Chapter 4
"Twilight, Celestia sent you a message!" Spike called from the top of the stairs leading down into the basement, where the named princess resided at the moment. After a crashing sound flew up the stairs, a burst of purple magic appeared just before the dragon, who had to shield his eyes from the flash of light. Twilight teleported in front of her number one assistant, taking the letter he held in his claws with her magic and tearing it open.
In less than a second, her eyes skimming unbelievably fast, she had read the entire two-page letter, absorbing every detail she needed, which to her meant the entire letter. Her heart flared with excitement, as this was a new adventure that she could take her friends on, and the potential was irresistible.
"Well, what did it say?" Spike asked from just in front of her, though in her haste she had completely forgotten about him. She smiled at him, then proceeded to grab him in her magic and pulled him with her as she rushed through the halls of the castle away from her studies in the basement.
"Sorry, Spike. This is so huge, though!" She answered as she pulled the dragon into the main lounging area, a popular choice among her and her friends as of late. "Starlight! I have the best news ever!"
"Well, what is it? Don't keep me in suspense." Starlight answered from behind the book she was reading as Twilight had entered the room. Upon hearing potentially interesting news, she carefully put the book down, leaving a marker on the page she was on. She hopped off the couch, leaving the book where it lay so she could divert her attention fully on her friend, especially happy that their relationship had returned to normal.
"I just received a letter from Princess Celestia, and she informed me that there is an ancient storage facility near the old Castle of the Two Sisters that has some ancient and powerful artifacts and she asked me if I would like to get all my friends to help me out and search through it!" Twilight paused to inhale deeply and her mouth exploded in words before Starlight could form a proper response to the verbal assault. "So I was wondering if you have anything planned soon, because finding and uncovering an ancient magical artifact storage building is like, a dream come true! Ooh, I can't wait to get the rest of the girls for this!"
"Uh, Twilight? I know you are excited, but shouldn't we ask the others if they have the time to go on an adventure?" Starlight offered a smile, because she was also excited about exploring some old, potentially fun structures from the distant past. History nerd in her had officially kicked in, and while it was never going to be as bad as Twilight's, she was best friends with Sunburst for a reason. And while we do that, can I see that letter Princess Celestia sent, I'd like to read it for myself."
Twilight happily offered the written note as she pulled Starlight out of the castle, heading towards the nearest of her friends, which was probably Pinkie in Sugarcube Corner. As the pair hastily made their way down the streets, Starlight read the letter out loud, as if that was going to make the royal-sealed paper more believable.
"Dear Princess Twilight, after recent events involving the invasion of Equestria, it has been brought to my attention from my faithful sister that there are magical artifacts that may prove useful in future defensive situations. I would kindly ask of you to retrieve these artifacts from their resting place, a magic bunker storage facility not far from the ancient Castle. These artifacts are not vital to our prosperity, but the sooner we have them, the sooner we can be that much more protected.
"I leave this task to you, as the much more experienced explorer and adventurer of the royal Princesses of Equestria. May you find a space in your schedule that would allow such an endeavor, and I hope that any searches you conduct have promising results.
"Sincerely, your good friend, Princess Celestia."
"Isn't it amazing? The chance to explore an ancient place of magic, and to retrieve artifacts that could help protect us in the future, oh it's just so exciting!" Twilight bounced up and down as she opened the door to the bakery they had finally reached. She went in first, hoping to catch Pinkie as soon as possible, and see if she was able to go along on their adventure.
Starlight followed at a much more sedated pace, and while she was positively stoked to finally have a proper adventure with the girls, this was sounding an awful lot like s task Celestia just didn't want to do. She was still very excited about doing it, but she had hoped the Princess of the Sun would have a more solid reason behind sending another princess into the Everfree forest. Just a young princess sent on a dangerous mission to gather powerful artifacts, and the only reason was that she was too lazy to do it herself?
This was why Starlight had decided in the first place that she knew what was best for other ponies, because sometimes they were just plain stupid.
Starlight decided then that that was a good moment to actually enter the bakery, as she was just standing at the door, staring into space like she was contemplating the very questions of life. So she put on her friendliest smile, entered the building, and immediately wished she had opted to remain outside, as Pinkie was doing the Pinkie thing, again.
