Chapter One

Discovery

The train rolled steadily along the tracks on its way to the Crystal Empire as Sandy Digs gazed out of the windows towards the morning sun. She was a light brown earth pony mare in her early thirties sporting a tan explorer hat with a yellow mane and short-cut tail; her light pink eyes had dark circles from a late night. Though she seemed at ease calmly sipping her coffee the stewardess had brought, her head was swimming with ideas and possibilities at what awaited her. She had been summoned to the royal palace late in the night by the Princess of Friendship herself for an important mission to the Crystal Empire. An unknown ruin of some sort had been discovered by one of the crystal scouts far to the north of the frozen wastes above the empire shortly after an intense storm had caused an avalanche. According to the scouts' report in the letter Princess Twilight received from her brother Shining Armor, who is the husband of the ruling regent of the Crystal Empire, Princess Cadence, the description of the ruins from the scout does not match any known architecture of any kind. There was also nothing found in the Crystal Empire or the Canterlot libraries regarding any historical mention of a species living in that region. Her hoof silently tapped the seat in anticipation as she pondered the implications. Could this mean the discovery of an entirely new civilization or species? Or perhaps this could be the origin point of the crystal ponies? How amazing would it be if this were the long-fabled home of the alicorns? Now, wouldn't that be exciting!?
“Excuse me, Miss. Would you like more coffee?” Sandy Digs was startled by the voice of the stewardess standing next to her.

“Oh, umm, yes, thank you, but you shouldn’t sneak up on your passengers like that.” The purple unicorn carefully lifted her cup with magic and poured the coffee into it.

“Apologies, but I had asked you four times before you responded.” Sandy blushed out of embarrassment; she must have been lost in thought. The stewardess put the filled coffee cup back onto the passenger tray. “We’ll be arriving at the Crystal Empire shortly. Might I suggest finding a hotel when we arrive? You look exhausted, miss.”

“Thank you for your concern but I have an important meeting first that I must attend.” The stewardess gave a polite nod and continued down the train car. She gazed out the train car window once again and saw the city just starting to come into view. “I hope the excavation team I'm supposed to meet with is competent. I'm not a fan of snow and freezing wind.” She said quietly to herself it will still be an hour or so until we pull into the station. I suppose I should take a quick power nap. After all, it would look unprofessional to look like a complete zom-pony when meeting the team. She awoke with a start at the sound of the train's brakes squealing against the tracks they must be arriving at the station.

“Attention all passengers, we’ve arrived at our destination. Please don’t forget your luggage when disembarking.” The voice of the train's conductor boomed over the speaker. Sandy gave a loud yawn before grabbing her saddlebags and following the other passengers out of the train. She stepped off the train onto the platform and took in her surroundings at the bustling train station. This was her first time here. She had heard about the shiny architecture of the crystal ponies, but this seemed excessive; the entire floor gleamed like a mirror despite all the hoof traffic it endures daily, and the columns appeared to be carved from pure crystal leading up the sides of the building, and the beautiful stained-glass window also seemed to be made from crystal though it must act as a special filter for the sunlight otherwise this place would be blinding. She was supposed to meet with somepony upon arrival, a historian pony who was to accompany the team and act as her guide in the city.

“Excuse me, are you Sandy Digs?” Sandy turned to the direction of the speaker.

“Umm... yes, I am, and I'm assuming you’re the historian I was supposed to meet?” The stallion she was speaking to was a short older unicorn, possibly in his late fifties, with a bright red mane and long tail. He peered at her with violet eyes through his gold-rimmed spectacles.

“Why yes, I am. My name is Paper Record. I'm pleased to meet you, Miss Digs. The rest of the expedition team is awaiting us at the Crystal Love Laboratories and Research Center. Please follow me.” He waved a hoof for her to follow him as he turned toward the exit.

“Of course, lead on, and I'm not a miss, so please just refer to me as Sandy. Mr. Record, was it? May I ask how many ponies have gathered for the expeditionary group? I heard that the ruins are quite far to the north and that the ruins themselves are buried deep within the ice. Will we have sufficient pony power and supplies to mount such an expedition?”

“But of course, Her Royal Majesty Princess Mi Amore Cadenza has given her full support for this expedition. She, too, is quite interested in what we find. As for the teams' size, we have about forty-three members, including yourself.” We had exited the train station and were making our way down the beautiful crystal pathways toward the palace that lie in the heart of the city.

“Excellent, that should be more than enough to begin our little incursion. I must admit I'm very excited to start. I can't even begin to hypothesize what we’ll find.”

“Excited, are you? I'd say tired is more like it.” He chuckled to himself. “I haven't seen baggy eyes like that since my college days. But I understand you were summoned late in the night as well, weren't you? We had turned off the main street and headed down a side path that seemed to head into the academic section of the city. “You see that large dome-shaped building in the distance there?” He stopped for a moment and pointed upwards in front of us where, indeed, there was an exceptionally large dome shape that could be seen cresting above the other buildings. “That's the Crystal Love Laboratories and Research Center. It's about a fifteen-minute walk from here. It was newly constructed as Her Majesty Princess Twilight Sparkle made a declaration to increase academic learning and research, both magical and technological, throughout Equestria. It's become fairly popular amongst the crystal ponies since they were gone for over a thousand years.”

“Changing times, I'm still getting used to the idea of the twin goddesses stepping down and the Council of Friendship, along with Her Majesty the Princess of Friendship, being the new ruling government. Although I do agree with many of their reforms as of late to increase the education of all creatures and ponies in Equestria, I can't help but be concerned about all the newcomers to our kingdom. I fear it may cause more trouble later down the line.” Sandy said as we continued down the bustling street of ponies.

“Yours is a sentiment shared by many of the older folk.” Paper Record grumbled under his breath. He clearly did not agree with them.

“Is this the place? It's much larger than I would have thought.” We were standing before a large gate that marked the entrance to the research center. I could see that the large dome I had seen in the distance was just the center of the facility. Dozens of smaller buildings connected to the dome in a wide arc across the grass; the entire place was surrounded by a large crystal wall, and several guard ponies could be seen patrolling the lawn and gatehouse. Paper Record walked up to the gatehouse guard and handed him a scroll.

