A Roegadyn in Equestria

A Roegadyn in Equestria.

Chapter 70: First Days On The Job Are Never Easy. Part 1.

*Point of view: Daring Do*
*Location: Canterlot*
*Time: One in the afternoon*

Daring Do had just now pushed open a set of doors for one of the high-end apartment buildings in the city that was located near the center of Canterlot’s residential area. From where they were the pair was literally as close as one could get to the nobles without having to be one of them. It was a thirteen-story tall building that houses a few high-ranking personnel that mostly worked in the military or the castle. The building itself was painted an eggshell white and the windows were lined with balconies so that the residents had the option of setting up some planters for flowers or to even go about in growing a small garden.

It was at that precise moment that a Pegasus flew towards one of these and landed at their apartment from outside so that they did not need to go through with using the main entrance and utilizing the elevator or stairways. The street in front of them was a four-way intersection that was busy with the hustle and bustling of business ponies and other such beings that were going to or coming from work. There was even a stray mare that was running along and clutching a to-go-bag from what could have been from them eating out on their lunch break.

Daring Do herself changed out of her civilian clothing and into something that was more fitting for a job that did not require her to put any pen to paper. Although, it was not as flashy as her usual cave diving and artifact retrieving work outfit that she was usually seen in. This one consisted of a set of blue jeans and a white tank top. Over the shirt was a green lightweight jacket that was completely left open. Her left outer thigh was holding on to a scabbard with a long knife in its sheath.

Also, if one were accustomed to firearms. Then it would have been obvious that she was wearing a holster underneath the jacket on her left side thanks to the way she was adjusting her shoulders to get comfortable in it. This was due to the straps going around her back and down both shoulders to keep it situated in place and ensure that the weapon would not fall out in case she was to ever take flight.

Following closely behind the Pegasus, was Engineer. The stallion was wearing a long coat that covered up some basic middleweight armor that was comprised of scales from a lizard and some leather in different sections to emulate his ranger gear for when he arrived. There was a short sword strapped to his waist and a strange device on his back that looked to be an oversized and far longer version of the pistol he made for her. Earlier when she saw this, she asked him what was up with the change and not using his normal setup. However, all she got was a vague reply that he needed to hold off on it until something was done first.

Daring Do released a heavy sigh as she pinched the bridge of her muzzle and having this frustrated expression for a couple of seconds after that before she started to look around from where she stood. It then proceeded with her turning to the right side so that she was walking down the sidewalk and towards the less desirable side of town. She then caught sight of him walking right next to her as close as possible without intruding on her space. The most recent events were now playing in her head as she tried to make sense of it all to come up with what they needed to do next.

The place that they just exited, was where the quest giver was currently staying, and they came to meet up with her to learn what they could for the job. This turned out to be a mare that went by the name of Stormy Flare. She was the mother of Spitfire who was one of her friends and a member of the Wonderbolts. In fact, she was their one and only captain. The basic rundown was the following. Stormy Flare was coming into town for a visit that would have lasted nearly a week to see her daughter. However, upon her arrival. It was soon discovered that Spitfire had gone missing for nearly twenty-four hours beforehand.

Stormy Flare immediately tried to find out whatever she could from the Royal Guard, along with those that she knew from Spitfires Inner circle. Unfortunately for the mare, not a whole lot was known aside from her daughter leaving work as usual and just suddenly disappearing and leaving no trace behind us to where she could have gone.

As for the Royal Guard, they were already put on the case, but an entire day went by, and no word was sent when it came to finding Spitfire herself or any new clues as to her whereabouts. All that was really known so far. Was the simple fact that Spitfire finished work and left at her usual time at four in the afternoon and did not show up for her next shift the following day.

As Daring Do was asking all the questions she could of her friend's mother. Engineer was silently standing back and just looking around the living room and casually walking from one place to another. It was not until near the end that he finally started to talk with Stormy Flare on what she did while she was inside of her daughter's apartment. The older mare stated that she stayed in the guest bedroom for most of the time. This was of course, when she was not in the living room and sitting on the couch full of worry and being anxious to hear a knock at the door on any word on her daughter's whereabouts.

