Sorry for taking so long, this site got blocked by my ISP and my unblocker keeps messing up. If anyone knows a solution to unblock websites other than Hola unblocker for chrome, PM me.

-

The energy dome glistened over the marvelous city that was the Crystal Empire.

Inside the barrier, Crystal ponies went on with their day to day business. It was as if there was nothing wrong going on at the moment. Friends met with friends and families were enjoying each others company.

Cadance had taken great measures in order not to let out any of the information she had uncovered last night. However, she wasted no time telling the ponies of how some individuals like Shadow could be. Although she still had to remind them that they hardly represented humanity as a whole. Luckily for her, the Crystal Ponies hardly seemed to care.

Furthermore, the barrier that surrounded the empire was fueled by the Crystal Heart, which akin to an elaborate mood ring, sustained itself with the love of its citizens. If the Crystal Ponies became weary, the barrier would fall and the empire would be vulnerable to attack.

Still, Cadance wondered how long she could keep the subject away from her ponies.

Eventually, a massive army was going to attack her domain. Regardless of the outcome she chose, she knew her time was limited.

The Crystal Princess took a sip from her herbal tea as she overlooked the empire. The ponies were so happy and blissfully unaware of how insignificant they were to a race far more complex than them. If they were eradicated from Epona, Cadance wondered if the universe would even notice in the long run.

There was a knock on her door.

Cadance used her telekinesis to open the knob and allow her visitor to come inside.

Shining Armor revealed himself. He spoke with a slight tone of weary "Hey Cadance."

Cadance raised her eyebrow. "Is something wrong dear?"

Shining Armor shook his head. "No. I promise. I just got a letter from Canterlot stating that Twilight and her friends are coming to visit. They said its for an urgent matter."

"Is Shadow with them?" hissed Cadance.

"I don't think so." answered Shining Armor. "Not from what they told me. Come one, she'll be arriving in half an hour."

Cadance nodded and followed her husband to the train station. Whatever the matter was, it seemed Cadance would never catch a break.

The couple arrived to the Crystal Empire train station in thirty minutes. The couple was accompanied by a contingent of royal guards.

"I hope we're not to late." sighed Cadance. "I don't see their train anywhere."

"Don't worry, the train hasn't even arrived yet." assured Shining Armor.

The couple waited patiently. Soon, they began to realize something was wrong after the train didn't enter the empire after another hour.

"Come on. Where could they be?" said Cadance.

"It isn't like the trains to be late. Especially not when there's a princess involved." gulped Shining Armor.

In the heart of the moment, the couple heard a whistle of a steam train and the sound of gears moving.

"Finally. They made it." smiled Cadance.

Right when things seemed to be alright-

"EVERYPONY LOOK!" cried a random Crystal Pony.

Everyone in the station observed the train move past the energy barrier and into the empire.

----------

A few minutes ago.

The injured members of Shadow were sitting on the seats of the train patiently.

They had taken off their masks which revealed their incredibly sweaty faces. Scarecrow for one, was occasionally coughing up blood from his chest injury.

Overwatch was lying on his back. He was still incapable of movement due to his injured legs.

X-ray had been trying to avoid putting pressure on his skinny right arm. It wasn't immobile, but it still hurt painfully.

Scorch, the only one who wasn't injured, was trying to use medicine to treat his friends' wounds. To the squad's dismay, some of the medical equipment had been either shattered or fallen off their recon armor while fighting.

Nevertheless, Scorch used whatever resources he had to heal their wounds. Fluttershy and Twilight offered to help, until they remembered they knew nothing about human anatomy.

It had taken a while for the train to leave. Twilight needed to use her magic to repair all damage, and despite her best efforts, the train was still in a decimated condition.

Regardless, there was snow around the train, which signaled that they were getting close.

As Scorch buried his face in his hands, he heard the compartment door open.

The members of Shadow flexed their heads to the side and noticed the Mane 6 entering the door.

"How are you all holding up?" asked Twilight.

"We're fine, but we can't afford to enter another battle for a few days until our wounds heal." blurted Scarecrow.

"Hey, thanks for protecting us." called out Rainbow Dash.

"Your welcome." sighed X-ray. "We couldn't afford to loose now."

"I just wish those Buffalo didn't have to perish." sniffed Pinkie Pie.

"They died thinking they had left their race defenseless to a merciless onslaught by humanity." groaned Scorch. "If the alliance doesn't stand down, their fears will sadly come true."

"But if we can bring in the rest of humanity, then there's a chance the Buffalo race will be spared." nodded Scarecrow.

"What do you want to happen?" asked Applejack.

"That no one has to die for an unjustified reason." sighed X-ray. "I just hope this trip to the Crystal Empire doesn't go to waste."

