Far to the south of Equestria, south even of the san Palomino desert, to the west of Zebrica and punctured only by a single great, winding river, was a huge desert, that ran all the way to the bottom of the continent another three hundred miles away, where a huge chunk of the landmass had split apart millennia before, creating a vast, impassable southern sea.
On the whole, the desert was a lifeless wasteland, devoid of anything big enough to be of any interest. But this was not always the case. There was life even here, it was just… Different. You had to look harder.
However, this was not always the case. This place hadn’t always been a desert, it was just that nopony alive had ever seen it as anything otherwise. In much the same way, you could quite easily claim that Ponyville was underwater once, it’s just that it happened so long ago, Equestria wasn’t really a thing, and even ponies were just getting into the rhythm of existing.
Back then, when the desert was still a plain, and the land that was Equestria was above water level but was sitting undiscovered, there was an empire. Like many empires that come and go when a world is young, and when the gods are still wrathful and angry, you might expect the empire to have been a short evolutionary fling, a one-time show cut tragically short by nature’s path swerving someplace else.
But this empire was different. Even today, three thousand years after their passing, one could tell that they were built-to-last. They were known as the Arcaeni, and in more ways than one, they were a triumph of evolution, a strain of unicorns that might have been too advanced for their time. Little is known of them, because even though they coexisted with Equestrians, they were a mysterious and aloof race, and rarely consorted with other beings, except in times of war, when their unrivalled magical and technological prowess allowed them to stride tall, wherever they wanted. But those days are long gone, and so are the Arcaeni. All that remains of their once mighty global empire is less than a dozen ruined, half-buried towns and cities, jutting out of the landscape like some overgrown, golden and incredibly complex exposures of bone from the depths of the earth itself, like some unhealed compound fracture.
They were considered dangerous without exception, those ruins, and ponies, Kirins, Kelpies and griffons alike were forbidden from raiding these glorified crypts for the wealth of technological marvels within. But of course, so far south of the Equestrian border, and in fact so far from anywhere of any significance, keeping track of these things is tricky, and often overlooked. As a result, anypony brave or stupid enough to risk the hazardous machinery and deadly traps could, within reason, find a way inside without too much trouble, often to flog whatever they could find on the black market.
This information had not escaped the group of figures, standing like insects before a megalithic structure that dominated the otherwise empty landscape. It was a spire that rose up from six ridges, miles long, that slowly appeared out of the sand, long buried after millennia of neglect. About half a mile from the spire itself, the ridges had begun to curve, and were over fifty metres tall, casting shade over the half-finished courtyards that it sheltered from the shifting sands. Another hundred metres, and the curve was even steeper, and the ridges were over one hundred and fifty metres tall, Impossibly intricate and ornately designed, even in disrepair. By the time they met the spire itself, they were over three hundred metres tall, and the huge peak of the tower, casting a massive shadow like a global sundial in the afternoon light, was over seven hundred metres in height. It was supposed to be the figurehead of a city, the likes of which never before seen. Even by Arcaeni standards, it would have been huge. But calamity had befallen the creators long before its completion, along with the intended inhabitants.
It was a dead place, almost tangible with a million souls of what could have been. The silence and the desolation were almost oppressive, the closer you got. There were no sounds at all, not even the sounds of corroding metals, or even the faintest chirps of tiny insects. Death had claimed this place, and the native wildlife knew better than to disagree.
Even the figures, ignoring the clear warning signs that was the construct itself, pushing from their minds the tales of unwary explorers disappearing without a trace, stepped quietly, almost reverently, tiptoeing across vast unfinished plazas and down arrow-straight streets emerging from the sand, before finally coming to a rest before one of the grand entrances. There were six, one between each ridge, standing fifty metres tall behind a long but shallow set of huge marble stairs, inlaid with shimmering golden patterns. Three thousand years of sand erosion had done almost nothing to spoil the lustre of those shining stairs, or the golden doors behind it.