“Yes, we’ve arrived; the others are waiting for us.” We were escorted through the gates by two crystal guard ponies and herded directly to the far-left building. The building itself was one of those large rectangular ones you would find on an academic or college campus filled with classrooms and individual labs branching out to many different subjects. After entering the building, we were led through several corridors past many ponies and creatures wearing the attire of students. They all gave friendly waves and smiles as we passed. We entered through a large double door that led to an auditorium where eight ponies were all sitting around a table where dozens of charts, maps, and papers were scattered all around them as they argued.

“We need to bring dynamite and blasting equipment; otherwise, we will be spending the first few months just digging out the ice trying to find the entrance to the place.” said a white earth pony mare in her twenties with pink streaks through her mane and tail.

“And I told you, Swirly Rose, for the hundredth time, we can’t use explosives. We don't know the structural integrity of the ruins, not to mention the hazard of starting an avalanche and burying ourselves alive.” Retorted a brown unicorn stallion in his sixties with a bright red mane and tail wearing a formal-looking suit and reading glasses.

“Not if we place them carefully, Mr. Smokey, you may be a celebrated language major or whatever, but my crew and I are experts in mining and excavation. We know how to work explosives safely even under hazardous conditions.” ‘Swirly struck the table with her hoof.’ “And I'm not sure about you, but I, for one, am not looking forward to spending eight months in a frozen wasteland digging through what could be miles of solid ice to some unknown ruins that could be empty for all we know, you old goat.”

“OLD!? How dare you!? I'm still in my prime, little missy. Just because I'm more intelligent than some backwater earth pony who most likely dropped out of middle school and likes watching rocks explode does not make me old.” Swirly Rose narrowed her eyes and puffed up her chest. She looked like she was about to tackle the older unicorn.

“Let's all calm down and ask our team leader her opinion.” A noticeably young-looking light green crystal pony mare with a silvery mane and short cut tail gestured towards me as we approached the group. Everypony went quiet and turned their gaze to me and Paper.

“Well, well, well, look who finally showed up to our little team meeting. Took your sweet time fetching our esteemed leader, did we, Paper? What, did you take the scenic route telling her about the fascinating history of the Crystal Empire? Oh, oh, did she know that the Crystal Empire is protected from the snow because of the crystal heart? Or that Princess Cadence is the current regent of this place?” A very cynical-looking red earth pony mare with a dark blue mane who was not even twenty yet said as her deep brown eyes narrowed at me.

“Ah, just as fiery and impatient as ever, I see Red Candy. You know as well as I do I am well ahead of schedule in getting here. It's not my fault you and the rest of the team decided to start an hour early without us. Perhaps it would be fruitful to spend a year digging in the ice; just might cool that young blood of yours.” Red Candy glared at him but said nothing. “Anyways, if you're all done acting like foals arguing in the cafeteria over who gets the last of the hay fries, allow me to introduce Sandy Digs, who will be leading this expedition by royal command of Her Majesty Princess Twilight Sparkle.” They all looked expectantly at me, sizing me up. I would imagine, of course, it was like being in a room filled with angry timber wolves. I cleared my throat and stepped up to the table.

“Now, as you all know my name, before we make any decisions, I'd like to know who my team is for this expedition, so we will go left to right. When it's your turn, please state your name and what role you're fulfilling. Afterward, we will discuss strategy with you first, please.” I gestured to the fiery red earth pony next to me. She flared her nostrils and spat on the floor.

“Fine, my name is Red Candy. I'm a mountaineer and expert hiker. It's my job to lead the wagons of equipment safely through the snow to the dig site. Next was the white earth pony with the pink stripes.

“My name is Swirly Rose. I'm the leader of the dig crew, and an explosive expert should be pretty self-explanatory about what I'm in charge of doing, boss. She was still glaring at the brown unicorn across the table.

“Greetings everypony, my name is Arctic Sapphire. I'm the scout who discovered the ruins on my patrol after a heavy storm blew through the northern wastes. I'll be your guide along with Miss Candy to the ruins. He was a handsome, bright azure crystal pony with a white mane and tail that had a black stripe through it, wearing the common armor the guard uses. After he finished speaking he gave a firm salute and stood at attention.

“And my name is Amethyst Smooch. I'm also a member of the Crystal Guard. Even though I'm a pegasus, I will be fulfilling the role of communications. It'll be my job to ferry messages and reports back to Shining Armor. As well as making requisition requests should we require additional resources glad to be working with you all.” She was cute for a pegasus; she had a ruby red mane tied off with a blue bow and had a light white coat and gave a firm salute as she stepped back from the table. Next was the older brown unicorn who was arguing with Swirly when we first entered the room.

“Mr. Smokey, language expert extraordinaire. I have several degrees, and I'm an expert linguist. I've studied almost every known form of communication and ancient language known in the world. It's my extreme pleasure to oversee the translation of any form of writing we discover in the ruins. He gave a courteous bow as Swirly made a gagging motion at him from across the table.

“I believe it's my turn now, mares and gentle colts?” the light green crystal pony who had pointed out our entrance earlier stated as she cleared her throat. "Emerald Snow, I'm a nurse from the Crystal Hospital, and I'll be taking care of any medical problems that arise during our trip, so please come to me if anypony gets hurt or has an ache they want me to take a ‘close’ look at.” She said as she gave an obvious flirty wink to Arctic Sapphire, who went a little red in the cheeks and turned away quickly.

“I'm Little Metal.” said a large gray earth stallion with a dirty blonde mane and scraggly-looking tail sporting an old beat-up top hat that had been patched many times from wear and tear.

“And I am Big Spice, the prettier, smarter, and stronger sibling of the Spicey Metal Transport Company, or SMTC for short. Me and my little bro here will be pulling the equipment wagons for y’all through the snow.” Said a not noticeably big light gray earth pony mare with the same dirty blonde mane done up into pigtails with freckles covering her face and a bright red bow on her tail with a plain-looking cow-pony hat. “Pleased to meet y’all.” She tipped her hat to me as her brother just gave a blank stare at the table.

“Excellent introductions, everypony! You all know me already, but I’ll introduce myself again. I’m Paper Record grand historian of the Royal Canterlot Library sent here by Her Majesty to act as the logistics expert and aid with any historical knowledge that may help identify these unknown ruins.”