It was even discovered that the Royal Guard did indeed come to the apartment to do a search on any kind of clue that would lead them to Spitfire. But ultimately, they came up empty. She even heard him ask in detail as to whether she saw what the investigators were doing, and she gave him a play-by-play of their actions, along with whatever they touch. When it came to the end of the visit and Daring Do was ensuring they would find Spitfire soon, was when she caught Engineer constantly looking at some of the furniture’s with a shifting gaze from one to the next.

Back to the present. Daring Do started to shake her head so that she could be brought back to the moment and immediately asked the question that was on her mind since that time. “Mind filling me in on what that was all about? I've never once seen you get that serious. Also, I can't imagine that that furniture is your style.” After asking, her eyes drifted over just enough so that she could see where she was going and taking in his facial expression as he replied.

Engineer still had this concentrating look as he continued to stare straight ahead and spoke in a tone that was quite serious and very much unlike is usual outward, and almost carefree nature. “Either your police force has no idea in what they're doing to where I can't even trust them to find a snowball while trapped in a blizzard. Or the ones that came in might have been in on what happened to Spitfire and are just putting on a show…”

Daring Do scrunched up her face and was just about to ask him why right as he continued in a lower volume so the nearby pedestrians would not be able to hear their conversation. “They went through all her belongings and searched almost every nook and cranny of that apartment. But what I found that's really off, is how a number of the furniture and the items that were sitting on tables, bookcases and shelves were not where they were meant to be.” Once engineer said this, the two of them started to go back and forth with the questions and answers as Daring Do started off.

“It all looks fine to me.”

“That's the real problem right there if you ask me.”

“Huh?”

“It was too clean. Especially when you looked at the picture frames and the other items that were sitting on most of the flat surfaces in the living room for one.”

“Are you saying a mare can't keep a place clean?”

“Of course I'm not saying that. I'm just trying to make a point. Most of the picture frames have a thick layer of dust on top and there was a baseball on a stand that was slightly turned on its side.”

“Okay, so she may have just forgotten to clean those and just wipe down everything to Spruce the place up for when her mother came to town. That would make the most sense.”

“Not buying it. It was clear that it was done literally in the last day or two. Which lines up with her going missing. There were already some traces of dust beginning to fall on to the surfaces. When it came to the baseball. The only reason I'm saying it was put on its side, was the way that the right had a decent amount of dust. Whereas the rest of it was virtually untouched. So, it's obvious that it was originally taken off or possibly knocked over and then just placed back on the stand. Then there's also the furniture itself.”

“Fine, I’ll go right ahead and humor you. Tell me what you know about the furniture that's so odd that you even had to mention it.”

“Let me ask you this question first. From what you know. How long would you say Spitfire has been living there?”

“Hmm. I remember her telling me when she moved in. Which was maybe three or four years ago I think.”

“Do you happen to know that her curtains still let in a decent amount of sunlight even if they're closed? This shows me that she likes to get up at the crack of dawn. She values her privacy but doesn't want to live in complete darkness, so she got some that were made of some thin fabric. I also didn't notice much dust on the top where they slide on the railing above, so she must have been opening them every day.”

“Come on and spit it out already, where is this all going?”

“I'm getting there just hold on to your-. A friend of mine once told me that the devil is in the details. Now back to what I was saying... I noticed that the floorboards were beginning to fade due to sunlight exposure and this was true with the walls as well. I don't know how great your paint is here, but where I'm from, they usually put a new coat on every decade or so to keep it all looking new at the very least. The white paint behind the bookshelves left a vague outline of where they were kept from the time Spitfire moved in. I looked a little closer and saw that the shelf had been moved a couple of inches to the left.”

“Okay… Well maybe the investigators moved it to see if there was anything behind it?”