"Well, we're going to be arriving really soon." pointed Fluttershy.

The train entered the Empire and the barrier started to cover each section one by one.

As the passengers of the train were covered by the dome's magic, they slowly turned into Crystal Ponies one by one. The coats, manes and eye patterns became far more regal and glowed.

Shadow was oblivious to the change, until the barrier passed them.

And when it did, the four of them could no longer breath.

X-ray clenched his throat with his left fist and fell on the floor as he struggled to inhale.

"I CAN'T BREATH!" shrieked Scorch and he started to cough vehemently.

"Is there something wrong?" asked the now Crystal-Alicorn Twilight.

"AIR. IS. TOXIC!" slowly said Scarecrow as he covered his mouth to filter the air.

"Toxic?" gasped Rarity.

The struggling Overwatch rolled to the side as he nearly vomited.

The next they knew, Shadow instinctively pulled up their bandannas and covered their noses and mouths.

Finally, they stopped panting and took normal breaths.

Scarecrow took a sigh of relief and stood to his full height. X-ray did the same once he recovered and Scorch helped Overwatch up.

"What just happened?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"What just happened?" repeated Scarecrow. "What is this atmosphere made of?"

"It's just Crystal Empire magic." defended Twilight.

X-ray put on his shades looked at the information on his HUD. "Well, Crystal Magic seems to be made up of the same ingredients they put in shampoo and beauty products."

"I guess that explains why the 6 of you are glowing with fancy hairstyles." shrugged Scorch.

"But why is it poisonous for you 4?" asked Rarity.

"I think a better question would go the other way around. Ever tried swallowing your soap?" asked Overwatch.

"Yeah! It makes bubbles when you burp." laughed Pinkie Pie.

Twilight tilted her head to the side and noticed the passengers getting off the train.

"I think we should head out know." proposed Twilight.

The humans nodded and followed the ponies. Even in Shadow's wounded state, the ponies still moved painfully slowly compared to them.

Outside the the locomotive, the Crystal Ponies waiting in the train station were in total shock.

The entire train that had just entered had clearly seen combat. The paint had nearly been peeled off in all areas, parts of it were cracked and there were holes in the mid section.

"Oh my gosh! What happened?" gasped Cadance.

"It think they've been attacked!" replied Shining Armor.

A group of weary passengers got out of the train, with clearly disturbed expressions. The frightened citizens surrounding the train immediately swarmed the passengers asking what had happened.

There was still no sign of Twilight or her friends.

"Twilight should be here. I don't understand." worried Shining Armor.

Cadance buried her fore hooves in her mouth. "Do you think they-"

"WAIT!" interrupted Shining Armor. "I think see them."

Sure enough, Twilight got out of the locomotive, followed by her friends.

Shining Armor rushed to his sister and smothered her with a hug.

"Oh Twily. I was so worried about you." said the captain of the royal guard.

Twilight struggled for air. "Relax, I'm fine."

Cadance walked up to the pair. "Why is the train in ruin?"

Rainbow Dash was the only pony brave enough to say it. She cleared her and was about to speak until-

-she was cut off by a series of whispers and gasps, which turned into screams and panic.

The group ended their greetings and turned to face the commotion.

Oblivious to their critically wounded state, the Crystal ponies immediately fell into disarray upon getting a full glimpse at Shadow squad.

"What are they doing here?" spat Cadance.

As the Crystal Ponies panicked, she looked up to the sky. There was a faint tint of the blue energy dome that could be seen in the clouds.

She watched in horror as the barrier started to flicker. If the Crystal Ponies would not remain in a positive state, the empire was going to be vulnerable.

The curious members of Shadow slowly limped to the equines.

"What's going on?" asked Scarecrow while he clenched his wounded chest.

Candace gave a sheepish grin. "Oh, the Crystal Ponies are just a little nervous. That's all."

"But why are they panicking? It's like they've never heard about aliens in Equestria." questioned X-ray.

Shining Armor flexed his mane. "Oh. About that-"

"You did tell them about us when you arrived to the Empire right?" asked Scorch.

"Not really." let out Cadance. "Although I may have let something negative slip."

"I understand that there are bad things about us." assured Scarecrow. "But, I get the feeling you may have taken our qualities to extreme levels and left out the fact we're still technically allies."

"Never mind that. Could you please cloak or something?" requested Shining Armor.

"Why? So what if they're panicking?" glared Scorch.

"The barrier that's protecting the city is powered by the Crystal heart, which in turn is fueled by the love and happiness of it citizens." explained Twilight.

"Why the hell, would you have a barrier powered by joy if your population is extremely sensitive?" glared X-ray.

"Darling, could you just do it?" commanded Rarity.