The small cluster of individuals slowly made their way up to the staircase, pausing for a moment before heading up. Before their arrival, they had felt tall and strong. Now, they just felt weak and insignificant.
They were ponies, all of them. The one in the lead, apparently in command of the operation, was an orange-coated earth pony stallion, a headscarf holding a pair of thick goggles to his head, to protect his large eyes and face from the weather.
Just behind him was a clean looking, elegant unicorn mare, long in the leg and in the mane, her coat the colour of rich cream and her shining mane and sweeping tail like honey. She had turned the headscarf into a makeshift hair tie, pulling her long mane back into a ponytail. The headscarf was a deep but faded shade of red, and it complimented her red travelling cloak nicely as the two ends reached down past her chest and almost to her fetlocks. She had lowered her goggles that had previously covered her emerald green eyes, and they hung loosely about her neck as she walked. She walked with unrivalled grace within the group, but her eyes betrayed a greater strength, one that showed her true fiery personality.
Behind her was another unicorn, a male this time and looking a lot more flighty. He was the youngest of the group, barely a stallion, and his wide, inquisitive eyes took in everything around them as his slightly quivering hooves carried him up the stairs. His coat was the lightest of browns, almost an off-white colour, covered by a burnt-green travelling cloak, similar to that of the mare’s.
Floating above him was a turquoise pegasus mare, totally naked aside from a pair of flight goggles that protected her sparkling blue eyes and a scabbard that looped around her waist and over her right shoulder, keeping it in one place. In the scabbard was a dagger, and from the hilt, it was clearly Arcaeni in design, for the hilt was decorative and functional at the same time, the geometric patterns contradicting each other constantly. This was the norm for almost all Arcaeni ruins and artefacts, and it was easier to catch smoke with one’s hooves than it was to comprehend their design.
Last, and physically far from the least, was a towering stallion, muscular and brutish in appearance, and even larger than a carthorse. His thick, scarred hide was covered with a dense layer of stormy grey fur, and his mane, which hung loosely down to his shoulders, was a dull, but fairly light blue, accented by a pair of near-white zigzags that came from behind his ears, bordering the front of his mane. This blue fur also adorned his ankles and fetlocks in great shaggy clumps that hid his hooves altogether. This, coupled with his great size and myriad of scars, betrayed his heritage as a pony of the Godsreach mountains, far to the north of Equestria. His countenance was dark, and he had a deep furrowed brow that shadowed his deep, glaring eyes. His jawline was strong and hard, covered as it was by a short but thick beard. However, his mouth was slightly lopsided if one looked at it, the result of a broken jaw in a fight long ago. This, alongside his slow, infrequent speech, often gave the impression that he was stupid. Indeed, he was not of first rate intelligence, but he could think quickly when threatened, and he had a large battle-axe slung over his back. He was the muscle of the group.
Together, the group of explorers made it to the top of the stairs, gazing in awe up at the mighty doors, impenetrable today as ages ago. Other parties, both independent explorers and those funded by various committees had visited this particular city, as they had with most Arcaeni ruins. But they had been stuck to accessing the lower levels, using maintenance corridors and such to squeeze their way inside. As a result, this was one of the least explored ruins in the known world. The colossal doors, golden and adorned with an incredible inlaid drawing of incredible events lost to the ages, had not been opened in three thousand years. It was thought that any information regarding its opening had been lost to the ages.
But this wasn’t entirely the case.
The stallion in the lead stopped before the grand entrance, turning back to his compatriots. He unrolled the headscarf slowly, dropping it on the floor by his side.
“Are we ready?” He asked, shifting his goggles up onto his forehead.
They nodded in reply, although they were all clearly tired. They hadn’t hiked alone across a hundred miles of burning sand to lay about for a few hours.
“Glad to hear it.” He said, glancing up at the doors again. His voice wasn’t deep, or particularly loud, but it commanded a strange sense of respect. He was a pony that knew what he was doing, and his companions trusted him to a fault. “Code breaker, seen anything of interest?”