Pinkie things at this point consisted of her bouncing around, shouting nonsense about this or that, usually with an idle Gummy holding onto her tail for dear life. At the moment, however, she was bouncing around shouting nonsense about the amazingness of parties held in ancient Equestria. Twilight was waiting patiently at the counter, and both purple mares knew that Pinkie would get to them when she got to them.
Starlight gave Twilight the letter, then took a seat on one of the stools before the counter, watching cautiously as a bouncing Pinkie flew over her head.
"Hey Starlight! Hi Twilight! I'll be just a moment, got some delicious cakes for a customer that just HAVE to be delivered like right now!" She spoke in Pinkie fashion, the words flowing out in rapid succession, all the while she was trotting in place, in the air, with a stack of boxes floating just out of her grip. In other words: Pinkie doing the Pinkie-law-defying stuff only Pinkie could do. "Gotta go! Talk to you both in just a moment!"
And just like that, she was gone, vanishing in a cloud of vapor, leaving a perfect impression of her in the air, cake boxes and all. Starlight let out a half-hearted chuckle, one that Twilight shared, knowing Pinkie was only describable as Pinkie, and this was her behavior.
Mr. Cake walked over to them, asked them if they wanted anything, and when they declined, he went to tend to the kitchen, leaving the pair to talk in peace.
"I don't suppose we should try to visit Applejack, she is going to be busy with the farm now that spring is here." Starlight commented as they waited, leaning onto the counter so she could rest and look at Twilight. "It is a shame, but she does have to get those seeds planted, and I know Fluttershy is going to be busy with the animals coming out of Hibernation, so that leaves Rainbow Dash and Rarity. Unless she is busy, I know Rainbow Dash will want to come along, but we should check just in case."
Twilight nodded in agreement, then turned to the door at the sound of the bell ringing, and to the sight of Pinkie returning. The pink earth pony hopped her way over to her friends, taking a seat next to them while wearing her enormous smile.
"Heya Twilight. Whatcha doing here? Ooh, is it for a super-secret surprise party? Or a super-secret totally fun adventure that you want to take all of our friends on that will lead us to some incredibly awesome and powerful artifacts? And you just wanted to get us all together because the Princesses wanted you to get those artifacts and you think it would be a fun adventure and you just really wanted us to all spend some time together? Ooh, and is there something about finding an ancient relic of the past that could be super-duper interesting and would totally be worth our time and effort?"
Twilight and Starlight looked at each other before the named princess returned her attention to Pinkie. "Uh, yeah. How did you know?"
"Just a hunch." Pinkie shrugged, but then she crossed her eyes, remembering something. "Oh, right! I do wish I could come, but I have another thirty-seven orders to do, and several other things that just have to get done today. Sorry!"
And just like that, she burst into the air, before disappearing as she flew into the kitchen to work on some project, probably one of the thirty-seven she had to do. Twilight sighed, accepting that Pinkie would have other things to do, and stood up from her seat, walking to the door. Starlight followed quickly after, using her magic to open the door for them while letting Twilight leave the building first.
"Rainbow Dash next?" She asked once they had gotten outside, where the fresh air, accompanied by a slight breeze, chilled them to the bones. It may have been spring, but winter was still in the air, and would be for a while. Twilight put on a smile, knowing that a few friends being busy wasn't the end of the world, and that she could always spend time with them later. She nodded at Starlight's question, and began trotting off in the direction she believed Rainbow Dash's house was in. Not that it was particularly difficult to find, not that many pegasi had giant cloud houses with rainbow fountains just floating around Ponyville.
Starlight waited on the ground as Twilight flew up to the door, wondering if the Wonderbolt was even home, or if she was either napping on a cloud or out practicing. Her silent question was answered after Twilight knocked on the door and the blue pegasus opened the puffy white cloud.
"Twilight, what are you doing here?" Rainbow Dash asked sleepily, wiping the sleep from her eyes, mane testament to the napping she was doing as Twilight knocked.
"I was wondering if you had any plans for today, because Starlight and I are going to go on an adventure that Princess Celestia wanted us to complete, and we wanted to know if any of our friends wanted to come along." Twilight asked cheerily, happy that the moment she said adventure, Rainbow Dash was hooked. In an instant, the sleep was gone from her body, her mane magically straightened itself, and then the pegasus was gone. Before Twilight could blink, she was back, wearing a saddle bag and an adventurer's hat, something her idol, Daring Do, would probably wear.
"You had me at adventure, let's go!" Rainbow Dash said, pulling Twilight down to ground level, where Starlight waited with slight amusement on her features. "Starlight, are you seriously going on an adventure like that?"