Without even replying, Shadow squad proceeded to turn invisible. As if by magic, the panicking died down the exact second it happened.

Sure enough, the Crystal Ponies went back to their daily lives like nothing ever happened.

"You have got to be kidding me." growled Overwatch.

Even though the panicking had seized, Shadow took note that the barrier was not as noticeable as before and that the Crystal Ponies had lost their aura. Even though they were all in a positive state.

"So, could you please explain why you came here?" asked Cadance.

"We need to find someplace to talk." suggested the invisible Scarecrow. "Discreetly."

"Alright, we'll take you to the Castle. But you better not wander off or cause trouble." warned Shining Armor.

"Like we're in any condition to do so." remarked X-ray.

The leaders of the Crystal Empire, accompanied by their royal guards, proceeded to lead the invisible commandos and the Mane 6 to the castle of the Empire.

Once in a while, a group of citizens would walk up in respect to their leaders, only to get shooed away by a guard or so.

After a few minutes, the Equestrians were able to make it to the entrance of the castle halls.

Shining Armor stopped trotting once inside and turned around.

"Alright, the 4 of you can come out now."

There was no response. Shining Armor tried asking again.

"Hello?"

Nothing.

Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth. "Don't tell me they actually ditched us."

"We're right here!" exclaimed a mechanical voice.

In the heart of the moment, the members of Shadow revealed themselves and slowly started to limp forward. This was the first time in which the ponies beat them to a destination.

Only now did Shining Armor and Cadance notice Shadow's state.

Scarecrow's bandanna was covered in blood stains from coughing up the liquid for too long. His chest piece was cracked and there was a cut on the left side of his stomach.

X-ray was desperately covering his right arm, which looked heavily beaten and had some fabric of the recon armor torn off, and exposing some nasty bruises.

Overwatch, whose legs were battered, was being helped up Scorch, who in turn appeared to be the only one uninjured aside from his apparel being covered in dirt.

"What happened? What is going on?" inquired Cadance.

"We were attacked on our way to the Crystal Empire." informed Scarecrow.

"Attacked?" repeated Shining Armor.

"By the Buffalo." replied Scorch. "Don't ask us how they knew we were coming."

"That explains the state of the train." realized Cadance. "What happened?"

"What did you think happened?" whispered Fluttershy. That was all the royal couple needed to know.

Shining Armor was not going to let this opportunity pass. For some reason, the idea of seeing an injured Shadow squad enamored him.

"And during the fight, you all got injured did you?"

"Evidentially." muttered X-ray.

"That's just rich. The relentless, violent and pessimistic Shadow squad just got a taste of their own medicine." mocked Shining Armor.

X-ray walked up to the white stallion, and with his uninjured arm, slapped the stallion across the face, prompting the other ponies to back off.

"I might be wounded, but I can still decimate you and your fucking empire any day of the week." growled X-ray as Shining Armor rubbed his cheek.

"X-ray, stand down." ordered Scarecrow. The rifleman nodded and took a step back.

"Now, can we all explain why we're here?" sighed Applejack.

"Alright." began Scorch. "After our little skirmish with the Zebras, we were able to interrogate Nigeria."

"How's he doing?" asked Cadance.

"How do you think he's doing?" shook Scarecrow.

----------

After a while, Shadow squad had managed to relay all the news they had retrieved from Nigeria such as information about the alliance and their motivations as well as the plights of the ancient humans.

The ponies listening were having a hard time trying to comprehend this information.

"But I still don't get it." said Cadance. "Why did the humans commit genocide on nearly all Eponan species?"

"We don't know. Why can neither humans nor ponies remember any of it?" shrugged X-ray.

"So, this entire empire, was built by humans?" asked Shining Armor.

"Exactly. I guess the name is especially fitting once you realize the humans were taking cities for their own. Apparently, they were going to colonize this world once all the other sapient races were murdered." noted Scorch.

"However, the Crystal Empire was a house they had yet to move into seeing as to how there's no evidence to support human life in this city." added Scarecrow.

"But I don't understand! All the time we've been told that the Empire was ruled by a series of royal families until Sombra took over!" exclaimed Cadance.

"Are you sure about that fact?" checked Overwatch. "Perhaps your knowledge is rather basic which would mean you couldn't see any sort of error or gap of information."

"If we could perhaps be directed towards some sort of library where we could conduct research, we would likely be able to find answers." offered X-ray.

"There are a lot of books in the library, are you sure you could handle it?" asked Pinkie Pie.

"Positive. We think faster than the average human anyway." insisted Scarecrow.

"Do you need any help doing research?" asked Twilight.

"You're free to assist, but don't get in our way. We have very specific criteria for extracting information." stated Scorch.