“I could tell you that it was not them. Why do you think I was asking Stormy Flare about what she saw the investigators doing? They were also not responsible for a few the other furniture pieces being moved about in the same way. There were subtle indentations on the wooden floor from where these items stayed for long periods of time. If I was to play it out in my head, then I'd say Spitfires room was thoroughly searched through before putting everything back as best as the Intruder could. Everything being cleaned was most likely their attempt to get rid of any evidence.”

“Oh, I get it now. So, the baseball must have gotten knocked over during this. Why didn't you say anything about it while we were still there?”

“I just recently found out that one of your usual meeting spots has a listening device that's been planted in one of the back rooms. So-.”

“What! Horse apples! You think that whoever's responsible could have put one of those in the apartment? Okay now I'm really mad! I've been using that place for the last couple of years. Now it just makes perfect sense why I keep running into all my competitors so frequently whenever I go on a job after going there. And here I thought it was just a bunch of random coincidences that I would always get the artifact and find them waiting outside!

“Well then? Now that you've heard that. Got any ideas on where we should head? This is still new territory for me, and you have the home field advantage. I'll just provide support for now.”

When Daring Do heard that last part. She was honestly expecting him to pull one of his moves to get closer. Although, that instantly faded after a couple of seconds went by and he made no motion to get any closer. If anything, his brows were knitted together as though he was going through some more facts in his mind. Her eyes were nearly beginning to drift towards him more and more until she realized she was about to bump into somebody and recover quickly in hopes that he hadn't noticed.”

When it seemed that he hadn’t, the Pegasus turned away so that she can let out a relieved sigh without him noticing. She then began to think the following as her inner voice was practically screaming at herself in disapproval at the start. “Get it together Daring! Just keep it cool!” The Adventurous Pegasus was more than surprised with how Engineer was staying so focused and not displaying that mare-ish side that he normally would. If anything, Daring Do was beginning to feel some small goosebumps on the back of her neck before she finally came up with something else to say.

“Let's head over to an old Pony I know. It's not too far from here.” And with that the pair continued on their way as Daring Do took the lead. When they finally arrived at their destination. They were standing in front of an old run-down pawn shop with the windows being so dirty that it wouldn't be too surprising that they could not see a face on the other side if it were to be pressing itself right onto the glass. The outside had some worn down Pony sized carvings of wood. However, they were worn away by either time or weather so that they were extremely hard to make out as to who or what they were.

Although, on one of the small tables near the door was a pair of stuff and mounted Ravens. One look to be dusty with its feathers nearly ready to fall off and misaligned. While the other could have been brand new with how it was pristine and free of any dust. Daring Do gave a quick smirk as she made to open the front door and made a quick remark. “Ha! I guess he cleaned up the place since last I was here. Come on, let's go see if he's in... Huh? I guess he is, the door is unlocked.” As she was pushing the door open. Daring Do couldn't help but notice that the sign was still showing that it was closed and shook her head disapprovingly at the owner’s carelessness.

Upon stepping inside. They found it to be extremely cramped as the walls were literally lined with mismatched items that made it nearly impossible for anyone to find anything they wanted unless they were willing to spend hours to sift through all the wares. Everything range from jars filled with nearly unidentifiable substances and what was no doubt eyeballs and other such components floating within. There were even dried roots dangling from the ceiling and items that most likely came from overseas as they came in various sizes and shapes.

Daring Do remembered that she once tried to go through these very shelves and was scared half to death when she found a nearly petrified snake when she thought she was grabbing on to some other type of item and yanked it out of the pile. She had no idea how it was possible that the shop owner could find whatever she asked for whenever she came to his shop. Especially when it came to all this mess. Although, she knew that this was just the front of the shop and looked around and found that there was a door leading to another part of the store right behind the desk.

After motioning towards it for Engineer to see. They went through and found a set of stairs leading down into what should have been the basement. From what they could tell. The front of the shop was still lit but the owner was not there, so he must have been down below. However, there was no signs of light being emanated at the bottom of the steps and she wondered if his crystal went out again or just forgot to close shop last night and was still asleep.