Starlight looked at herself, not noticing anything wrong, she looked back up at Rainbow Dash with confusion across her face, to which the pegasus had already formed a response. "You don't have any adventurer gear on you."
"Rainbow Dash, I'm not wearing anything. Obviously, I don't have any adventurer gear, but why would I need gear, we have a super powerful princess, I can cast spells, and you are a strong flier. Why would I even need the gear?" Starlight pointed out, indicating her bare back, then Twilight's wings and horn, her own horn, before pointing at the pegasus in general.
"Well, you have to look the part!" Rainbow Dash was grasping at strings to hold onto, but Twilight joined the debate, siding with the other unicorn.
"Rainbow Dash, this isn't some celebrity showcase, you can wear whatever you want, but Starlight is right, and we don't need to be packing a whole bunch of stuff. Especially if the artifacts we are fetching are big, we will need as much free space as possible. Now let's go see if Rarity would like to join!" Twilight happily used her magic to pull a resisting Rainbow Dash along, while Starlight appeared smug at having won the discussion.
"Whatever." Rainbow Dash grumbled, finally free of Twilight's magical grasp, she flew alongside her friends, matching their pace by flying in circles around them, taking advantage of the distance between destinations to get the information she wanted. "Wait, what is this about artifacts? Is Princess Celestia sending us on another fetch quest, again? Where are we going? Do you even know what it is going to be like when we get there? How old is the place? What kinds of dangers are there?"
The questions didn't cease until Twilight had to ask her to stop so she could speak with Rarity, and that was only when Starlight had pointed out that Rainbow Dash was chatting nonstop while they waited inside the Boutique for their fashionista friend. Rainbow Dash chuckled to herself, surprised that she could keep up talking for that long, though Twilight seemed positively glowing at answering the questions.
Eventually, Rarity made her way back into the sitting area, where the other three girls say waiting. "So, what is it that you required of me, darlings?"
"Well, we were wondering if you had any plans for the day, because the three of us are going on an errand for Princess Celestia, and we wanted to take as many of our friends as possible." Twilight answered, beating Rainbow Dash before the latter could ingratiate what they were doing. It was, in its base, just another fetch quest the Princess of the Sun wanted them to do, even if it was a rather interesting one.
"Oh, I see." Was Rarity's response, which cause the three visitors to deflate slightly. "I do wish I could go with you, but I have another large order coming in from Fillydelphia, and I simply cannot focus on anything else right now. I truly am sorry, but this is a huge order, I hope you understand."
"Oh, it's okay. We just wanted to know if you were busy." Starlight answered for the group, standing to leave and offering a smile, understanding that not everyone was able to just stop what they were doing and go on an adventure. "Let us know how your shipment go when we get back."
"Will do. But before you all leave, may I ask a question?" The unicorn asked, hope in her eyes, and some spreading into the hearts of the others as well. When they nodded, she continued: "Please do tell me everything about it when you get back. I miss the days when we could just stop life for a moment and go out and have some fun, even if the fun was miserably entertaining."
The group shared a smile, knowing that their lives had seemed to calm down quite a bit from their previous adventures saving the country. Then the three departed, not really expecting either Fluttershy or Applejack to be available if Rarity and Pinkie Pie were busy, as the former two were indeed incredibly overworked during the spring, each having their own duties to attend to. So they began the long journey of trekking into the Everfree, towards the old building that housed the artifacts Princess Celestia wanted. As soon as they came upon the dark, gloomy woods that housed so many horrors, Rainbow Dash landed behind Twilight, Starlight taking up position right next to the Princess, both showing apprehension and a slight tinge of fear of the hideous and unnatural forest.
Twilight took in a deep breath, settling her unease with the knowledge that she was fully capable of defending them all if need be, and that nothing bad ever really happened. They would be fine, all they had to do was take the first step into the forest, and then their journey could begin. She took the first step, following the light trail that would led them along the way to the Castle of the Two Sisters. Princess Celestia had told them that the facility they were looking for was near the Castle, so they had to start there.
Not twenty minutes into the journey, Rainbow Dash was already complaining about the purple mages underneath her being too slow. She flew around them in circles, anxious to find the building they were looking for, and it was starting to get to her.
"Come on! Why can't you just teleport us there? I want to get this thing started!" She voiced her eagerness, speeding up her circles around the mares on the land in anxiousness.