"With all due respect, you're wounded. You need me to at least show you around." pointed Twilight.

"Still, the 4 of you have caused a lot of trouble. I don't think I can trust you within my domain considering your 'destroy all barriers' attitude. You've only brought misery and cynicism to this land for your Federation's gain." glared Cadance.

"We're not asking you to use the library for our own interests." countered Scarecrow. "Right now, a massive army is building up that has no goal in mind other than the extermination of us and your kind."

"Yes. And this army wouldn't be after us if we weren't friendly to you." puffed Shining Armor. "Maybe if we declared you enemies, the alliance would reconsider its targets."

"That is not a wise option at all." shook X-ray. "Look, we don't care if the 4 of us die right now on Epona. Humanity doesn't need us because there are 42 fucking billion people out there that can push our race forward. The Federation will continue to live and prosper. Hell, we're not even supposed to exist. Like anyone will miss us. So what does it matter if the 4 of us die?"

Cadance placed a hoof on her chin in shock.

"On the other hand, the entire pony race is in jeopardy here." continued Scarecrow. "The alliance will not stop until all of you are wiped out. And here comes the scary part. The Pony race will be removed from Epona, the Federation won't bother with the planet anymore, and the universe will just continue without even noticing you left. Eventually, the memory of Ponies will fade away from the entirety of the universe and no one would give a shit."

There was a silence in the air.

"But we don't want that to happen. None of you deserve to die before your race even has the chance to prosper. We are not asking you to use your facilities for our own gain, but so that we may protect you and right this misguided conflict. We have a chance to save your race and perhaps the others too. The knowledge stored within the empire might be our only shot."

"......"

"Please."

Cadance sighed. "Alright, I'll show you to the library."

The members of Shadow smiled under their masks and followed the royal couple and Twilight to their destination. The rest of the elements of harmony opted to remain behind.

After a moment, Shadow finally got to the library. It was far bigger than the ones back on the colonies. And much more ancient too with no computers or holo books to check out.

"Now you 4 stay here while I get what you need." offered Twilight.

"Really Twilight. It's not necessary." replied Scorch.

"Oh no!" frowned Twilight. "The 4 of you are in a pretty bad condition. As if you'll be able to haul all of these books by yourself. Besides, I know the library far better than 4 of you. Now sit down, while I do scavenging."

Shadow simply did as commanded.

The commandos sat down on the animated crystal chairs. However, their mass caused the furniture to shatter into numerous tiny pieces.

"Good thing we have barriers turned on." muttered X-ray as he looked down as the various pieces of sharp crystal fragments."

Cadance shook her head and used her telekinesis to manipulate the shards back into a chair. Shadow noticed how she netted them into a hexagonal structure to reinforce the weight it could carry.

After a brief period of waiting, Twilight arrived and dropped a mountain of books in front of the commandos.

Twilight wiped her sweating fore head. "This sure is a big pile to get through."

"Ever read through any of these?" asked Scarecrow.

"Not really." denied Twilight. "I've only read through the books in my library and Canterlot. I further doubt anyone else in the Crystal Empire has even bothered to read these."

"Well, I'm glad we have you." complimented X-ray. "You're the only one I really trust for a mission like this."

"Thanks." blushed Twilight.

"Alright, we'll leave you 5 alone until you get what you need." said Shining Armor. "No offense or anything, but I don't get how you plan on reading through all these."

Scarecrow violently flipped through a text. "Relax, our school taught us how to find information from books with out actually having to read through the entire thing."

As the 5 got to work, Cadance and Shining Armor exited the library. They knew Shadow was powerful, but they still ordered a few guards to keep watch.

Cadance lost herself in thought. Her kingdom. Her destiny, was all really a human domain. She had been ruling over the land as its goddess for a long time, and only now did she figure out it was not really an Equestrian creation.

------

Shadow and Twilight managed to get through a large chunk of books in the next half hour.

They managed to divide the work amongst themselves evenly and used the techniques they knew to brush past all unnecessary parts of a book while focusing on those that mattered.

Twilight had rounded up all the books from the historical section of the Crystal Empire. Thinking her plan through, Twilight only selected literature that had to do with history of the Empire in the beginning of time.

Since most ponies didn't really read, the library contained various documents that were donated to the facility such as memoirs and letters from ancestors.

So far however, not a single mention of humanity had been made at all.

The next thing everyone knew, the rest of the elements of harmony and the royals stepped into the room.

Rainbow Dash whistled upon seeing all the books stacked on the table.

"Wow, you eggheads read all of that?"

X-ray yawned and put a book to the side. "Of course not. We skipped everything that was irrelevant."

"What did y'all find?" asked Applejack.

"Nothing about humans. That's for sure." groaned Overwatch.