“Perfect and as stated before I am Sandy Digs, I'm an archeologist in service to Her Majesty and a prized student to the one and only Daring Do. I've led many expeditions in the past to dangerous parts of Equestria and beyond, from the Endless Storming Isles to the Badlands, and I've been put in charge of this expedition to the frozen north. Now, down to business, as I understand it, you should have all received and reviewed the initial report of this discovery, correct?” Everypony shook their heads in acknowledgment. “Very good now, Arctic Sapphire. Is there any additional information you can give us that was not included in the report?”

“No, ma’am, I realized how important this discovery could be when I first found it, so I made sure I included everything I saw in the report to Her Majesty.”

“Alright, then, a quick review: approximately two weeks ago, an intense storm swept through the northern wastes and caused an avalanche that revealed a large ruin that doesn’t match any known records buried deep within the ice. From the initial report provided by the crystal scout who discovered it, ‘I gestured towards Arctic’ The ruins themselves seemed to be intact and made of some kind of unknown jet-black stone. From his observations, the structure seems to at one time have been some kind of tower or way castle of some kind. Everypony on board so far?”

“Yes.” they all said in almost perfect unison.

“Good now. We have been selected by Her Majesty Princess Twilight Sparkle and her sister-in-law Princess Cadence to excavate and explore this unknown ruin, recover important historical artifacts, and learn all we can from it and the species that built it. Dig crew leader Swirly Rose, when Paper Records and I first arrived, you were discussing using explosives to clear the initial ice to find the ruin entrance. Could you please elaborate?”

“Yes, boss, based on the report, the ruins could be quite large with no visible entrance inside. I recommend we use controlled explosions to break up the surface ice so we could locate the entrance quickly as that would give my team a focus point for our excavation efforts. It would also reduce the time it would take for us to start making discoveries as well as increase our available resources should we hit a snag deeper in the ruins later on. Not to mention we could set up base camp within the ruins themselves should there be a large area inside, it would provide us with additional shelter from the extreme cold.”

“Hmm… a sound argument. I could see how that would be beneficial, and Mr. Smokey, you were against this idea? Please explain why?”

“Of course, I'm against using explosives because although the ruins may appear to be intact that could easily be explained by the ice that incases it as well as light infraction. It could very well be brittle and just frozen in place for all we know, and as you said, this ruin does not match any known records. If we start blasting it just to get inside, it may cause large parts of the structure to collapse and destroy many potential artifacts and important findings. We’ve been given a very generous budget for this expedition we can afford to take our time to ensure we don’t damage anything.” He gave Swirly a know-it-all kind of smirk. “I was calmly trying to explain that this discovery could be the find of a lifetime for Equestria, and we shouldn’t risk damaging it just because some ponies don’t enjoy the cold when you arrived.”

“Well, excuse me, Mr. Goat Licker, if I don’t enjoy freezing my flank off just so you can embezzle the budget we’ve been given to enjoy tea and biscuits while sitting in a nice warm tent for eight months while I and my team dig through solid ice.” She snapped at him.

“WHAT DID YOU CALL ME!?” He yelled, “How dare you speak to me like that, you inbred filly of a...”

“ENOUGH!!!” I yelled at both of them. “This is how supposed experts in their fields act because you don’t agree on something?” They both looked away from each other, still scowling. “You both make good points so we will act and behave like proper adults and compromise, Paper Record do we have any geologist on the team?”

“Yes, two, actually. They should assist the dig crew in loading the supplies into the wagons.”

“Good, so this is what we will do when we arrive: have both geologists survey the ice and surrounding mountains. If they both agree that it would be safe and stable, we will use controlled explosives to break the surface ice, as Miss Rose suggests.” Swirly Rose stuck her tongue out at the linguist. “However, if they disagree or find the area unstable, we will instead go with Mr. Smokey's suggestion and take it slow. Is that understood?” Smokey gave a coy smile.

“Yes, an excellent idea Miss Digs. I'm glad our team leader is more capable of listening to reason than some ponies.” He straightened his jacket and gave a smug look to Rose.

“Whatever you say, you’re the boss after all.” Swirly gave the linguist the dirtiest look she could manage.

“All right, everypony, pack whatever else you need to take with you on the expedition. We leave in two hours. If you're not at the wagons when times up, you will be left behind. Am I clear?” They all gave acknowledgment and headed out of the auditorium.

“You handled that very well, Sandy. I'm impressed. I can see why you were selected for the role of team leader now.” Paper Record said as he began rolling up all the disorganized papers and charts that littered the area around the table.

“Thanks, but I hope those two don’t argue throughout the entire assignment; otherwise, I might age a few more years faster than I should.” He chuckled.

“So, what are your plans for the next two hours, our esteemed leader?”

“I’m going to go pass out and sleep in the back of one of the wagons until it's time to leave,” I said as I headed out of the auditorium.

Two weeks later...

“Arctic Sapphire, how much further to the site?” I yelled through the howling wind. We had been traveling through the deep snow north for a few days now after leaving the safety of the Crystal Empire; thankfully, the first two days of our journey were uneventful, besides a broken axle that the siblings had quickly repaired before the snow could pile up to prevent us from traveling for what little daylight we had out here. However, the wind and snow had started to pick up suddenly as we started our descent into a deep valley of snow and ice that edged the nearby mountains.

“We are almost there. It's just up ahead at the base of those two large mountains.” He called back while pointing to twin peaks that rose in the distance. “Just a bit further, I marked the area with a red flag the last time I was here.”

“Good thinking; that’ll be a tremendous help, assuming the wind hasn’t blown it away.” I retreated into the wagon, where several ponies, including Paper Record, were huddled together under a blanket and trying to keep warm. “We’re almost there everypony just another hour or so, and we can set up the tents and get the portable heaters going.”

“Thank the goddesses for that! I feel like my tail is so frozen solid I could dip it in ink and use it like a quill.” Paper said while shivering under the blanket, and several other ponies agreed with him. "I heard how cold it was up here, but I didn’t expect it to be like this.”

“Just a bit further, and then we can get out of this cold and make history,” I assured the freezing ponies and went back up to the front, where Little Metal was pulling the wagon along through the deep snow. He was pushing a snowplow while pulling the wagon, making a trail for the several other wagons in our convoy to follow. “How are you not tired yet, Little Metal? You’ve been at this for at least five hours now; we can take a break if you need it.”

“Not tired.” was all he replied while continuing to trudge along.

“Okay, but aren't you at least cold? It’s not exactly temperate weather out here, and the deep snow is freezing.” I began to worry for our driver's health and safety.

“Don't feel cold, I have a good hat.” Again, nothing but a short unhelpful reply.