"This wouldn't have anything to do with a small, insignificant little fear you have of the Everfree, would it?" Starlight asked smugly, knowing Rainbow Dash always showed extra confidence and energy when she was nervous or scared. The pegasus took the bait, and stopped flying in her circles, landing in front of the unicorn, puffing out her chest trying to look more tough than ever. Key word: trying.
"Ha! No, I ain't scared of nothing." Rainbow Dash was quick to defend herself, but Starlight felt like lightening the mood a bit, and nothing was truly more satisfying than poking a little fun at their egotistical friend.
"Not scared of nothing would mean that you are scared of something, and if I had to guess, that something could potentially be the Everfree forest. Eh, Rainbow Dash?" She wore that smug smirk on her face again, knowing the stuttering pegasus would actually have to think about her response to validate any point she was trying to make. Starlight knew she succeeded when Rainbow Dash snorted in frustration and took off, flying ahead of the group.
As she retreated, Rainbow Dash called back to the victor: "I'm not scared of anything!"
The pegasus, with wounded pride, decided to wait at the castle for her friends, and since they were so close, she could practically see the building from here, she wouldn't have to wait long. She bolted forwards, leaving the two behind her cloud trail as she felt the air rush through her wings, she was quite happy with the ability to fly at super-sonic speeds. It made traveling so much faster.
By the time Starlight and Twilight had reached the castle, they found a napping Rainbow Dash laying in a cloud, just above the shattered gateway into the castle proper. They expected such, Rainbow Dash was easily the laziest of the girls when she wasn't exercising, so Twilight decided to take the moment to try to find the structure, as she wasn't sure where exactly Princess Celestia meant it was. She flew up, and when she couldn't see anything but the trees, she continued to climb.
As soon as she lost sight of Starlight on the ground, she was joined by a cocky Rainbow Dash, who flew up with her, until they were at the same height. At which point she stopped the purple pony princess with a hoof and leaned in to speak over the wind. "I already found the building, it's over there, follow me!"
Twilight listened as the blue pegasus snapped her wings shut and started plummeting back towards the forest below. The ground was getting close at an alarming rate, but Twilight felt comfortable in her wings now, and while she wasn't going to risk getting as close as possible like her friend, here, she wanted to reach the ground fast. Once she felt she had dropped enough, Twilight let her wings catch the air again, halting her above the treetops, while Rainbow Dash couldn't help but show off a bit. Starlight shook her head as the Wonderbolt flew close to the ground before pulling up into a massive loop, then slowly gliding her way over the sea of trees. Starlight used her magic to pull herself into the air, following after Rainbow Dash while Twilight pumped her wings to catch up.
Rainbow Dash let her momentum carry her over the expanse of trees, until a clearing opened up underneath her, at which point she shut her wings and dropped through the gap. She landed with a light thud, hopping to absorb most of the shift in direction, grinning at her athleticism. 'Perfect landing.' She thought to herself.
Starlight landed gently next to her, her magic fading away as she walked over the large metallic doors rising with a stone structure in the middle of the clearing. She walked forward just as Twilight landed behind the two.
The doors looked like solid bronze, etched with strange glyphs neither her nor Twilight understood, and there appeared to be a large lack of any handles. Rainbow Dash followed suite, walking up to the door, wonder in her eyes as she scanned the doors, wondering just how to open them up. Twilight was quick to walk up to the door as well, trying to decipher what the door had on it, and when visual aid didn't help, she turned to examine any potential magical properties it had.
The moment she fired up her magic to scan the door, a crack appeared in the middle, sliding up the center, the glyphs rearranging themselves to look like written text. The glyphs formed neat lines of unreadableness, and then the split widened, and the doors cracked open, dust flying out of the gap. The three took a collective step backwards, watching in stunned silence as the doors opened, and then they peered into the darkness within, seeing only steps that descended downward, into the depth and the darkness.
"So, who wants to go into the creepy dark tunnel first?" Rainbow Dash asked cautiously, trying to look further into the darkness than she could. Then she turned to her friends, caution and excitement battling for dominance on her face, but at the curious glances of both mares before her, she decided to be the brave one, and took a step into the structure.
The first thing she noticed was just how dark it was, the blackness seemed unnaturally thick, as if there was something holding the light outside. She tentatively took a step down, following the stairs as they led her deeper into the building, underneath the dirt. She went no further than a few steps before a light popped up behind her, and she jumped in surprise, leaping into the air trying to get some space. Her heart calmed down a little when she saw that it was just Twilight using her horn to produce some light.