The nervous stallion almost jumped at the mention of his name, and he cantered over to him, his narrow hooves clattering on the marble surface.
“O-oh yes, of course…” He stuttered, tugging at his cloak. Code breaker was a lockpick, and a talented one at that. He could even get inside the more simple Arcaeni devices, on a good day. But perhaps his most distinctive feature was his photographic memory. Every single thing that he saw, heard, read or experienced in any way was filed right inside his mind, immediately ready for regurgitation. It was worth keeping him around, despite his intensely irritating personality. “I-I’ve seen five hundred and seventy two of those strange pylons, which are j-just like those ones we saw back at the Clockwork tower, a-and we’ve travelled exactly three thousand, three hundred and seventy five steps since we entered the main city, which, as you know, is a multiple of fifteen, and the Arcaeni seem to have an obsession with that-”
“Damnit, Code. Anything useful?” The leader cut across, taking a step toward the quivering stallion. At the edge of the stairs, the pegasus dropped to the ground, drawing her knife and staring at it without much interest. Next to her, the huge Godsreach stallion slung three huge bags to the ground, happy to be rid of their weight.
“O-oh, umm… Sorry, boss.” He said, looking down and tapping his chin for a moment. “N-no… nothing that can tell us what’s inside… S-sorry.”
“Oh, that’s okay.” The orange stallion replied, turning back to the door. “Could you pass me the cube?”
Behind him, he could hear his friend rummaging around in the saddlebags under his cloak, but he didn’t turn to face him.
“L-look, are you sure this thing will get us through? Y-you said it yourself… N-nopony’s ever broke through here…”
He frowned, sighing softly and wiping his brow. The intense heat was starting to make him sweat, and he could feel a headache coming on. “Code. What was it that was written on the plinth we stole it from, again?”
“I-it said that… It could activate anything…” He said quietly, apparently choosing not to recite the words perfectly. Swiftly, he produced the cube. Like all Arcaeni devices, it was golden, and extremely intricate. It seemed to be made of a thousand different interlocking plates, despite its fairly nondescript size and shape.
But, unusual even for the work of the mysterious unicorn subspecies, the faintest glow of blue was visible in the cracks between its outer shell, and it seemed to hum with the faintest trace of otherworldly energy. Naturally, even before they had learned of its properties, their magpie-like tendencies drew them to it like fireflies to a lantern.
The leader held his hoof out to the side, still staring up at the door. Like all Arcaeni structures, he found it oddly enchanting. There was probably some hidden meaning to the depictions on the door. When it came to the Arcaeni, you could always expect something to have something else inside it. You just didn’t know whether that thing was going to set you on fire or not.
The familiar weight of the cube was dropped carefully into his outstretched hoof, and he smiled, drawing it toward him. He looked down at the priceless artefact, allowing himself to remember the events that lead to its capture. It had been hard work, but… It was worth it. Or so he hoped. At the very least, he was about to find out.
“Hey, uh… Boss?” The soft voice of the turquoise pegasus behind him asked. “Can I point somethin’ out for you?”
“What is it?” He questioned, glancing back at her. She had taken to the air again, and was hovering a couple feet behind him.
“Well, you know how it’s supposed to activate stuff… Right?”
“Yes, that’s what the inscription said.” He replied irritably. What kind of stupid question was that? She had been there at the time.
“Well, what I wanted to ask was… How? None of us know, and if you hadn’t noticed, there’s nowhere to plug it in out here.” Her voice was laced with just the smallest trace of frustration. The Orange stallion stopped, turning back to the door. He didn’t know the answer any better than anypony else. But apparently, that wasn’t enough for her.
“I mean, look!” She cried, swooping over to the doorframe and sweeping her hoof broadly across it. “Smooth as the skin of a newborn foal!” She glared over at him accusingly. “Why the hell did you bring us here, of all places? You know nothing about what you’re doing!”
