It took four long, anxiety-filled days for the promised airship to arrive. Said airship, requisitioned from the Royal Navy, was now moored to the tallest tower of Twilight’s tree palace. A gangway was firmly planted to the balcony.

“Okay,” said Princess Twilight with a sigh of finality. The last few days had taken their toll, and she looked like a wreck. Most of the ponies present did. “Now did everypony bring the essentials we’ll need?”

“Yeppers!” chirped Pinkie Pie, “I’ve got my compass, my sunscreen, my first aid kit, my hay jerky…”

The other mares ignored Pinkie as she went through all the things she was bringing with her. Twilight’s eyes locked onto a heaping pile of colorful luggage stacked beside the Friendship Map. One twitched involuntarily. “Rarity,” she said.

“Yes, Twilight?”

“Do you remember when I said to bring the essentials?”

“But of course! I’ve brought the changes of clothing I will need, as well as my makeup and toiletries. Who knows how long we will be cooped up on that airship?”

Twilight’s hand covered her eyes, then slowly slid down her face. “This isn’t a luxury cruise, Rarity. You don’t need makeup, or that many sets of clothes.”

“...Boneless, my whoopee cushion, my silly string…” Pinkie continued in the background.

“On the contrary, Twilight,” Rarity retorted, “I simply must present the best possible first impression. We are about to meet with a being that thinks itself a god, are we not? Regardless of whether that’s true, we must look our best if we are to engage in diplomacy with it.

“And this clothing isn’t all for myself,” she added. The unicorn popped open a steamer trunk to show off her portable sewing machine, as well as several bolts of fabric and thread. “You told us yourself that both Gilda and Rainbow Dash are likely to have outgrown their clothing. Once they are aboard, I can take their new measurements and fashion them something to cover up with!”

Princess Twilight heaved another sigh and walked over to the luggage pile alongside Rarity. “Alright, we have a little time before the last member of our party gets here. We’ll go through all this to determine what’s really necessary. Clothes for Dash and Gilda are a good idea, but we’re going to need to leave some of this behind to save weight.”

“...my emergency pie, my backup emergency pie, my tactical confetti charges…”

Rarity tsked loudly and gestured over to the rambling party pony. “Then why does she get to bring so many things with her?”

Pinkie Pie stopped mid-sentence and locked eyes with the fashionista. “Because I can fit more into my pockets than you can, silly! No wait, pockets or pocket dimension? It’s one of those!” Just like that, she went back to taking inventory.

Rarity shook her head. Best not to think too hard about it. “Alright, Twilight, we will cut back on the luggage. Here, we’ll separate out what can be left behind.”

As the two mares worked on lightening Rarity’s baggage, Applejack leaned against the opposite side of the map. Her eyes were locked on the South Celestial Sea. The island in question wasn’t visible, but Twilight had said she knew how to make it appear. “I’m comin’ for ya, Dash,” she murmured to herself.

A hand on her shoulder made her look up. Fluttershy smiled encouragingly to her. "We all are," she added before pulling Applejack into a sidehug. Though the farmpony wasn't that big on physical affection, she gratefully accepted it this time.

After roughly half an hour, Twilight had finished setting aside the extra luggage that wasn’t needed. She’d also coaxed Pinkie into cutting back on the amount of party supplies she was bringing along. Now she stood at the head of the map, her jaw set and her eyes somber.

“Alright girls. I’ve told you everything I know about the island. We don’t keep much information on it, because we don’t want creatures trying to find it. Rainbow Dash and Gilda are going to be drastically different in appearance and demeanor. There’s a good chance either one or both of them will resist being taken off the island. And if they don’t fight back, the Spirit certainly will.

“Everypony needs to stay laser-focused once we’re on the ground. Do not split up, do not wander too far into the jungle. Most of all, do not let Gilda or Rainbow Dash seduce you or entice you to stay.” Out of the corner of her eye, Twilight noticed Applejack shudder.

“We will go over the extraction plan as well as the backup plan en route,” she said, “Now, does everybody have their Element?” She held up her tiara of Magic for emphasis. The four other mares lifted the shining pendants from around their necks and held them up. The Element of Loyalty was missing, and Twilight could only hope that Rainbow Dash still had it in her possession.

“Good,” said the alicorn, before turning her attention to the map. “Applejack, you asked me how Rainbow Dash was able to figure out where the island is. The island can only be found when it wants to be found.” She pulled a few folded-up and weathered pages from inside her blazer. “It intended for the journal to be a recruiting tool to get creatures to join Gilda, Rainbow Dash in particular.

“When I showed Rainbow Dash the journal, I removed a few pages. Parts of the journal that talked about things only the two of them would know about. I was hoping it would be easier to convince her the journal was fake with those pages omitted.” Twilight could feel Applejack’s glare on her. Taking a deep breath, she continued.

“The journal was full of the island’s magic. Rainbow Dash set it on the edge of the map when she was done reading, like so.” Princess Twilight set the torn out pages on the edge of the map. The others gathered around to see what happened.

At first, nothing did. Then, there was a shimmer on the enchanted map. What appeared to be broken pixels danced over part of the South Celestia Sea. Finally, an island popped into existence. Its presence was flickering and unstable, but it was there. Twilight had a clipboard out, and was furiously jotting down coordinates.

“The island won’t move again until it decides it has the worshippers it needs,” she concluded, “Rainbow Dash is strong, and I’m confident we will get to her before she offers herself to the Spirit. If she brought the Element of Loyalty with her, that will buy us the time we need to get there.”

A sharp rapping at the door to the map room made the five mares perk up. “Ah!” said Twilight, “Here’s our backup.”

“Backup?” said Applejack, “Who else didja think needed to be on this rescue mission?”

Twilight smoothed her mane as she approached the door. “The more ponypower we have, the harder it will be for the Spirit to pick us apart. We needed someone with prior experience with the island, as well as experience in general with incorporeal beings. We could also use some extra magic in our corner.” With that, she turned the knob and pulled the door open.

“Greetings, my little ponies!” boomed the large alicorn mare who strode into the room. Her starry blue mane and tail swirled around her like a mystical maelstrom, and confidence gleamed fiercely in her eyes. The light pleather jerkin, chainmail leggings, and bracers suggested she was fully prepared for a physical fight. The comically huge warhammer she carried over her shoulders drove the point home.

“So!” exclaimed Princess Luna, perhaps a bit louder than she needed to, “Who is ready to rescue a friend, and put an upstart false deity in its place?” She let the warhammer drop onto the floor, leaving a spiderweb of cracks along the marble.

Twilight had not moved from the door. Her hand gripped the handle so hard the color drained from her knuckles. Just count to ten, Twilight, she thought to herself, and explain the plan to her again with fewer figures of speech.

Author's Note

Just a bit of an intermission to break up the non-stop sex. Hopefully my character writing is up to par!