked a few times. He had a blank stare in his eyes as he tried to get his bearings back. He looked around and saw the deep, dense forest all around them but mostly his eyes were drawn to the large temple right in front of them. He gazed at it for a while, looked at the entrance then looked to everyone else.
"Well...I don't know about you guys, but I'd still like to finish dinner. No sense in rushing into an alien temple on an empty stomach, right?"

 

"Pylons," Noire said in agreement as she took a large bite. Violet let out a small sound of sadness that she wasn't going to get a second helping of squirrel.

"Everfree..." Violet said after looking around. Her words held a strange sadness to them. "Of all the places of course it had to be here. The most dangerous place in Equestria proper."

The dark foliage rustled around the group and their table as a sinister wind blew gently. It carried with it the scent of decay and something else that could only be called Twisted. The Protoss temple sat in one of the hundreds of craters and quarries that was hidden by the dense forest. This was, at least, not underneath hundreds of feet of swamp water. The temple itself was crumbling from age and vines wrapped it in a shell. Trees and other plants had broken through the stone randomly dotting the structure with impossible growths. The entrance was filled with a foreboding darkness.

"How long has this been here, Tassy?"

 

There was a slight delay before the Executor responded.
"...Tassy?"
"Don't worry about it. She just likes giving out nicknames."
"I see. Very well, then. To answer your question, this structure is almost certainly thousands of years old-- constructed long before even the eldest among my people were born."
"Wow. So I guess that's why it's in pretty rough shape."
"Appearances can be deceiving, young Terran. While it may seem to the casual observer that this temple is on the verge of collapse, I would venture a guess that the outside was designed to resemble ancient Equestrian architecture, while the internal structure will doubtlessly look quite different."
"Another trick of the eyes...these ancient Protoss really knew what they were doing."

After finishing his meal, Anthony got up from the table, a slight twinkle in his eyes and a smile on his face. His curiosity was slowly starting to get the better of him as he casually trotted over to the temple's entrance. Despite the strange and usually very dangerous situations he'd been finding himself in lately, there was still a part of him that couldn't wait to see what was behind that door.
"How's this thing work...? Some kind of password or something?"
He studied the door carefully before placing his hoof on it, trying to feel around for some kind of secret latch or panel like you'd see in the movies. But just as soon as he placed his hoof on it, the stone door rumbled and slowly began to open from both sides. After that, the group briefly glanced another door behind it that opened much more quickly. From the short glimpse they caught of it, the inner door seemed to be a dull, faded golden color that although worn by the elements, was much more ornate than the outer structure. The nearly pitch-black darkness inside seemed both foreboding yet strangely inviting at the same time. At least to Anthony. With a wide grin, he turned to the others.

"I don't think we have anything better to do so we might as well check it out, right? Shall we?"
He stepped into the darkness quickly but carefully so that he didn't bump into anything. When the group made their way inside, both doors closed behind them and although they wouldn't notice any difference, the cloaking field had reactivated, rendering the temple invisible to the outside world. Just as Anthony was about to ask if somepony could do something about the complete darkness that had overtaken them, the room was lit up brightly by devices that vaguely resembled torches around the walls of the room. Vaguely, because instead of an open flame there were floating blue crystals hovering just above their golden sconces. These "crystal torches" gave off much more light than a regular torch could, so the room could be clearly seen with just a few of them scattered around the room, and the light looked quite natural despite the color of the pale blue crystals they came from.

What they saw in that room was a strange sort of architecture unlike any of them had ever seen before, which was quite different from the unremarkable exterior of the temple. The walls, floor and ceiling were a pale golden color that was quite smooth to the touch and seemed to shine as if polished to a mirror finish. The room was adorned with dark blue gemstones shaped into ovals and there were holographic projectors along the walls that, now activated, gave a display that almost looked like a light show to the group but was actually a readout of symbols in the Khalani language, indicating that the temple's systems were now online. But the one part of the room that stood out the most was a strange circular structure in the center that seemed to be made mostly of crystal, with pieces of the golden Protoss metal holding it together. It was attached to some sort of equipment, but it was anyone's guess what it was or what purpose it served.

Anthony looked closely at the strange device.
"It seems just about big enough to hold a person...or pony...or something. Tassadar, any idea what we're looking at?"
There was no response.
"That was fast. Guess we're on our own."
He took a few steps to get a closer look and when he did, steam came from the crystal structure and one of the projectors began to light up, symbols flashing on and off quickly. Anthony's jaw hung open, a slight sound of nervousness in his voice.
"Wha--but--I didn't even touch it yet!"

The crystal walls slowly sank into the floor and a figure could now be seen through the steam. It was...pony-shaped, oddly enough. But as the steam began to clear, the group could see that this pony was, in fact, made of a golden metal that vaguely resembled what the structure itself was made of, though it was darker in color. A dark blue visor where its eyes should be soon lit up and the mechanical pony which was slumped down inside of the cell, now stood up straight and took a few steps forward.

Anthony's eyes bulged and he found himself at something of a loss for words, looking completely dumbstruck at the sight in front of him.
"This day..."
He had to take a moment to gather his thoughts again.
"...This day just gets weirder and weirder."

The robotic pony looked around at the group assembled in front of him and spoke up, its voice sounding rather lifelike despite its mechanical frame.
"En taro Adun! If you chose and were able to venture into this place then surely there must be a great need in the land of Equestria. I believe introductions are in order-- though I realize the situation must be handled with all haste, so I will try to keep it brief. I am Taldarin-- or rather, a mechanical construct programmed with the traits and personality of a Templar named Taldarin."
"But...you're a pony. Some kind of...robo-pony."
"Ah yes, this body was specifically crafted to simulate the appearance of the Earth Ponies of Equestria. We thought that it would put your minds at ease to see a familiar form when you first arrived at the temple. Though of course, it was our hope that this temple would never be needed in the first place."
Anthony simply stared in disbelief, his mind spinning as he tried to wrap his head around the situation. Taldarin continued on.
"May I ask your names, brave ponies of Equestria?"
Naturally, he hadn't realized that Anthony and Matt were actually humans from Earth.

 

Matthew had reached his natural threshold of weird, and as such was just accepting this whole situation as a logical chain of events.
“Matthew. Terran. Currently pony-shaped. How do you do.”