Daring Do then released in aggravated grunt before reaching over for a small handheld torch and struck it against the wall a few times to ignite the substance to get it lit. After reaching the bottom of the steps, did they find another door. But this one was left halfway open. She now had a flat stair as she began to shake her head again, while her free hand was also scratching the side of her head in frustration. That was when she called out when she was in the middle of pushing the door the rest of the way open so that the light of the torch could shine inside.

“How many times do I have to tell you that you need to finish with closing-up your shop so none of your things get stolen before you go... to... be-.” Daring Do's words died on her lips as she was starting to go wide-eyed at what was displayed on the floor only a few steps away from the doorway. This turned out to be a pony that was mostly dressed in gray robes with the hood pulled down.

The Pony was currently laying on their belly and facing the direction of the door. Their left hand was extended to show that they were reaching for the exit as a large knife was left sticking into the upper part of his back and towards the side so that it was undeniably running through his heart.

It was a light-gray Unicorn with straggly white hair that was beginning to show a bald patch on the top of his head. The eyes were still open but completely lifeless. The ground surrounding his body was already blackened with his dried blood. Daring Do was without a lack of better words, utterly stunned after seeing the sight of someone she knew being in such a state. Her entire world began to slow down as she felt a hitch in her throat as she tried to stammer out some words just before she felt her body being carefully nudged aside to allow Engineer to enter the room on her right side.

He made sure not to disturb the blood, along with the body to turn on some of the crystal lamps on the sides of the large room. From any others perspective. The place was just a pile of junk that was haphazardly stacked along the walls and multiple crates laid open. The room was big enough to allow four or possibly five wagons to sit inside, which was even bigger than the shop itself. One wall had a map of Canterlot, and strings of different colors were tacked to lead one section to another with the help of thumbtacks.

There were even a multitude of post-it notes that were placed in such a way that they were practically overlapping one another. Towards the back was a table that was rectangular in shape and could have had four chairs on the long ends in a single on the two edges. On top or a number of brown envelopes and only a few pieces of paper that were either upside down or completely turned over. However, when it came to Daring Do, what she saw was a complete mess as she knew that many objects were recklessly moved about from her last visit.

She then noticed how Engineer was walking around slowly and bending down to look underneath objects as he kept himself from coming into any physical contact until he made a full circle around the room and back to her. He then said the next part while keeping his hands tucked into his pockets and just staring at the body. “Would it be safe to assume he was a smuggler or some information dealer?”

She then replied as her nerves were finally starting to settle down but was still a little frazzled. “Oh, uh... yeah. He's the one that pointed me to that small village back in the Griffin Empire. He said he got an informant somewhere that gave him the location. Also, it may not look it, but this place is usually a lot more organized and filled with a lot more paperwork than this.” This got a low hum from Engineer as he slowly circled around the body again with an indifferent look in his eyes.

Slightly Disturbed her even though she knew he was willing to kill. But to honestly see a pony to be so unfazed on top of being a male, was making the whole thing stand out even more. Any other stallion would no doubt scream at such a high pitch that it would shatter nearby windows and fall over within seconds of seeing a dead body in a dark room. But what he did next nearly freaked her out. Without any type of remorse on his part. He began to ruffle through some of the pockets before pulling the knife out of the stallions back so that he can examine it.

He then said in a calm voice, “He doesn't have anything on hand that could give us any clues aside from the plain looking copper dagger. It's rather cheap so the attacker didn't mind leaving it behind. Too bad we can't really get fingerprints...” The term of fingerprints was new to her as she looked down to her hands for a few seconds, before bringing her eyes back up as he continued. “Judging from the angle it went in, the attacker lunged straightforward. So, if you take the height of the stab wound on his back into consideration. Then the attacker must have been at the same height.”