"Nothing!" screamed Pinkie Pie. "That can't be true. Humans built this place!"

"Well, the books or notes we've read make no mention of it." shrugged Scarecrow.

"So there was nothing relevant at all in these texts? Surely you found something useful." whined Rarity.

Scorch placed a finger on his bandanna. "Actually, there is some pretty good intel we dug up."

"For starters," began X-ray. "All first hoof documents we read were written in ancient greek, so that reinforces our theory of caucasian influence on Equestria. Second of all, we did notice some gaps of information within these works."

"Could you elaborate?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"One of the earliest documents we read said that the Crystal Empire was found. Just found in the middle of nowhere without even questioning where it came from." explained Twilight. "The texts we read that came a hundred or so years after proceeded to claim that land was a gift purposely given by the goddess."

"And that's what books written in the modern era seem to agree on." noted Scorch. "After the founding period, all we have are documents regarding succeeding heirs of the Crystal Kingdom until Sombra took over."

"But why focus on books only written or focusing about the very beginning of the empire?" asked Cadance. "What if the archives were found in a later date?"

"That would be true, I found no single section of the library detailing books or texts that have to do with archival exploration." sighed Twilight. "Even if the archives were found throughout the spanning of the Empire, it should have been documented in all succeeding books."

Fluttershy was desperate. "But what if the book or document wasn't here? Maybe some archeologist has it?"

"It's a well known fact that all documents and texts have two copies." debunked Twilight. "One written by the writer, and the other goes to the library. And ponies don't really write a lot."

"You'd think that something as blatant as a human data archive would be noticed by now." chuckled Scarecrow.

"That's probably because its concealed somewhere" said Rarity. "If it was so obvious, then I'm sure your space ship or whatever would have alerted you by now."

"That's true." nodded Scarecrow.

"I guess we're going to have to find the data archive manually." groaned X-ray.

"But where could it be?" theorized Pinkie Pie. "Not even my Pinkie sense is going to help me in this case."

"I think I might have an idea." proposed Cadance.

----

The alicorn led the humans and Twilight into a separate chamber of the castle. It was simply a circular room with a large mirror at the end of it.

"Why did you bring us here?" asked Scarecrow.

Cadance pointed at the mirror. "I thought this artifact would be of important use to you."

"What is it?" asked Scorch.

"It is a device said to have been old as Equestria itself." informed Cadance. "It was originally in Canterlot, but it was moved here for me to study it."

"What conclusions did you bring?" asked X-ray.

"Based on my understanding, it is a magical portal to another location."

The hooded commandos limped to the giant artifact. Upon closer inspection, their HUDs began to inform of them of a space time rip, far too similar to what would have happened if they were near a starship on the verge of teleportation.

"That's no magical portal, it's a space time rip." awed Scarecrow.

"Any thoughts as to where it might lead?" asked Twilight. "Maybe that could be our ticket to the human data archive."

Shadow took a closer inspection to structure and observed the flashing information on their HUDs.

"The portal is said to open once every 30 moons." noted Cadance. "Who knows where, or when it could take somepony."

Scorch crossed his arms and faced the equines.

"First off, this isn't a rip similar by normal standards. The dark energy, which is the force that drives universal expansion, is far too high in frequency for it to simply accelerate, and by extension, rip, space, but it also rips the fourth dimension of time and the fifth dimension of subspace as well. This will lead us to an alternate universe."

"Are you sure it won't just lead us to a pocket dimension that happens to be a human archive?" checked Twilight.

"Space-time is a fabric. You poke a hole through one end, you get it out the other." reminded X-ray.

"Furthermore, the residue emitted by this rip is around 3.12 thousand years old, humans would have been out of Epona by now." added Scarecrow. "This is taking the fluctuations, which are responsible for the portal opening up every 30 moons, into account."

"So it's a dead end?" sighed Cadance.

"Afraid so." flexed Overwatch.

"Do you know what could be on the other side?" asked Twilight.

"Does anyone want to know what could be on the other side?" countered X-ray. "Having space time rips that we have no idea about aren't a good idea because no one knows what they could lead to."

"What are you suggesting?" frowned Cadance.

"We deactivate it for safety." suggested Scarecrow.

"But if somepony went through? There's no way they could get back." warned Twilight.

"Oh please, as if somepony is stupid enough to step through a guarded portal they have no idea about." remarked Scorch.

Scorch raised his gauss rifle, aimed at the frame of the mirror, and fired. Without a frame to support it, the wormhole collapsed in on itself.

------

"Well that got us no where." sighed Twilight.

"Come one, there's got to be a way for us to find the archives somehow!" insisted X-ray. "Nigeria told us it was here, and he wasn't lying."