Behind them, Code breaker took a step back, avoiding confrontation, while the huge bulk that was the Godsreach stallion shifted to stand by the golden maned mare, his massive, iron-shod hooves clanking loudly against the marble landing. From experience, the leader had discovered that the huge, scarred warrior almost always did this in threatening situations.
“Alright, calm down, okay?” He said irritably, glaring right back. “The sun’s getting to you.”
The aforementioned sun had been blistering down since five in the morning, and by mid-afternoon, it was like trying to hike through a furnace.
“The sun?” The sea-green mare growled, dropping to the ground with a light clatter. “You’re getting to me, boss.” She continued, mocking his nickname.
“Well, at least I brought us somewhere.” He snarled, taking a defensive stance. “If we followed you, there’s no telling where we’d be. Dead, probably.”
“Dead?” She cried, glaring furiously at him. “I’d have got us somewhere worth going, at least!”
“Not worth going? Nopony’s ever gotten in here!”
“Yeah, for good reason!” She shouted back. “Because nopony can, for Celestia’s sake!”
“Nopony except for me!” He bellowed, shaking the cube viciously in her face. He wasn’t usually one to lose his temper, but the abrasive pegasus could always bring out the worst in him. To their left, Code breaker had scuttled back to join the other two, one of which was trying to avert her gaze politely, while the other had set his jaw, frowning violently at the duelling pair, his furrowed brow looking like a stormcloud, ready to burst.
“Look, can we just get out of the sun? I’m getting a headache.” The irate Godsreach stallion rumbled, making the quarrelling ponies jump with surprise. It wasn’t common for the massive, muscular pony to talk, especially in sentences, so when he did, it was worth listening to.
Nervously, the feathered mare coughed, ruffling her wings and stepping back. Even the leader, accustomed to being in control, nodded stiffly and cleared his throat. They had spent enough time around the battered warrior to know not to cross him.
“Trust me, Swift.” He said at last, glancing back at the larger stallion, who had stepped back into line next to the beautiful mare to his left. “I’ve been doing this for years, now. There’s always something, when it comes to these things.”
“Oh, whatever.” She sat dismissively. “Just get it done, alright?”
The lead pony sighed, turning back to the grand entrance for what felt like the fiftieth time. Besides, it was far too late to be turning back now. What he had neglected to tell the others was that if they couldn’t get inside, they probably wouldn’t be able to make the money to go anywhere else for years. And by then, his rag-tag team would be scattered to the four corners of the earth, and he’d never find them all again. Their survival as explorers depended entirely on this strange little cube and it being able to magic them enough bits to sit comfortably. He took a deep breath and stepped forward.
Reverently, as if performing some sort of religious ritual, he lifted the cube level with his chest, holding it straight out in front of him at foreleg’s length, offering it up like some sort of sacrifice toward the massive doors. His heart beat faster and louder in his chest as his forelegs straightened, and for a brief moment, he fantasised about what unbelievable riches might lie within. He closed his eyes, the sweat on his brow more than just a result of the heat.
So far as he could tell, nothing happened. The massive construct didn’t move or make even the slightest sound, and the lead pony dropped his head a little, starting to feel rather foolish as the seconds ticked by, the gargantuan doors looming over him in an almost mocking manner.
He could feel the eyes of his companions boring into the back of his head as he lowered his hoof, his face burning and a scowl engraved on his features. That was an expression he was used to.
Behind him, the pegasus snorted irritably, and there was a very faint shuffling sound as Code Breaker fidgeted a little, his eyes darting quickly between his leader’s face and the artefact barely held in his hoof.
After a few long, humiliating seconds, the auburn stallion turned back to his companions, his face burning and his eyes glued to the floor. He felt like an idiot. All that build-up and nothing had happened.
“Nice one.” The mare known presently as ‘Swift’ mocked, smirking.
He bared his teeth in reply, turning back to the door and raising the cube. Maybe he just wasn’t doing it quite right…
_.0._
What must have been twenty fruitless minutes of waving, sliding, pounding and twisting, the hapless leader fell backwards onto his rear, sitting dejectedly on the sun-warmed marble.
