Archangels

Archangels
Eraverse
Chapter 3: Getting Started
By: SleeplessScribe

Once we were back in the theater lobby, Jet tugged me towards the room on my right. I swear, if you were to walk in that room, you would have forgotten you were in a movie theater. A unicorn stood in the center of the room completely stripped of its seats. The projector was on, and lists of locations with numbers to go with them was being shown on the screen. Aside from the one in the middle, all others there were sitting down at tables along the walls, and they looked like they had some kind of screen in front of them.

The unicorn’s horn was glowing, she was talking to all the ponies around her, and they sounded like they were repeating what she said. Every couple of seconds, the numbers on the screen would change, too. When I got a closer look, I also noticed that all the the ponies in this room had some kind of weird earmuffs on their heads that were connected to the screens they were looking at.

I was half tempted to tell someone to hit me and wake me up, until I heard Jet’s voice again.

“This is our communications hub. From here, we monitor the city and relay information to our teams out and about.”

He gave me a nudge before walking towards the unicorn that immediately turned to us. I could only imagine how many sleepless nights she’d been through; her eyes were bloodshot and there were dark bags under them that stood out again her violet coat. She only looked at me for a second before turning her attention to Jet, and she spoke as if I wasn’t right next to her.

“Jet, I’d appreciate you letting me know that you’re bringing a stranger here ahead of time in future instances. As you can see, I’m incredibly busy.”

I heard a deep sigh from the colt before he looked at me. “Applejack, this is Quick Fix. She heads up out comm hub, making sure everypony out in the city remains up to date on what’s going on around them.”

Quick Fix’s flat, sarcastic tone, combined with her words, really didn’t give me a good first impression of her, but I still wanted to stay polite.

“Howdy there, Quick Fix. I’m Applejack.” I smiled and held my hoof out to her.

The unicorn just paused for a moment, looked down at my hoof, then turned to one of the other ponies watching the monitors. “Just don’t break anything while you’re here. In fact, don’t touch anything, it’s safer that way.”

She really wasn’t helping her case. I guess Jet could tell that this unicorn was slowly wearing down my patience, because he scooted between us and pushed me back a little.

“Quick, the least you could do is be polite. Applejack isn’t a stranger, she’s here to help us. I know you’re busy, but she deserves a greeting.”

Quick Fix raised her brow at Jet. “You came at a bad time. Forgive me if I’m a little short.”

Jet sighed again before giving a reply. “You can work while you explain what goes on here. I understand it, but you know all about it.”

She looked at me, then to Jet, then back to me before rolling her eyes. “This is the room where we watch the city. We have video cameras set up at various points, and my magic keeps them hidden and keeps them connected to the monitors in here.”

Concern almost instantly swept away my aggravation when she said that. “Are you telling me y’all have been doing this nonstop for as long as this group’s been going?”

Quick Fix went to speak, but the colt stuck his hoof in front of her face. “I make sure she sleeps. She throws a fit, but she will get rest when she needs to.” Jet then turned to her, but the way his voice deepened and he drew out his next word was a dead giveaway that there was a problem. “Right?”

The unicorn completely blew him off, instead turning to me. "The cameras we have are the most expensive and vital pieces of equipment at the Archanels' disposal. We only have them thanks to a generous donation from the Orange family."

"Wow, that was sure nice of them." I guess Quick Fix didn't know that Citrus was the one who basically led me here.

I wanted to say more, but one of the ponies suddenly turned to Quick Fix. "Ma'am, you need to see this."

"If you'll excuse me, I have work to do." Without another word or a chance to let us speak, she walked off to the filly that called her.

Jet was already headed towards the door when I turned to him, so I trotted over to catch up. "Is her patience always paper thin?"

My friend just shook his head. "She's just tired. Quick Fix knows that our surveillance system is the biggest contributor to this group's effectiveness; she doesn't trust anyone else with it. She's constantly pushing her limits to keep others from 'messing up' her work."

I raised my brow. "But y'all are all a team. Why wouldn't she trust others?"

"I... that... well...." Jet stopped walking for a moment with his gaze to the floor. "That's a story for another time. Sorry."

I only responded once he started walking again. "Don't worry, I understand. Where are we headed now?"

"Well you've already met Dust, so there's only two other head crew members to meet. We're going to the mess hall since they're probably eating."