"It's more than ten thousand years old." exhaled Cadance. "It's probably collapsed by now."

"HEY EVERYONE!" called out Pinkie Pie's voice.

The pink earth pony used her sugar induced super speed to gallop towards the commandos at an alarming rate, the rest of the company followed.

"Did your Pinkie Sense finally work?" smirked X-ray under his bandanna.

"Nope! But I think I might be on to something." cheered Pinkie.

"Come on! Tell them." pushed Rainbow Dash.

"What if somepony did end up finding the human archives, but chose not to tell anyone?" smiled Pinkie Pie.

"Who would do that?" inquired Scarecrow.

"Sombra silly!"

"Sombra?" repeated Twilight. "Why would he find out about a human archive."

"Actually, that makes a lot of sense!" exclaimed Cadance. "King Sombra was known for his ever growing desire to be the most dominant mage in Equestria. This desire drove him mad and he began to practice dark magic and started to voyage into forbidden areas."

"What does this have to do with ancient humanity?" checked Scorch.

"Because what if these practices allowed him to discover the ancient human archive? It's more than likely he found it considering his magical prowess!" answered Shining Armor.

"And once Sombra found this archive, I reckon he would have used its content to make himself even more powerful." added Applejack.

"But Sombra believed in magic, humans don't." insisted X-ray.

"Whether or not he knew of the truth behind magic, Sombra was recorded to have been using spells we never knew of. It could have likely been the same kind technology the ancient humans used!" exclaimed Twilight.

Scarecrow clenched his stomach. "So why wouldn't he tell anyone about a archive that belonged to an ancient alien race?"

"Duh!" yelled Rainbow Dash. "If other ponies knew about it, they would want to go there too, learn all kinds of stuff, and use that knowledge to defeat Sombra."

Scorch raised an eyebrow. "And you're sure he found the archives?"

"I say it's more than probable." interrupted Overwatch.

"We're taking a huge gamble here." noted Scarecrow.

"Isn't that what you said when were coming here in the first place?" pointed Fluttershy.

X-ray sighed. "Is there a place where we could confirm this? A study chamber of Sombra of some sort?"

Cadance breathed loudly. "Actually, there is. After Sombra was defeated, all of his belongings were moved to a certain room where they would have been disposed of. We haven't gotten to that part yet."

"Well I'm glad you didn't, we could find something useful there. Let's move." signaled Scorch.

---------

The company traversed to the top of the castle. On the floor, there was a room that was being guarded by two Crystal Guards.

Shining Armor approached the two Crystal Ponies who saluted in response.

"At ease." greeted Shining Armor. "We need to enter use this room for research purposes. You are to leave now."

The guards nodded and trotted away.

Scarecrow limped to the door and took a deep breath. "Is there anything I should know about before heading inside?"

"Sombra likes to rig his equipment with magical traps. Be extra careful." warned Applejack.

Shadow's leader opened the door a fifth way through slowly.

"X-ray, ready an EMP grenade." ordered Scarecrow.

With his uninjured arm, X-ray reached for the aforementioned device and pressed a button.

The explosive flared to life and and green lights started to appear on it.

He threw his EMP grenade through the door. An electromagnetic pulse engulfed the entire room and disabled any possible traps that could have been set.

X-ray gave an all clear signal and Scarecrow opened the door.

Everything became silent all of a sudden.

"Wait here." ordered Scarecrow. He quietly walked inside the room.

At first glance, one would think that this was a generic quarters for a random mage. Then, one would notice all the sinister looking books and images depicting malevolent and twisted acts.

The rest of Shadow entered.

Scorch whistled upon gazing at one of the diagrams. "Damn. Sombra really was fucked up."

Twilight nervously crept into the room. "See anything relating to humanity?"

"Not yet. I'm afraid we're going to have to take a closer look." sighed X-ray.

The 5 got to work again and peered through all of Sombra's works. Twilight had a hard time bottling in Sombra's unique terminology and desires. It was a miracle Shadow hadn't fainted yet.

After a moment, the purple alicorn was beginning to open a book when-

"OW MY HEAD!" screeched Twilight.

Shadow sprang to action and turned around. Twilight was on the floor and clutching her fore head desperately.

Scarecrow lowered himself to face her. "What happened?"

Twilight tried to get a hold of herself. "I was just burrowing through a book when I saw something so painful."

X-ray raised an eyebrow. That statement did not make any sense at all.

Unless.

He turned to the dropped book. Outside of it laid a paper that had been stuck inside.

A non animated paper.

"Holy shit!" yelled X-ray. "Guys, look at the paper that just fell out!"

Scorch picked it up. "Universe damn it. This paper. It isn't animated and its written in ancient Persian!"