“I don't think he knew it was coming either. Because this would require one to either have a whole lot of strength or he was standing still with his back towards them when they came with the weapon. He was facing towards the door so they must have been talking and were about to leave. Then you have how his arm is outstretched towards the exit. He must have known that he couldn't get to it with the wound he received. So odds are, he was calling out and the door must have been wide open at the time.”

He started to scratch the bottom of his chin as he glanced around again to the table and then back to the door again before he went on. “This place must be pretty private. I doubt he would have left the door wide open for just anyone to walk in to overhear anything he was saying. Someone else must have come in and caused him to turn around so that his back would be exposed to his attacker. Everything upstairs seems fine, whereas everything down here has been emptied out except for the not so important items and notes.”

“Hey, do you think he might happen to be the type to have any kind of surveillance installed?” Daring Do scrunched up her muzzle as she wearily looked around the room as if searching for something. It did not take long until she spotted a torch that had a small round orb attached by tiny brass claws that would go around in a triangular shape and seeming to be a different color than the other decorations on the rest. She then went over to it and pulled the light off the wall holder and turning off the crystal above before bringing it over.

It was turned upside down and presented to Engineer as she said the following. “He said that this had a voice recorder installed after he was swindled out of pay due to not having the details put down on paper beforehand. Darn it all, it's been damaged! Look here, there's a small crack in the stone.” Engineer leaned in a little and asked, you want to see what we can get out of it?”

Daring Do took a moment to look over the stone a little to try and see what she needed to do to get it to activate. Several seconds went by as she started to do a number of actions. First, she would look over it several times before tapping at the stone lightly with her index finger. Then she started to say a couple of phrases that were most commonly used as passcodes. By the end, she gave out a frustrated sigh and just handed it straight to Engineer.

She then said, “I think we need a Unicorn to access it. That or an artifact. I really don't understand why they don't make these things easier for everyone to use!” Engineer began to roll it around in his hands a few times before he mentioned something that caught her attention. “Hey, I can vaguely make out some markings on the outside of the stone.” Daring quickly took the stone back and began to go over it again. It took her a few seconds, but she did notice a pattern that was almost invisible with how shallow the markings were made to be.

Engineer stayed silent for a few seconds before he took Daring Do by the right wrist and began to lead them out of the door in a rush. Very indignantly, Daring Do try to wrench her hand away but found that his iron grip was holding fast as she was beginning to talk at a much higher volume that was getting close to yelling. “What's the big idea?!” This got a quick response from him just as they were about to exit the shop now that they were up the steps.

“That bodies been dead for more than thirty-six hours. And before you ask how I know this. That body was ice cold, and it had no signs of any stiffening, so rigor mortis obviously wore off. There's also the lack of that putrid smell for stage three, where the body starts to decompose. It's safe to say he hasn't been dead for more than four days. So, if I was a betting man, then I'd say he's been dead around three. I have no idea how bad the city really is, but I find that too much of a coincidence. Also, we're heading back to the apartment!”

By now, the two got outside and hastily made their way back to Spitfire's place. Although, since they were in so much of a rush. Neither one of them took any notice to how there was only one stuffed Raven outside of the shop which only left the old beaten up one to still be in place. By the time they got back. It was getting closer to three in the afternoon. Spitfire's mother greeted them at the door, and they were soon shown in. At this point. Daring Do was obviously getting exhausted as they return to where they started and was now crossing her arms as she watched Engineer approach one of the tables that had the baseball on it.

He then reached for the stand that was holding it and gently grabbed on to the upper and lower half. Which consisted of three pronged bases that would intersect in the middle for an hourglass type of shape. This made it so that the ball would set comfortably between three rods while the other three were used as the base. He fiddled with it for a few seconds before the upper and lower half began to twist in opposite directions and became detached with a subtle click. Once this was done, he placed the upper half off to the side and it was able to stand with a flat piece underneath.

As for the other piece. That one had an indentation that was roughly the same size as that of the stone that they had in their possession. He then motioned to it with a tilt of his head and Daring Do immediately realize what he was going for and brought the stone out and placed it into the slot so that the upper half was the only part being shown. It did not even take more than a second before the stone was now giving off a faint glow and displaying the markings that were barely visible for all to see.