"Mind if ask who they are?"

Jet chuckled as we crossed through the lobby. "You'll see."

As we got closer to the door on the right of the front wall, I started hearing chatter. When Jet opened it, I saw about twenty ponies all sitting at long, rectangular tables. At the back of the room was a counter where I could see maybe three or four ponies cooking up who knows what.

Jet's eyes widened as he stepped in. "Forgive me, I was wrong. I said there were two more head crew, but there's three." He pointed to the counter, right at one of the workers who was currently serving someone.

"That there is Mrs. Gourmet. She'd be furious with me if I didn't bring you up to meet her."

I couldn't help but chuckle a bit, myself. "Sounds like my granny. It's a requirement for a stranger coming to Ponyville that they meet her."

"Yep, that's Mrs. Gourmet." He started walking to the counter, giving nods and replying to greetings the whole way there.

The elderly mare had her silver mane up in a net, and a smile spread on her pale blue face when she saw the both of us.

"Why Jet, did you bring another new fighter for me?" Her city accent was even thicker than Jet's, but something about it made me feel right welcome.

I think Jet was going to introduce us, but Mrs. Gourmet and I were already shaking hooves by the time I noticed. "Howdy there, Mrs. Gourmet. My name's Applejack, and it's mighty nice to meet you."

Her smile just grew wider. "Sounds like we got us a country filly. You always did have a thing for southern folk, Jet. Was it her voice, those strong farm legs, or maybe something else?"

She started snickering, and I was too when I turned and saw how red Jet's face was. "Okay so Applejack is new here! I was just telling her about how all new recruits are basically required to meet you."

Him completely avoiding the question only made Mrs. Gourmet chuckle more, but she did finally stop teasing him. “That’s right, sweetie. Nobody joins this little group without me knowing! I’m the head chef here, making sure all these brave souls don’t go hungry, so get used to saying hello to me!”

We both nodded to her, and I took to looking at the food that had already been prepared. Toasted sandwiches of all kinds lined the long table behind her, the cooks in the back looked like they were tossing salads, and a few pastries were on shelves on Mrs. Gourmet’s left.

“So, is there any chance you’ve seen Sprint or Jack anywhere? I’d like to get them introduced to Applejack soon, too.” I turned back to Jet once I heard the names.

Mrs. Gourmet put a hoof up, waving it up and down. “Oh, you actually just missed little Sprint. She came in here for a bite not too long ago and then took off. I think you’ll find her wandering around the back.”

I raised my brow up at her. “That seems a might dangerous. ‘Course, I don’t know what the streets are really like out here, but being out in broad daylight don’t seem like the kind of thing y’all wanna be doing.”

Jet gave me a nod. “It’s not. I told Sprint to stay inside unless we had a job to do. Applejack, you feel like tagging along with me to find her?”

“Wouldn’t bother me a bit.” I found myself crossing my front leg over the other one, as I often did when I was pleased or confident.

The colt nodded at me again before turning to Mrs. Gourmet. “Sorry we have to cut this visit short.”

She just let out a giggle. “Oh, don’t sweat it, sweets. I’ve got plenty of company!”

With that, Jet headed towards the door with me right behind him. It was a quick trip back through the lobby and out the front door, where Jet quickly dashed around the side of the building and to the back. Apparently the theater was near the edge of the city, as I could see the ocean from where we were. In fact, there was nothing but one more street and a line of buildings between us and the end of the land.

The entire back area was a large, empty lot littered with stacks of boxes and barrels. There was a single streetlight in the center, and the whole space was surrounded in chain link fence. As empty as it was, there was no sign of a pony around.

“Jet, I don’t see anyone. Maybe –”

“Sshh.” Jet started looking around. After a few moments, he froze and motioned to a few barrels not too far away that were shaking. He slowly made his way to the left side of the barrels, waving his hoof over to the right side.

Once I was across from him, he dived behind the barrels. I heard a squeal just before Jet popped up facing away from me. “Gotcha!”

When he turned around, I saw a small, brown filly with a white spot between her eyes. She looked like she was around Applebloom’s age and was just as dirty as Jet.

“Applejack, meet my little sister, Sprint. Sprint, this is Applejack, our newest recruit.”

I saw a big smile cross her face when she looked up at me. "Nice to meet you, Miss Applejack!"