Overwatch, balanced by Scarecrow slowly moved toward it. "That means it was written by a human."

X-ray was inspected the book further. "There's a whole lot of these things stored inside! Sombra really did find out about ancient humans after all."

Twilight allowed her eyes and mind to adjust to the sight of the paper. "Go on! Read them."

"We should put them in order first Twilight." informed Scarecrow. "We can do that by looking at dates, which I'm pretty sure humans back then never knew how to write, or the condition of each text."

Shadow squad took out all papers of human origin, inspected them for a moment, and put them in order.

Twilight took the moment to head outside to inform her friends.

"Please tell me you found something!" begged Pinkie Pie.

"Good news!" smiled Twilight. "Turns out you were right! One of Sombra's old books is filled with ancient human documents. Shadow is going over them now!"

The rest of the elements of harmony barged straight into the room, eager to see the information. However, they each received a mind fuck from starring at the texts hastily. Cadance and Shining Armor followed.

"Wow, so humans were on Epona after all." sighed Shining Armor.

Scarecrow regarded the papers one more time and nodded. "Alright, I'll read the first one. This was written by an ancient Native American of some sort."

He tapped on his wrist computer. "Command, are you getting this?" There was a large number of acknowledgements coming from the radio.

Scarecrow's translators got to work.

The ponies were silent.

Rainbow Dash spoke up. "Okay, that was kinda odd."

"Do you know what it could have meant?" whispered Fluttershy.

"I think I might have a slight hunch." muttered X-ray. "Remember how every Eponan race is tied to a human culture?"

The ponies gave nods of remembrance.

"Well, the Buffalo are representations of ancient Americans. It seems that said human race was once a space faring tribe of it own. Based on these statements, they appear to have retained their old beliefs."

"Pfft. A technologically advanced race that believes in sacrifice to make the sun rise. That's just rich." chuckled Scorch.

X-ray continued. "And Buffalo are native to America. When this ancient civilization arrived on this world, they must have identified with the Buffalo as people of their own."

"So why was the tone of this writing so fussy?" asked Rarity.

"First off, I should remind you all that the first tribes merely found their resources. They believed they were given by gods of some sort. Then there was a hundred years of progress where they moved on to new facilities."

"Ah still don't get the point!" puffed Applejack.

"The point is, the prehistoric humans had the same view of their technology as well." informed X-ray. "So when the Ancient Americans met the Buffalo, they expected them to follow the same rules as them, but the Buffalo were using different resources. This would naturally drive the ancient humans to a panic and accuse the Buffalo of heresy."

Pinkie's mouth dropped. "Wow, you got all that out of a few lines?"

"But what about the part of kneel before us? I think that part was more relevant." chimed in Cadance.

Overwatch put a finger on his chin. "That is a good point. After all, it's not like us humans created them. I think. I suspect that the ancient Americans, who used Buffalo for agriculture, expected the sentient ones to be loyal to them as well."

"Well that's just sick." shook Twilight.

Scarecrow got to reading the next piece. It was written in African.

There was a pause until Scorch spoke up.

"Based on these readings, it seems that each human ethnicity was its own space faring empire."

"You know, from the sound of that passage, I get the feeling that the writer didn't even know how their technology functioned." theorized Twilight.

"Yeah." agreed Scarecrow. "You would think that a race intelligent enough to traverse the stars would know how their technology worked."

"There's not much I could get out of this, but it does seem to confirm the statement that every race was attacked." muttered X-ray. "Although there is notable lack of mention of Greeks."

"The letter said something about 'men with slanted eyes'?" pointed Rainbow Dash.

"He or she was probably referring to Far East Asians." guessed Scorch.

Scarecrow turned a page. "Speak of the devil. Here's another one. Written in ancient Chinese."

Once again, there was another round of silence.

X-ray got his thinking skills worked up.

"Alright then, it seems that the ancient Chinese had found a counter part with the dragon race. Explains why they are after us as well."

"But this isn't fair!" yelled Pinkie Pie. "Just because you met an intelligent version of an animal from your world, doesn't mean you have to be its master!"

"Or expect it to turn out the way you want them to be." added Rainbow Dash.

"Or submit them to genocide!" gritted Rarity.

Cadance rubbed her head. This was too much information. "If I'm not mistaken, this letter said something about the Equestrian race."

"It did." nodded Scarecrow. "Looks like your race was spared from the onslaught."

"And that's why we can't remember it!" realized Twilight.

X-ray face palmed. "The entire planet was under attack. I'm sure you ponies would have noticed it. So should have we."

"But why the ponies were spared by the Greeks still remains a mystery." sighed Scarecrow. "If every race deviated from their original culture, than surely ponies would have been no exception."