"Easy, Rainbow Dash, it's just me." She said, heading further into the depths, following the seemingly endless steps, Starlight soon following after. Rainbow Dash took a moment to catch her breath before landing on the stone steps and following the others, walking as close as she could to Starlight without trying to look afraid. "Would you look at that."
Starlight walked to one side, while Rainbow Dash took up the other of the princess, staring in awe at the room before them. Twilight's magical light grew, illuminating further the massive cavern they were staring at, with long stone corridors storing side rooms with shelves and shelves of items. The walked down the first one, staring at the locked cages, each bearing unbelievable amounts of scrolls, sealed away in an age long since forgotten.
Rainbow Dash stopped at the edge of another cell, looking inside in wonder, for inside that particular crevice was a suit of armor, pitch black, and obviously made for a large unicorn. It was huge, with a helmet covered in what looked like scales, and the pauldrons were black dragon heads, while the chest piece had swirls that made her desire for the armor insatiable. Starlight walked up next to her, staring at the armor as well, only, when she saw it, the skulls were replaced with typical bowl-shaped metal, and the helmet was smooth.
"I want it." Was all she could say, though Rainbow Dash hardly motioned that she heard, until she nodded in agreement. Twilight, however, was busy staring at the shelves and shelves of scrolls, telling unheard stories, hoarding unread knowledge, information untouched in ages. She walked past each and every crucible, staring at each and every scroll, book, or tome she passed, hope filling that there was a library in here she hadn't even touched yet. She hadn't realized how far she had walked until the cages stopped, and she was staring at an elegantly carved wall relief, depicting the two sisters standing above the mass of ponies. The relief was bordered on either side by thick pillars, one black marble and sapphire, the other white quartz and gold. The floor just below the relief was constructed of jade, in a massive slab that stretched to just before her.
Twilight gasped in awe, amazement again filling her when she thought she was already overfilled with the stuff. It was such a beautiful work of art, it was nearly a crime to hide it away, and she couldn't help herself from feeling like something wasn't right about the place. Why was so much stuff locked away, why was this all hidden away, such beauty, such knowledge, kept from the world?
She walked back to the other two, who were staring at what she thought was a simple gown on a mannequin with what she thought was Starswirl's massive hat. She looked at it, amazed at its beauty, but deciding she needed to get her friends and find the artifacts Princess Celestia wanted.
"Girls, come on. We need to find those artifacts, and the sooner the better, something is odd about this place." It was as if her words broke a spell on the two, as their gazes snapped back from gloss, and they looked at each other, then shook their heads. The two nodded, and turned away from the suit, sparing a single glance as Twilight led them back towards the opposite end of the corridor, where she thought the main artifacts would be.
The princess was not disappointed, as sitting at the end of the straight path was a central chamber, blocked by a single set of bars. She led her friends up to the gateway, trying to figure out what was in the blackened room, as the light died just after the edge of the bars, forbidding knowledge of what lay within. She tapped a hoof to her chin, trying to think of a way to open the bars, as no lever or opening mechanism was visible.
Now that she was thinking about it, she hadn't noticed a lever or button or anything of the sorts anywhere within the compound, it was as if there was a secret way of getting to the items locked away.
Then a thought popped into her head, and her horn lit up as the light she was trying to cast slowly wormed its way through the bars. As the interior of the chamber was revealed to the eyes, the bars slowly retracted themselves, sliding into hidden compartments on the floor. The group let out a singular gasp, watching in stunned awe as a veil shimmered and faded, the apparent empty room morphing into a room full of treasures.
Twilight's eyes nearly popped out of her head, for before her was stacks and stacks of papers and scrolls, all neatly piled on tables of shining marble. Dust had settled on everything, making evident the age of the chamber, and the fact it had remained undisturbed for a long time. What caught the other two's attention was the massive sculpture of the Sisters standing just behind the tables, backs to one another, eyes glowing the colors of fire and water. It seemed as if they were watching over the room, protecting it for the rest of time.
Twilight reached a hoof forward to enter the room, but Starlight's own grabbing her back stopped her. She looked back at her friend, confusion written over her features, and when Starlight motioned for her to look at the statues, she did so. And what she saw made her nearly faint.