"So you're Sprint? Mighty nice to meet you, little miss." I held my hoof out ans was promptly met with a strong shake. "Hoowee, we got us a strong one."

"I would hope so." Jet ruffled up Sprint's mane. "My little sister here is the head of our infiltration division. I've seen her sneak in and out of places an invisible unicorn couldn't even get through."

My eyes widened, as did Sprint's proud grin. "Ain't you a bit young to be putting yourself in danger like that? And Jet, ain't you scared to have her running around out there?"

The filly quickly shook her head. "I can handle myself, and everyone here knows it. Right bro?"

"Don't let her age or size fool you, Applejack. I was a bit apprehensive to let her take on missions by herself, but Sprint here has bailed me out of more bad situations than I can count."

I couldn't help but smile myself. Hearing all this really reminded me of my own sister. "So what exactly is it you do?"

Before Sprint could answer, we all heard someone shouting Jet's name and turned. A panting colt ran right up to us, huffing and trying to speak. Eventually he finally stopped, waited to catch his breath, and then started speaking.

"Jet, you need to come to the comm room. No time to explain, you need to see somethin."

He raised his brow, looked to Sprint and me, then back to the other colt. "How important is this?"

"Very. Please hurry."

"Alright." Jet then turned to his sister. "Sprint, I'm trusting you with Applejack. She needs to learn our routes. You can do that, yeah?"

The filly puffed her chest out proudly. "Leave it to me!"

With that, Jet took off. Sprint turned to me once he was out of sight. Her face was much more serious now, but she retained her playful tone.

"Follow me, rookie! You've got a lot of work to do!"

Sprint took off inside again, but she wasn’t quick enough to get away from me. Once we were in the lobby, the filly scooted behind the concession area, through a door that was there, and opened a manhole cover in the center of the barren room that the door led to.

“This here is a preferred sewer entrance. It’s not graceful, but you don’t really look like the graceful type. Uh... no offense.”

At first, Sprint looked a little worried that she might’ve offended me, but her bright smile came right back when she heard me laugh. “None taken, sugarcube. I ain’t never taken to prim and proper anyhow.”

The little filly grinned at me before descending the ladder. I followed after her pretty quickly, and I soon realized why Jet and Sprint thought this might be a problem. Of course it’s a sewer, but it smelled worse than my uncle’s two year old collection of skunk skins.

"Hoowee, now that's a stink. And I thought the chicken coops stunk."

Sprint just chuckled and climbed back up to close the lid. "You get used to it after a while. I'm gonna warn you, Miss Applejack, the way we've routed these sewers is pretty complicated."

"I'm sure it ain't too bad. Where do we start? Oh, and y'all can just call me Applejack, but I like your manners."

The small filly let out a giggle before motioning to the corner to our right. "We label routes by color. We have blue, green, red, and yellow. I'll start with red."

I nodded and followed when she started walking. "Sounds good to me."

The two of us turned the corner and walked for a long while. It was quiet save for the occasional rat or splash of... something going in or out of the grimy, green water. Eventually we stopped at an intersection, and Sprint drew my attention to a drawing on the wall of a pony profile.

"See these shapes?" The small pony waved her hoof around the drawing. It was then that I noticed a circle, triangle, square, and star. "At each corner, we have these little pictures. Each shape indicates a direction, and the color of the shape tells you to go that direction to continue the route."

I just gave her a nod. "Sounds easy enough. So which shape is which direction?"

"Star is straight forward, circle means left, square means right, and triangle means up. You'll only see triangles when there's a ladder to climb up on."

After Sprint was finished, I took another look at the picture. "So if we're on the red route, this is telling us we need to take a left?"

She gave me a firm nod and a smile. "You got it! Come on, let's keep going!"

Seeing her so excited and full of energy was pretty refreshing considering how gloomy things had been lately. "Right behind you, sugarcube."

I'm not sure how much longer we were down there, but it had to have been a few hours. The sewers were massive, and by the time we had gotten back where we started aboveground the sun was almost exactly overhead. It was hard to tell through the clouds of smoke, but there was a brightness where I assumed the sun was.

"Boy howdy, y'all really had to learn your way around. I could've sworn we'd passed by the same place at least three times."

Sprint let out a giggle as she trotted towards the entrance of the theater. "It takes time to figure out, but I'm sure you will! Come on, let's find my brother."

"Sounds good to me, let's go."