“I highly doubt that a patched work top hat is enough to keep you warm in this weather, Little Steel. Can I at least get you a blanket or something?”

“No blanket, I'm good.” What was with this stallion? Does he just not feel anything or something?

“Don't mind, m’ah brother Sandy, he’ll be fine always is as long as he has his favorite hat on. Other than that, he’s a bit slow if you haven't noticed, but he never complains about anything.” Big Spice said from underneath the blanket in the back of the wagon.

“I’m not sure that’s healthy, but I'll trust your judgment, seeing that he is your sibling. You’d know better than any pony.” A little over an hour later, we came across a pole with a frozen flag stuck into the ice.

“We’ve arrived.” declared Arctic Sapphire. “Look over there against the rock face.” He pointed towards a large rock shelf on the mountain where, sure enough, a very black tower-like object could be seen jutting out; it was easy to spot because of the contrast it had with the pure white snow. It rose from the desolate frozen landscape like a great black talon trying to grasp the heavens themselves. The curious thing about it, though, was, at least from what could be seen from this distance, that there were no windows or any visible openings into the tower. Not to mention its sheer size it went more than halfway up the opposing mountain side of several hundred feet at least. “We’ll most likely need to clear away the snow that has piled up on the top since I was last here to get a better look at what we’re dealing with.”

“All right, everypony listen up; Rose, have your crew start unloading the wagons and setting up base camp for the night; Paper, have the geologists start their survey of the area; Spice, have your team line up the wagons after they are unloaded on the opposite side of the area, we’ll use them as wind brakes to help with the cold. Arctic, Amethyst, and I will head up to the tower and look around the area. Everypony else can help Rose with unloading or clearing away an area to set up base camp.” Everypony started carrying out their assigned tasks while we three headed up the cliff face towards the exposed tower. About 20 minutes later we were up the rock face approaching the strange black tower. “I'm amazed this structure seems fully intact. I expected it to be rather worn down from the inclement weather.” As I examined the strange Blackstone, I noticed it was smooth to the touch and appeared to have a hexagonal pattern to it, but even more strange was that the snow seemed to just slide off it instead of sticking like it normally would for any equestrian structure.

“Remarkable,” Arctic whispered as he came up beside me and placed his hoof against the Blackstone. “It's not even cold to the touch; how's that possible?”

“I have no idea. I've never come across anything remotely like this. We should break off a sample and have the geologists look at it. Maybe they can figure out what type of rock this is made from. Amethyst, let me see that pickaxe of yours.”

“Yes, ma’am.” She pulled out the pickaxe from her saddlebag and handed it to me. I took it in my mouth and made sure I had a tight grip on it.

“Take a step back just in case,” I mumbled around the pickaxe in my mouth. After they stepped back behind my left, I took a full swing at the Blackstone only to have my swing come to a complete stop, and the force from it rattled back through the pickaxe and into my teeth. I dropped the pickaxe and fell back on my haunches. “Owwwwww holy sweet Celestia, that bucking hurt.” I cursed as I spat a little blood into the snow.

“Are you alright?” Arctic asked me as I stood myself back up.

“Yeah, I'm ok I didn't break any teeth or anything, but wow is that stuff dense look at that I didn’t even make a mark on it.” I inspected the area where I had struck and there wasn’t any sign that anything had hit it, I picked up the pickaxe and checked it to find the tip had completely flattened. “Well, we won't be digging our way through that's for sure, seriously what is this stuff made of?" At the very least, hitting it with a pickaxe designed for mining boulders, I should have left a scratch on it. "Let's head back and see what the situation is with the survey because I'm thinking we may need those explosives." We headed back down the rock face to see about four wagons had already been unloaded and several tents had gone up with ponies starting campfires and stacking crates under an awning on the far side of the camp.

“Ah, Sandy over here.” Paper Record beckoned us over to one of the campfires, where he was sitting with two others. “You're back just in time. I just finished going over the geologists' survey of the area, and according to both of them, it should be safe to use explosives. That storm that blew through that initially revealed the ruins has already caused most of the loose snow and rock to fall, so as long as we’re careful and don’t use too much, it’ll be fine.”

“That's very good news since there's no way we’re digging through.” I tossed the now blunted pickaxe to him, where he caught it with his magic and inspected it. “Took a full swing at that Blackstone tower and didn’t even leave a mark on it; whatever creatures built this place were master architects. Honestly, I'm not confident dynamite will fare any better, but we may find an open entrance deeper in the ice; that’s the hope anyway.” I gave him a brief report on our observations of the Blackstone.

“It's extraordinary if it's that tough. It would explain how it's still intact after all this time, of course. We still don’t know exactly how old this place is yet.”

“And that concerns me greatly from my experience. Ancient ruins are seldom undefended. I can't even begin to guess what kind of traps are awaiting us in there. We will need to be extra cautious when exploring the ruins, assuming we find a way inside.” I sat next to him, warming my hooves by the fire. “Arctic, find Swirly Rose and have her come here. I need to speak with her about those explosives afterward and help Emerald Snow set up a field hospital in one of the extra tents we brought, just in case we need it. His cheeks went a little crimson at the mention of Emerald Snow's name.

“Yes, ma’am.” He gave a salute and trotted off.

“You called boss?” Swirly Rose came walking up to the fire, chewing on a toothpick a few minutes later, and sat across from us.

“Yes, Rose, I need to speak with you about those explosives we brought.” She gave a wide grin.

“GET CLEAR!!!” BOOOOOM!!!!! Went the explosives in unison shaking the ground with a muffled thunderous roar from the sound of ice shattering. After explaining the situation to Rose the previous day, she and her team marked areas around the dig site and drilled holes down into the ice to place several bundles of explosives in a chain, much to the complaining dismay of Mr. Smokey. After all the water vapor produced by the explosions settled down, we were greeted with a massive Blackstone wall we previously couldn't see connected to the tower, and towards the middle of where the explosives had gone off was a giant doorway flanked by rearing statues of very pony shaped creatures with dual horns facing each other.

“Just as I suspected, not even the dynamite would affect the Blackstone structure, and what luck, we actually found an entrance inside,” I said as we all took a closer look at the massive structure before us.