The statues were slowly turning their gemstone eyes to face the intruders, who dare to enter the forbidden section. Twilight reeled her hoof back across the threshold, and the statues gazes returned to their original sentries.
"Okay, do we even know what the hay those statues are, or how to get passed them?" Rainbow Dash asked, eyes remaining firmly on the white quartz statue of Princess Celestia, while Starlight's were fixed solely on the black marble of the one of Princess Luna. Twilight looked between the two, thinking for a moment about what she knew of this place, and another thought came to her mind. Her horn lit up, and when she reached across the barrier, the statues remained unmoving.
She returned to her original position, the magic in her horn dying off. "Okay. Starlight, I have an idea, and I think I know how this place works. It's like a magic safehouse, and only those who can use magic are permitted within, which means that it's down to you and me to go in there and find these artifacts. I'm sorry Rainbow Dash, but unless you can become a unicorn for a few minutes, you're going to have to wait out here."
"No problem, Twilight. I can just keep looking around while you two find these fancy things Princess Celestia wants." Rainbow Dash shrugged, eyes already fixing themselves on the unchecked cages, and she was gone before either Twilight nor Starlight could respond.
Twilight looked back into the room, trying to figure out just what it is they needed before they went inside, but her attention was turned to the unicorn beside her by a hoof on her side.
"Twilight, any ideas on what it is exactly what we are looking for? I don't mind the searching, but if Princess Celestia want's a specific scroll, we could be here for a very long time." Her voice was concerned, but not overly panicked, merely betraying her worry over the statues.
"I wish I knew what it is we are looking for. But I don't think Princess Celestia would have sent us here for a specific scroll when there are just so many. I believe she wants us to find something more obvious, something that we will know what it is when we see it." Starlight nodded, understanding what she had to do, but before she could advance, Twilight took her turn to stop her. "Some advice, if you interested? To save your energy, just cast something light, like some light, just a small ball to keep the statues focused on something else."
Starlight nodded, her horn glowing as she produced a small cone of light that pointed at the already lit ceiling. Twilight followed suit, and the two crossed into the chamber, stirring up a tiny amount of dust as they passed the tables. The princess wanted so badly to take the scrolls back with her and see just what it was that they held secret, to uncover the mysteries within the ink written on ancient parchment. But she had a task, a task given by Princess Celestia herself. And if Twilight was anything, it was loyal to her old mentor, and she would complete this task before any personal interest intervened.
As Twilight scoured the room, she slowly became aware of a slight buzzing in the back of her head, something that once she noticed, it got worse. She also noticed the further she got into the chamber, the louder the buzzing got.
She was starting to get preoccupied with the buzzing, so much so, that she nearly bumped into Starlight. The unicorn had paused in front of a single door neither had noticed until then, and she was trying to find a way to unlock it. Twilight took a single look at the door, then used her magic to pry it open, and as the door creakily opened, both mares looked back at the massive statues in the middle of the room. Neither had moved an inch.
But their relief was turned upside down and back into nervousness as firepits lining the walls of the inner chamber lit with magical green fire, revealing seven pedestals arranged in a circle, dipped inside the edge of a lowered dais. The ceiling lifted into black smoke, while a large ice-blue spike jutted out of the center of the central platform. The mares walked into the room, feeling a powerful hum of magical energy replace the buzzing in their heads. As they walked closer, they noticed strange artifacts on the pedestals, items shaped that nearly glowed with magical energy.
Once again, however, Twilight's own attention was focused on the spike in the center, as she could see resting on a branching spike was a circlet of pure silver, glowing bright pink. She walked through the pedestals, much to Starlight's voiced displeasure, and approached the circlet. Almost unconsciously, she reached a hoof up and brushed it against the band of metal, feeling the raw energy contained within. Surely this was what Princess Celestia wanted, yet. . .
Twilight turned a hoof from the circlet, feeling something drawing her towards one of the artifacts she had passed; a strange, tribal monkey-looking item. As she observed it, it seemed to radiate with potential, and while it looked like wood, the air around it felt ice cold. She looked over at Starlight, knowing what they had come here for, it was all of these artifacts, and they had to get them all back out.
"Starlight, this is what we were sent here to get, so let's grab these and go, I don't feel right in this room, something about that pillar." Twilight was muttering, eyes still firmly locked on the statue before her, something about it just seemed powerful. Almost, almost alive. Certainly ancient, possibly more ancient than Equestria, yet she wasn't sure how ancient.