"And why the ancient humans can't even understand their technology is an even bigger mystery." gritted Scorch.

"Are there any more documents?" inquired Fluttershy.

"Just one." sighed Scarecrow. "It's written in ancient Persian."

X-ray was the first to speak. "Huh, looks like humanity was actually close to unifying in the past."

"I guess that settles it." shrugged Twilight. "Looks like the Crystal Empire really was a human creation after all."

Cadance looked at her cutie mark. "And the Crystal Heart, built by prehistoric humans as a means to protect this city and fueled by their own pride from conquest."

"Afraid so." sighed Scarecrow.

"And form what I got, the humans were planning colonize this planet after they wiped all others out." noted Rainbow Dash.

"But if they were so powerful, why didn't they?" pondered Applejack.

"Good question." groaned Scorch. "My guess is that his paper was likely written the day after they stopped attacking. Otherwise, their conquest would have been complete and the Empire would have occupants in it."

"Then a few years later, the earliest Crystal Ponies arrive and take the land for their own." added Twilight.

"But wouldn't have they been weirded out by an already built city?" questioned Fluttershy.

"From what I read in the library, they weren't." exclaimed Twilight. "They merely viewed the place to be some sort of promised land they just adjusted to. Later, they claimed the Empire was built by the Goddess."

Pinkie rubbed her chin. "You know, the letters keep mentioning a 'she' of some sorts."

"You're right." remarked Scarecrow. "Apparently, this 'she' has sisters and seems to control the machines once a command is given to her."

"Not too different from a Artificial or Virtual Intelligence." shook Overwatch.

"You can't help but notice the anachronisms." stated X-ray. "For once, I didn't think humans in the past were capable of such terminology and writing skills."

"Well, it is a translation." reminded Rarity. "And humans in the past were capable of space flight. I'm sure writing would be the least notable of their capabilities."

"Oh please, you get the feeling that the ancient humans didn't know about a thing they were doing." snorted X-ray.

Scarecrow checked the messages on his HUD. "The Federation thinks you might be on to something."

"Are there any other papers to read?" asked Cadance.

Scarecrow flipped them through. "Afraid not. These were all we had."

"But none of them mentioned a data chamber!" cried Twilight.

"Hey, at least we have some information about the ancient humans." defended Scorch.

"But is it information we can choose to get the alliance to step down?" challenged Applejack.

"Not really, in fact one can argue that alliance is nearly justified in their claims for revenge." groaned Scarecrow.

"WHAT!" yelled the ponies.

"I said nearly." corrected Scarecrow. "Like how ancient humans were not justified in starting a war because some races wouldn't bow down to them, the alliance has no right to massacre the current regime and the Equestrians.

"But this still doesn't answer the question as to why neither of us can remember the onslaught!" yelled Pinkie Pie.

X-ray checked his wrist computer. Or at least tried to since it was his broken arm.

"The Federation suggests looking through Sombra's notes."

Scarecrow took the book and did so. He inspected the title of the book first. It was named "ancient aliens". He flipped through what appeared to be a journal.

There was only one passage.

"Odd, there's only one entry in this entire book." muttered Scarecrow.

"Can I have a look?" requested Twilight.

She looked at the book and analyzed it contents. Scarecrow was right, there was only one entry. But what caught her attention was the date in which the entry was written.

"My gosh." gasped Twilight. "This was written the day before Celestia and Luna confronted Sombra for his misdeeds."

"So in that case, Sombra never had a full chance to find out a thing about our race." noted Scorch.

"I also noticed that Sombra mentioned something about mastering teleportation and being able to traverse to pocket dimensions." pointed Cadance. "I think that was when he discovered the ability to lock the Crystal Empire for a thousand years."

"But more importantly, we know the data chamber is real!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash.

"And there's apparently some sort of AI or VI that acts as a librarian." added X-ray.

"Still, how would we get there?" muttered Applejack.

"Sombra made it clear that the ancient human data chamber is within sub space." said Scarecrow. "To get there, we would have to punch the exact teleportation codes to reach it."

"Actually, it seems the Crystal Heart might lead us to a passage that would take us to the chamber." countered Scorch.

"You're right. From the sound of it, the Heart appears to be a teleporter of some sorts." agreed X-ray.

"But ponies have used the Crystal Heart numerous times, it never teleported us to sub space! All it did was form a barrier" yelled Cadance.

Overwatch looked at his hands. "Yeah, but that was when a pony was using it. Who said anything about a human?"

-

NEXT CHAPTER: REVELATIONS (Will be done in multiple parts)

Author's Notes:

Sweet, I'm getting close to 300 likes. And I was never featured ONCE. You have to admit, that's kind of impressive. I think its a record on fimficiton.