“SUSPECTED!?" Came the wailing voice of one very disgruntled Mr. Smokey. “I can't believe you decided to use how many pounds of explosives because you suspected the Blackstone would be fine. Couldn't you have at least tested it on the tower before making such a rash decision?” Swirly Rose was visibly smiling with glee at the terribly upset brown linguist.

“I assure you, Mr. Smokey, I made sure we took every precaution to not damage anything inside the ruins. My team of experts and I placed the explosives far enough away so that only the shockwaves would cause enough force to make the ice shatter. And thanks to our expertise, we found an entrance inside because we’re just that good at our jobs.” He shot Rose a dirty look and was about to say something.

"Enough both of you, we have more important things at present. Mr. Smokey and Paper Record get whatever supplies you will need to enter the ruins I want you to follow the initial team in at a distance and begin cataloging our surroundings. Arctic, Amethyst, and Candy, you're with me. We will enter the ruins first. I do not doubt that there will be traps, so follow closely behind me and do exactly what I say, got it?

“Yes, ma’am,” said the two crystal guard ponies in unison.

“Oh, I can't wait to follow our fearless leader into a dark death-trapped ruin. I'm sure everything will be fine.” Came the sarcastic response of Red Candy.

“Thank you for your confidence, Candy. Now, Rose, I want a member of your crew to go with Paper and Smokey. I'm sure there will be several areas hidden underneath ice further in or collapsed sections, so it would be helpful to have a member of your crew along to help mark areas for excavation.”

“Great idea, boss. I'll send my second with you. HEY CRYSTAL GET OVER HERE!” She yelled at a group of ponies who were inspecting the wall where a pegasus mare came running over after being called. She had a bluish-gray coat with an anakiwa blue mane and tail sporting an aquamarine ribbon. Her cyan eyes were filled with wonder from the structure, and I could see she had a crystal heart for her cutie mark, although it looked nothing like the artifact from the Crystal Empire. “You're following the boss inside along with two eggheads. She wants you to mark future sites for excavation; you know what to look for.”

“I won't let you down, Big Rose. I'll go grab my gear and stand ready at the entrance for the eggheads.” She turned and trotted toward the supply area.

“Big Rose, huh?” I gave the dig crew leader a quizzical look as she shrugged.

“Just a nickname some of the crew came up with anyway. Don’t you have more important things to worry about?”

“Right, let's go make history.” About fifteen minutes later, we entered the ruins. We were in a corridor made entirely of the same Blackstone as the outer wall, but the difference was these strange blue lights that pulsed through the walls, temporarily illuminating our path with each pulse.

“This is a bit creepy; it's almost like a heartbeat with its rhythm.” Came the whispering voice of Amethyst from behind me.

“Yeah, maybe we are inside some stone giant's stomach, and any second now, it's going to come alive and digest us.” Red Candy said as her response while she spat on the wall.

“Please don’t say things like that. I already have goosebumps from how quiet this place is. It's like not even sound can bounce off the walls.” Candy just snickered at her.

“Such a brave member of the crystal guard. I'm glad we’re so well protected from the scary empty ruins.” Amethyst looked ready to buck her upside the head.

“Enough, both of you.” Arctic chimed in. We’re in the middle of something completely unknown to us. Danger could be just around the next corner, so keep quiet and pay attention.”

“Oh, ho, look at who's being all professional and stoic just because he got a blowjob from that slut of a nurse last night," Candy said as she gave a deep-throating motion with her hoof.

“Wha... what!? No, I did not. I was just helping her move some of her medical equipment around, that's all.” He stammered, his cheeks flush red with embarrassment.

“Uh-huh, sure you were, late at night after everypony had turned in for the night. My tent is right next to hers you know I heard everything to do about that ‘examination’ she gave you.” His eyes went wide, and his cheeks burned even redder.

“Quiet! Not only would I rather not hear about that, but there's a room coming up, so stay on guard.”

“Whatever you say, miss boss lady,” Candy replied as she rolled her eyes while Arctic gave a sigh of relief that we were off this topic. We entered a large room that seemed to be a study. Large bookshelves flanked the sides of a wide desk, with many strange items and blackened books scattered about. The room was illuminated by a round orb-like object that seemed to float just below the ceiling.

“Wow, we hit the jackpot. Look at all these books.” Said Amethyst picking up one of the strange black books and opening it.

𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌷𐍉𐌿𐍄 𐍄𐌷𐌴 𐌳𐌰𐍂𐌺, 𐍄𐌷𐌴𐍂𐌴 c𐌰𐌽 𐌱𐌴 𐌽𐍉 𐌻𐌹𐌲𐌷𐍄,

𐍅𐌴 𐌰𐍂𐌴 𐌰𐌻𐌹𐍈𐌴

𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌷𐍉𐌿𐍄 𐍄𐌷𐌴 𐌻𐌹𐌴, 𐍄𐌷𐌴𐍂𐌴 c𐌰𐌽 𐌱𐌴 𐌽𐍉 𐍄𐍂𐌿𐍄𐌷,

𐍅𐌴 𐌰𐍂𐌴 𐌰𐌻𐌹𐍈𐌴

𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌷𐍉𐌿𐍄 𐍄𐌷𐌴 𐍅𐌰𐍂, 𐍄𐌷𐌴𐍂𐌴 c𐌰𐌽 𐌱𐌴 𐌽𐍉 𐍈𐌹c𐍄𐍉𐍂𐌸,

𐍅𐌴 𐌰𐍂𐌴 𐌰𐌻𐌹𐍈𐌴

𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌷𐍉𐌿𐍄 𐍄𐌷𐌴 𐌳𐌴𐌰𐍄𐌷, 𐍄𐌷𐌴𐍂𐌴 c𐌰𐌽 𐌱𐌴 𐌽𐍉 𐍃𐌰c𐍂𐌹𐍆𐌹c𐌴,

𐍅𐌴 𐌰𐍂𐌴 𐌰𐌻𐌹𐍈𐌴

𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌷𐍉𐌿𐍄 𐍄𐌷𐌴 𐌷𐍉𐍀𐌴 𐍄𐌷𐌴𐍂𐌴 c𐌰𐌽 𐌱𐌴 𐌽𐍉 𐍄𐍉𐌼𐍉𐍂𐍂𐍉𐍅,

𐍅𐌴 𐌰𐍂𐌴 𐌰𐌻𐌹𐍈𐌴

𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌷𐍉𐌿𐍄 𐍄𐌷𐌴 𐍃𐍉𐌿𐌻 𐍄𐌷𐌴𐍂𐌴 c𐌰𐌽 𐌱𐌴 𐌽𐍉 c𐌸c𐌻𐌴,

𐍅𐌴 𐌰𐍂𐌴 𐌰𐌻𐌹𐍈𐌴

𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌷𐍉𐌿𐍄 𐍄𐌷𐌴 𐌴𐌼𐍀𐌴𐍂𐍉𐍂, 𐍄𐌷𐌴𐍂𐌴 𐌹𐍃 𐌽𐍉𐍄𐌷𐌹𐌽𐌲,...