Code breaker stood in much the same place as before, fidgeting just as much as ever. He was staring at his hooves, one of which was picking at the skin that connected his foreleg to his hoof.
‘Swift’ was lying on her back a few steps down, lying spread-eagle under the sun with her eyes closed. From the way her wings were crumpled haphazardly beneath her and the way her mouth was hanging open, she was probably asleep.
The slim unicorn mare was sitting back, leaning against the grey stallion casually, one hind leg crossed over the other and using her magic to file one of her forehooves, managing to look utterly disinterested with ease. Unlike the others, she seemed to be taking the extreme heat well, and not a hair on her head looked out of place.
On the opposite end of the spectrum sat her current companion, who seemed to be taking the arid climate poorly. Coming from the Godsreach mountains, nestled far inside what was broadly named the ‘Frozen north’, was incredibly cold and at a very high altitude. With his thick skin and dense, shaggy fur, he was looking rather light-headed and vacant, and his face was a rather ruddy shade of red. However, whether this was due to the sun, or his proximity to the mare that he had rather taken a shine to in recent months, was hard to tell. Predictably, the only one who hadn’t seemed to notice this sudden change in heart was the object of his affections.
“It’s hopeless.” He muttered at last, not looking up to face them. “I tried everything, and it’s not budging.”
Out of visual range, he heard ‘Swift’ snorting and adjusting her wings. It was probably only fatigue that kept her from making an ‘I told you so’ comment.
Looking over at him with mild concern, the other mare of the group swivelled a little and got to her hooves, the file floating back somewhere under her cloak. Next to her, the blue-maned stallion shook his head and looked up at her, as if just waking up.
“Look, boss. It’s alright… Okay? We’ll take the afternoon off, and then we’ll break in somewhere else. I’m sure we can make it into the main structure…” Her voice was comforting, and just as silky and trustworthy as you might expect from somepony with her looks. In her younger days, she had used her manipulative ways to her advantage.
“Yeah… Alright.” He replied at last, dragging himself to his hooves. “Code? Know anywhere in the cool where we could rest for a bit?” He asked, turning his head a little to face in the vague direction of the stutter-ridden stallion.
“O-oh, uhh.. Sure, I know a place, just back down the road.” He answered quickly, stepping forward.
“Lead the way…” He finished, waving the cube in the general direction of the road.
Happy to be in command, the brown unicorn stumbled to the bottom of the stairs, glancing back every so often as if to make sure that the others wouldn’t simply disappear if he looked away from them for too long.
Like a column of solemn refugees, the group turned back the way they had come, trudging sadly after the nervy colt. Only the ‘boss’ stayed behind for a moment, looking up once more at the stubborn doors, still withholding their secrets from him. It just didn’t feel fair. Angrily, he growled, lifting the forsaken cube above his head and throwing it to the ground, watching it bounce a couple times and tumble to a stop in the middle of the golden inlaid design on the landing.
The loud noise that the cube made as it smashed into the marble echoed out across the silent ruin, and the other members of the party whirled back to face him as fast as their sunburnt minds would allow.
“Tartarus damn the whole bloody thing.” He growled, glaring at the artefact.
“Hey, you crazy?” Swift squawked, jumping into the air. “You might break it!”
Behind her, Code Breaker scoffed, adjusting his collar with his forehoof. “Oh, please…” He began, before stopping himself, his eyes widening a little. “I-I mean, it’s not very likely… None of us here could even put a dent in that thing… I’ve been looking into it.”
“Well, whatever,” Swift replied uncertainly, shifting her glare to the unlikeable unicorn. “I don’t care how tough it is, okay? Just be careful…”
“Why? What’s the bloody point?” He asked despairingly. “It’s worthless to us now, anyway…”
The sympathetic unicorn mare trotted back to him, cocking her head to one side a little, so as better to meet his downcast gaze.