𐌰𐌽𐌳 𐍅𐌴 𐍅𐍉𐌿𐌻𐌳 𐌷𐌰𐍈𐌴 𐌽𐍉 𐌻𐌹𐍆𐌴

“Uh... anypony have an idea of what this says?” Amethyst asked while holding the book to us.
“No idea but Mr. Smokey may he is our linguist after all, let's wait for them to catch up. Something here may help with navigating this place.”

“Unbelievable, this is absolutely incredible.” Smokey kept mumbling as he flipped through several books. We had waited about twenty minutes when Paper, and they joined us in the study.

“Well, do you have any idea what language this is, Mr. Smokey?” I asked as Paper gave me the rundown of what they had found on their way here. Apparently, from what he has observed, there is absolutely nothing in our known history that is even close to matching this place's architecture, and he theorizes the pulse we keep seeing in the walls is from some type of magical energy source that is powering this place.

“Nope, in all my years, I've never seen a language like this. It's beautiful and elegant yet refined.

“Can you decipher it?” He was pacing in front of the desk while flipping through the pages of one of the books.

“Hmph, of course I can. What a stupid question to ask of one of the best linguists in the world. Although admittedly, this will take a while. This language is extremely complicated, and it may take weeks to decrypt their alphabet. I'll begin immediately. Oh, how exciting, an actual challenge for once.” He stated as he pulled out some ink and blank scrolls. “Leave me to my work. I require a quiet workspace.”

“All right, we’ll leave you to it. Come on, everypony, let's continue deeper in.” We had walked carefully through several corridors that had rooms lining the sides, each complete with a desk, bookshelf, chairs, and cupboards, all made from the same Blackstone. There was also a strange large rectangle indent on the floor on the side of the rooms. Each one we passed was completely identical to the previous ones.

“These remind me of the barracks at the palace or, rather, the captains' quarters,” Arctic said as we investigated one of the rooms. “I can't say what that big indent is for though maybe a slot for a bed?”

“I agree. That’s my impression, too, that we are in the barracks of this place. We'll have some others comb this location more thoroughly. Let's move on.” We traveled through the halls for about 35 minutes before we came into an exceptionally large room with a curved ceiling. The left half of it had collapsed, and a layer of ice coated the room from the holes in the ceiling, exposing the room to the outside elements. But what drew my attention was the massive double door on the far-right side; it was frozen in a thick layer of ice. “That looks like it leads to something important.”

“I brought several bundles of dynamite with me.” Crystal piped up from behind us. “It’ll only take a few minutes for me to set them up against the frozen door so we can continue.”

“That's a bad idea. This room doesn’t seem as structurally stable as the previous ones, as evidenced by the collapsed section.” Paper Record said as he carefully stepped out onto the icy floor.

“I agree with Paper. It's too dangerous to use explosives here. We'll have to mine through it manually.

“If you say so, boss, but judging from how thick that ice is, it'll take a while to get through it.”

“That's fine. It'll give us time to explore this section more in-depth while the dig crew is getting through the ice. All right, we haven't found any dangers so far. Let us return to camp, report our findings, and plan our next move.

One month later...

“This is incredible, truly fascinating. It seems an ancient pony-like race who were called Bicorns built this place.” As exploration continued of the ruins and the dig teams working on that frozen door who were getting close to removing the last of the ice, I and Paper Record were called into the study we had found previously, which was now Mr. Smokey's quarters and workspace. He had been hard at work deciphering the ‘Bicorn’ language night and day for the last month, and he had finally made a breakthrough. “From what I've managed to gather from deciphering these books, the Bicorns constructed this way-fortress gate to defend an important pathway through the mountains, most likely an important trade route; I'd wager." Paper Record was listening intently while copying what Smokey said onto a scroll.

“What pathway? This place is literally nestled against a giant mountain and in the middle of nowhere.” I said, interrupting him.

“I'm getting to that be patient while the genius speaks.” I rolled my eyes as he continued. “I imagine there used to be a pathway that went between these mountains, but extreme shifts in the continent closed that pathway and covered these ruins. The last time there was a major shift that could have been done would have been over thirty-five thousand years ago.” Both Paper Records' jaw and mine dropped.

“Thirty-five thousand years!? That’s insane! The oldest historical records we have of any civilization are only from around seven and a half thousand years ago, and you're saying this ruin is over four times older?" Paper Record asked, his mouth agape in disbelief.

“That is exactly what I'm saying and there's more if you’ll be quiet. Ahem, these Bicorns had a remarkably similar appearance to us modern ponies apart from having two horns and being larger in their stature, from what I could tell they were highly advanced in both magic and technology. They were a large, very imperial type of civilization that served and revered a ‘God-Emperor’ whose word was absolute law. They used some kind of caste-based system for their society apparently, depending on the shape of a Bicorn's horns at birth it would determine which caste they belonged to.

“Wow, this is truly the discovery of the century, nay of the millennium! I cannot even begin to imagine what else we will discover in this place. Is there anything else you’ve found?” I asked.

“No, this is as much as I've gathered so far. I'll continue deciphering these books and let you know when I've discovered more.”

“Please do. I'm very curio-” A loud rumble could be heard as the whole ruins shook.

“I’d say that’s from the dig crew; you should go check if everypony is ok. I'll stay here and transcribe Mr. Smokey's discoveries of the Bicorns.”

“Right, keep me posted,” I said as I exited the room and began galloping toward the large room where the dig crew was. I skidded to a halt when I reached it to find chaos: ponies running around the edges hoisting crates out of the water, and some were swimming through the freezing water that now covered the lower section, dragging others to the edge where teams were pulling them out and getting them wrapped in blankets. Swirly Rose herself was standing on a large Blackstone chunk that sat above the water's edge, barking orders.

“CRYSTAL, HAVE YOUR GROUP PULL OUT THE PONIES WHO ARE STUCK IN THE WATER OR ARE INJURED! BLUE TEAM GET THOSE CRATES SECURED AND OUT OF THE WATER, YELLOW TEAM CLEAR THE LARGE DEBRIS AWAY FROM THE DRILLS!" I jumped up beside her.

“What in the hay happened, Rose?” She turned to me with a sour look on her face.

“We had an accident with one of the supply crates boss somepony miss-marked a crate full of dynamite instead of extra drill bits. One of the teams' drills struck the wall when clearing the ice, producing sparks that caught a fuse that was sticking out of the miss-marked crate, and well, I'm sure you can figure out what happened next.”

“Sweet Celestia, is everypony okay? Were there any casualties?”

“So far just some scrapes and bruises, fortunately, although some did get knocked out by the force of the explosion.” I gave a sigh of relief.

“Thank the goddesses for that. I'll have a word with the supply ponies to triple-check the crates. I do not want another accident like this to happen.”

“There is one bright side to this.” She said, pointing her hoof towards the giant, now ice-free door. “Seems the sudden heat and force of the explosion took care of the remaining ice. We're also lucky the roof didn't collapse from the force.” Crystal's team had finished pulling out the ponies in the water and were loading them up on stretchers and their backs.

“Crystal, after you get the injured back to base camp, have Arctic, Amethyst, Candy, and Little Metal join me here. We’re going to take a look through the door.”

“Yes, boss,” she said as the injured were being carried out of the room and followed.

“EVERYPONY PUSH!” I shouted to the team of about twenty ponies from the dig crew who had joined us in our attempt to open the door. I had thought Little Metals' strength would have been enough, but I was greatly mistaken. With us all working together, the massive door finally gave and slowly swung open, leading to a colossal Icy cavern. Giant icicles hung from the ceiling, reflecting the light from a giant light orb that was mostly frozen over inside the upper cavern wall. A giant frozen pond or lake dominated the center of the cavern. There were frozen paths leading around the edges of it, the blue pulse faintly shown through the icy walls. Several dark objects were frozen and half sunk into the frozen water, but we were too far away to see them clearly. We all entered the cavern and spread out, marveling at its icy beauty.

“That's it? Just some stupid cave that was behind the door we spent a month getting through; what a rip-off!" Red Candy complained as she trotted across the frozen water near a few of the objects that I had assumed were just Blackstone debris. How wrong I was in my assumptions. After a month of exploring the ruins and checking every room I could, there wasn’t a single trap to be found. It made me grow complacent in my caution.

“ZZZZ....𐌹𐌽𐍄𐍂𐌿𐌳𐌴𐍂 𐌳𐌴𐍄𐌴c𐍄𐌴𐌳....ZZZZ.” A very synthetic distorted voice came.

“What was that?” Candy asked as one of the black objects turned to face her. It was a giant insectoid hexapod-looking thing resembling a cross between a spider and prey mantis with a triangular-shaped head with a large red eye in the center. The eye began to glow a sickly bright blue color.

“CANDY RUN!” Too late, I screamed as a blue bolt of energy released from the thing's eye and traveled right through Candy's chest, blood spraying the nearby ice in a crimson hue. She didn’t even scream as her body dropped dead immediately from the attack, the look of confusion in her lifeless eyes.

“EVERYPONY TAKE COVER NOW!” I screamed as loud as I could as I dived into cover behind a Blackstone chunk just as a blue bolt struck where I had previously been but a moment ago. I heard another bolt fire followed by a pony screaming in agony and several others in terror. “Celestia, damn it.” I cursed as I peered over the Blackstone to see the things head tracking another pony who was running for the door as its eye began to glow again, oh no you don’t. “Hey, ugly over here,” I yelled as I threw a large chunk of ice, striking the side of its head. It instantly switched its target to me and fired. I barely ducked in time as the bolt washed over the Blackstone wall behind me, leaving a large blue scorch mark against it. “What in Equestria is this thing?” I mumbled to myself as its shots hit the other side of my hiding spot.

“Sandy, are you alright?” Came Arctic Sapphire's voice from my left. I couldn't peek out to see at the risk of getting killed, but I assumed he was nearby from the sound of it.

“Yeah, for now anyway, is everypony else in a safe location?”

“From what I can tell, yes, but that thing got two others besides Candy before they were able to get into cover.”

“Goddesses, damn it.” I cursed under my breath; it was my job to make sure this kind of thing didn’t happen.

“Listen Sandy I got a good look at that thing, the left side of its body is trapped in the ice it can't move from what I can tell. Good thing, too; otherwise, I think we’d all be dead. It has some wicked-looking sickle claws that were glowing blue as well, and its legs looked sharp enough to impale armor.”

“Forgive me if I withhold my enthusiasm even if it is stuck. Three ponies are dead, and we’re pinned down by it. And considering the range and accuracy of its attack, I doubt we could get away fast enough without more casualties.” We needed a plan and fast. “Hey, Arctic, can you get its attention real quick? I need to check something out about it.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I heard the sound of horseshoes hitting the ice in a full gallop. “Over here, spider-butt bet you can't hit a running target.” I'm fairly sure it could, but I had to trust that Arctic would be safe as I carefully looked over my cover. Sure enough, the thing was stuck, three of its spike-like appendages were stuck in the ice, some blue sparks were coming from its neck and torso area, the insectoid-like creature was most likely some kind of magical construct like a robot of some kind. As I got a better look, I noticed it wasn’t actually black but a very deep purple color. It was firing wildly at Arctic who was barely dodging its attacks. I then saw some small pieces of ice fall from above it and saw that a massive Icicle was hanging directly above the construct. Bingo, I thought.

“I'm done get into cover Arctic! I have a plan!”

“Thank Celestia. I was almost out of stamina from running around so much,” he replied as he dived over my cover and took the space next to me as a blue bolt raced overhead. So, what's the plan?” he asked, panting for breath.

“There is a giant icicle hanging above it; we’re going to distract it while Amethyst flies up and attaches a stick of dynamite to it."

“So the explosion drops it and crushes that thing? Good plan; just give me a moment to catch my breath.”

“Amethyst, are you behind the door with the dig crew?” I called out.

“Yes, ma’am, almost everypony is taking cover back here besides a few still hiding behind the debris out there,” I explained the plan to her and asked if she could handle it. You bet, ma’am, it's easy flying.”