“Look, it’s okay, boss. We’ll keep the cube, and we’ll use it on the next expedition. Just because it doesn’t open these doors, doesn’t mean it’s useless…”
“Yes it does, Gold.” He replied softly, refusing to meet her gaze. “We’re running out of provisions, and… There won’t be another expedition. Not anymore.”
That piqued everypony’s interest. In a single motion, everypony spun around to face him, their expressions quizzical and their eyes full of questions. Even the barely-conscious Godsreach stallion managed to focus, although he swayed a little as he stood. For a time, there was an overwhelming silence pressing down on the city, and there wasn’t a sound to be heard, save for a faint ticking noise at the edge of the leader’s senses.
“Wh-what?” The graceful mare asked quietly, stepping forward a little. “What do you mean by that?”
He pawed distractedly at the ground with his hoof. “We’ve run out of bits. The last adventure was the kicker. We used pretty much everything just to set this one up, and… Everything rode on the cube…”
“You… You what?” the mare asked, suddenly full of fire. “Why the hay didn’t you tell us?”
“Look, we’re risk takers, I know, but… None of you would have risked this much on this if you’d known the odds… “
“Of course we bloody wouldn’t!” She fumed, stepping back. “I’ve got mouths to feed back in Manehattan!”
“I know you do, Gold! A-and that’s why you needed the bits as much as any of us…”
In the background, the faint ticking had risen to an audible rattle.
“I could have gotten a job, or something!” She growled, stalking away from him angrily.
“Look, there’s still time for that, Gold. I… I know we’re not likely to see each other again, but… We can still make it to our homes with what we have…”
“Wh-what? Never?” Code breaker asked, joining the conversation. Silently, the leader of the troupe wondered if the needy little stallion could actually look after himself for very long. He was the one pony he knew that could probably starve to death in a kitchen.
“Yes, Code… Never.” He mumbled in response, staring down at his forehooves.
“I… but… We’ve been like this for years! I-I mean, longer than anypony else in the business!”
“Yeah, I know… And it looks like our time is over…” He said simply, shrugging. It had been a fun adventure with them, dodging death a hundred times over the last ten years or so. It was strange to think that it could be stopped so easily.
“And you can stop calling me boss… Since I’m not your leader any more…”
They stopped for a moment, everypony looking down at the ground, unwilling to meet each other’s faces. Blizzard, the mighty Godsreach stallion, looked like he had taken a mortal blow, slumped over with his eyes closed. Gold looked like the concept was forcing her to blink back tears, and Code Breaker simply looked lost and alone. Only Swift, standing at the back of the tiny group, seemed unaffected, frowning and looking about herself.
But the others hardly noticed her. The orange-coated stallion wiped some sweat from his brow, and tried to cast his mind back to a time when he wasn’t in the business. It felt like a lifetime ago.
“Y’know, Boss… I… After all these years… You’ve never told us your real name, you know?” Code breaker said quietly, breaking the silence, and Gold eventually nodded in agreement. Blizzard didn’t seem to react.
“Y-yeah…” He replied softly. “I guess I haven’t…”
“Well, if… if the group’s not together anymore… C-could you?” He asked hopefully. Apparently, the group had already been broken. It was strange to think that something that had endured for so long, against such odds, had been laid low by something as small as the cube.
“I… guess I’ve got nothing to lose,” He said after a while. It really hadn’t occurred to him how long he’d remained anonymous to ponies that had become his friends. In the beginning, he was a professional, hiring a number of ponies skilled at their job. Blizzard was little more than hired muscle, but there were few who could do that job so well as him. As was clear, Code breaker was invaluable for both of his skills, and could get into most places if given enough time. Initially, Gold had been an espionage ‘expert’ for a very specific mission with a less than legal status, whose love of adventure had dragged her with them on their journey. Finally, there was Swift, who, with her wings and impressive acrobatic abilities, made for an invaluable asset when it came to getting to places that nopony else could. With the money he made from selling artefacts, he paid off what were essentially mercenaries. For months, it had remained like that. He’d known Blizzard for about six months before he got a full sentence out of him.