“Alright, I’ll give the signal. Be ready.” I looked to Arctic. “Are you ready for this?” He nodded his head.

“On your word, ma’am.”

“Run out the opposite side after I go.” I took a deep breath and then sprinted out from my cover. Instantly, the construct started firing at me. I could feel the heat from the bolt as it barely missed my flank.

“Over here, too ugly,” Came Arctic's voice as it switched targets, taking a few shots at him before switching back to me.

“Go now, Amethyst, while we have its attention,” I shouted as I ducked my head just in time before a bolt struck it. I didn’t dare look to see if she had heard me. If I trip or make a mistake, I'm dead. After about a minute of running in circles dodging this thing’s attack constantly, I was almost at my limit when I heard a very welcomed voice.

“Ten seconds to explode, take cover, you two!” I immediately dived behind some debris and covered my head. I hope Arctic did the same. BOOOOOM! The explosion rattled the entire cave as the icicle fell and landed directly on the construct's torso, crushing it. The force severing its head from the body sent it sliding across the frozen water.

“WOOOOOHOOOOOOHHHHH.” Came the excited yells of ponies now that the construct was destroyed. I crawled out of my cover, heaving for breath.

“Thank the goddesses, it's over, finally,” I said as I walked over to join the others. The force of the icicle hitting the frozen water had caused a bunch of cracks to appear across the ice, but thankfully, it still held.

“Let's never do that again,” Amethyst exclaimed as she landed next to me and Arctic.

“Agreed, that thing was extremely dangerous even while it was stuck in the ice and damaged. I don’t even want to think about what a fully intact one would be able to do.” Arctic was shaking off some ice that had covered his armor. “Honestly, what in the seven levels of Tartarus was that thing?”

“An ancient defense construct I believe, a sentry designed to attack any it perceives as an intruder perhaps. We will need to write a report and request more guards from the Crystal Empire ASAP. And inform them of the casualties.” I ended with a somber look.

“More guards, huh? I understand why, but I really hope there aren't any more of those things. I will take care of reporting the casualties, Sandy.

“Thanks, Arctic, please do. I'm halting any further exploration and digging until we have more security.”

“Understood, ma’am. I'll get started on the report right away. Both guard ponies gave me a salute and started heading towards the door. I looked over to see a group of dig ponies kicking the head of the construct around out of anger for their fallen friends, I'd guess. One picked it up and held it in his hooves.

“Not so tough now, huh, you son of a mule,” he said as he looked into the eye with a group of 5 other ponies around him....

“ ZZZZ......𐍅𐌰𐍂𐌽𐌹𐌽𐌲 𐌰𐌻𐌻 𐍀𐍂𐌹𐌼𐌰𐍂𐌸 𐍃𐌸𐍃𐍄𐌴𐌼𐍃 𐌳𐌰𐌼𐌰𐌲𐌴𐌳..... 𐌻𐍉𐌲𐌹c c𐍉𐍂𐌴 𐌼𐌰𐌻𐍆𐌿𐌽c𐍄𐌹𐍉𐌽𐌹𐌽𐌲..... 𐌹𐌽𐌹𐍄𐌹𐌰𐍄𐌹𐌽𐌲 𐍃𐌴𐌻𐍆 𐌳𐌴𐍃𐍄𐍂𐌿c𐍄 𐍃𐌴𐌵𐌿𐌴𐌽c𐌴....ZZZZ.” Said the distorted synthetic voice of the construct. Its eye blazed back to life, glowing brightly and making a loud whirring noise.

“What the?” The dig pony had barely managed to say before he and the others around him were engulfed in a blue light as the head exploded in his hooves, causing a bright purple-blue flash that blinded me temporarily and made my ears ring. I was knocked back from the force of the explosion, I heard screaming and yelling as my hearing started coming back, my vision slowly focused as I stood back up. As my vision cleared, I was greeted with a horror scene. The explosion had blown apart all the ponies nearby, their organs and body parts flung all over the ice. I saw intestines and eyeballs draped over some of the Blackstone rubble and ice. I vomited instantly from the scene, combined with the disgusting smell of burning flesh and hair. My hearing finally came back as I finished throwing up over the ice to several voices yelling at me to run. I looked back at a crowd of ponies at the edge of the frozen water yelling at me to “RUN!” and “GET OFF THE ICE!” while beckoning me with their hooves. I was about to ask why when I heard the sound of glass breaking in mass, I looked back and saw that the ice was shattering and falling from the center point of the explosion. I ran as fast as my wobbly legs would go as the ice fell directly behind me, the others all screaming for me to run faster. I was almost to the edge when an icicle fell in front of me shattering the path forward, I jumped hoping to clear the gap... I missed. I awoke aching all over my body after I stood up with much effort on my part and quickly checked my body. I was bleeding from several cuts, and my bones ached and hurt when I moved, but I was alive. I checked my surroundings and looked up. I saw a few ponies far above me peering carefully over the edge. I must have fallen several stories. It's a miracle I'm alive.

“Are you ok, boss!?” the voice of Swirly Rose came drifting down to me.

“Yeah, somehow!” I called back up to her, “My entire body bucking aches, but I'm still alive!”

“You’re one tough pony to have survived that fall, boss; stay put. We’ll get you out of there.” I think I heard her call for somepony to get a stretcher and rope.

“Yeah, don’t worry, I'm not going anywhere,” I mumbled as I sat down on the ice. I gave a heavy sigh. “I'm taking a nice long paid vacation when this is all over, oww,” I exclaimed after poking a very tender rib. That is when I noticed a shape behind the frozen wall on the side that hadn't collapsed. I carefully got up and went over to the wall and wiped a bit of the condensation from the ice, and peered in. “Holy sweet mother of Celestia,” I whispered as I saw what could only be described as a massive black pony-like creature with two forward-facing silvery horns frozen within the ice. It was obscured by the ice as I could only really make out its shape and the horns. I started laughing despite my ribs protesting in pain as Amethyst landed down behind along with another pegasus carrying a stretcher.

“Uh, are you okay there, Sandy?” asked a worried Amethyst as she approached behind me.

“We found one. We really found one.” I said, not looking back at her.

“Found one? Found one what?” She asked. I turned my head smiling despite the pain.

“A Bicorn.”

Author's Note

For those who see square boxes its a custom text I used to show that the bicorns speak a different language and it usually gives you the square errors if your viewing from mobile.