But as the months turned into years, they started to get more attached to each other, and their uneasy alliance fuelled by bits turned into a companionship of ponies that had genuinely come to trust each other with their lives. Then, there had come the decision that it was financially more effective to pool their money together, and not worry about paying each other off. They had become friends without even realising it.
“And really, I do owe you guys that much…” He finished softly. “It’s-”
“Look, guys?” Swift interrupted “I know… I know it’s a touching moment and all, but… Are you sure you didn’t break that thing, boss?” Swift asked, hovering about three feet off the ground. One forehoof was held out in front of her, pointing in the direction that her eyes were mysteriously locked. In an instant, three more pairs of eyes darted in the direction of her gaze, with the exception of the woozy grey stallion, who was still sitting quietly by himself, his mane getting rather damp with perspiration.
The cube that they found themselves looking at was quite different from the smooth, inert object that they had seen before. It had opened up a little, making it noticeably larger than before, and the blue glow was certainly less faint than it had been, but by far the most noticeable thing about the cube was that it was no longer content to sit still, and was bouncing about quite wildly on the marble landing. As they watched, the bouncing became somewhat less erratic, steadily concentrating its movements into one approximate direction, as if it was trying to reposition itself.
And with that, the conversation died as quickly as it had started, all of the present ponies edging closer to the enthralling cube, all wanting to investigate it, but far too afraid to actually touch it.
A few minutes passed, and the cube slowly made its way across the marble landing to the middle of the huge golden engraving, its glow only intensifying as it got closer to the centre. With a couple of clicks and a sound like a spring being let loose, the cube catapulted itself across the last foot or so to the middle, and started to dance wildly on the spot. Filled with curiosity, the disgraced leader reached out to touch it, but Gold’s voice cut him off.
“Hey! Don’t touch that thing! Who knows what it might be doing…” She cried, reaching out toward him.
Nodding, he withdrew his hoof, scowling. It always unnerved him when Arcaeni machinery started doing things he didn’t understand. He couldn’t help but suspect it was going to kill him.
After nearly half a minute, the cube stopped dancing, aligned at perfect right-angles on the golden pattern.
Then, all of a sudden, three millennia seemed like just a few hours, and a thin, square podium, locking directly with the cube above it, rose seamlessly from the ground, the faint click of gears turning underground audible before it came to a stop, holding the cube about a foot and a half off the ground. Nervously, the ex-leader of the tiny group trotted forward, peeking over at the cube like it was a powerful and unstable explosive.
On top of the now-larger cube was a gap, through which you could see the glowing, complex inner workings of the bizarre cube. The gap itself was the exact same size and shape of a horseshoe. He looked up at his friends as they looked over at it too, their brows raising in surprise.
“What… What do you reckon we should do?” He asked softly, not wanting to ruin the mystery or the wonder of the moment.
Gold looked up at him, but her eyes didn’t leave the cube. Her mouth worked silently, looking for the right words. Then, her eyes flicked up to meet his, and he saw them sparkle with some of her old fire. She smiled an adventurous smile.
“Well… You’re the boss… Why don’t you decide?” She asked, and he smiled in response. Defeat was just a minor setback.
Taking a deep breath, he raised his hoof, setting it down firmly in the print that seemed just the right size for him. He pressed down, and it shifted a little under his force, like a button.
There was silence in the courtyard for a good few seconds, and the ponies stared at him expectantly. Even from there, he could tell that their hearts were pounding just as hard as his.
Behind him, there was a boom, and he started, whirling around to face the massive doors. There was a low, deep clanking sound, and the doors began to swing slowly outwards, revealing more than a foot of solid metal for each door, tiny rivulets of sand flowing out of every crevice in the might mechanical structure. A wave of familiar stale air struck them like a solid entity, and the orange-coated stallion removed his hoof haltingly, staring at the cavernous dark expanse before them.
They were in, and ready for their latest adventure… As a team.