Coincidentally, the base that it was attached to now was also beginning to display similar markings and Daring Do turned her head over to Engineer without taking her eyes off of it as she asked a question from just under her breath. “How did you figure that out?” This got her a quick scoff before he playfully poked her in the side of her cheek with his finger lightly as he replied. “Didn't I already mention the whole details thing? I found it odd that the ball itself was Dusty on top, but the rest of the stand seemed perfectly fine. Plus, you could say it was also partly a gut instinct.”

She was just about to say more to him but was interrupted by a loud amount of static that was now coming from the stone that resembled what one would hear out of an old radio with a lot of problems with the speakers. Daring Do raised an eyebrow to this and wondered if this was due to the Damage done thanks to that crack. It could be plainly heard that there was an elderly male voice being a part of several conversations with different people, but none of it was legible enough to make out what was being said.

But it was not until after listening for nearly five minutes that they did catch something that had Spitfire's voice in the conversation. Unfortunately, there was still a lot of static. So, much of the sentences being said were broken up but they were both able to pick up on several words that consisted of the following. “Grand Gala... Theft... Diversion.” There were several long seconds that they could not make out before they got the next set of words from who they thought was the Unicorn and speaking to Spitfire. “Four days... believe... on...air... seven... careful...”

After another heavy amount of static went by and the two of them believing they heard everything. Everyone in the room, including Spitfire's mother who was standing a few feet away and listening. All gave a collective scream when the stone began to emit a high-pitched sound that began as a low buzz and grew within a few seconds to where they all had to fold down their ears and place their hands over them. Daring Do could do nothing but to scrunch up her face in pain, as she was also shutting her eyes tight and barely able to stay on her hoofs.

This only lasted for a few more seconds until it came to a sudden stop along with a shattering sound that was just barely perceivable in her current state. When she finally got back to her senses and looked around. Engineer was already helping Stormy Flare back up who had nearly collapsed. The stone itself could be seen with a number of additional cracks showing and a sliver of the surface broken off and now laying on the table a few inches away from the stand.

Stormy Flare was the first to speak up as she looked towards the remnants of the Stone with a worried look on her face, while also still hanging on to Engineer for some support for a few more seconds. “That was Spitfire's voice, I just know it was. But by Celestia's name… What was that horrific noise?” Daring Do then heard Engineer shaking his head thanks to the way his ears were flopping as he spoke in a mix of annoyance and pain. “These dang ears are way too sensitive! My head feels like it's going to get split in half...”

After hearing that. Stormy Flare went to the back set of sliding doors that would lead to the balcony and opened it up so that some fresh air could come inside. She then said, “You poor dear. Here, why don't you sit down, and I'll get you some water. Just don't go pushing yourself.” This got Daring Do to roll her eyes and expected him to take advantage of the situation and get pampered like all stallions would. But she, along with the other mare in the room were shocked at what he said next.

“I've had explosions going off so close that they send me flying and I felt a lot worse than this.” Daring Do started to give him a questionable look as she looked him up and down and started to think to herself about how that did not really sound normal. Sure, she's seen him in action in a number of times with these guns and that machete of his. But the very notion that he was actually caught up in an explosion was more than concerning for the young Pegasus.

But before either of the two could do anything else. Engineers spoke up as he approached the item and picked up the rest of the Stone from the stand, along with the small shard and began to speak. “Miss Stormy Flare. Did your daughter tell you anything about a theft?” This got a firm head shake from the mare as she replied. “No. Spitfire knows better than to discuss private Investigations even when it comes to family members.”

Daring Do was the next to speak up, as she pointed to the stone that was still in Engineer's hand. “Okay, I'm guessing that she must have been there either during, or before the murder happened in the shop.” Engineer nodded to this before throwing his own thoughts in. “I'd say she was there and whoever the culprit is must have taken Spitfire. Odds are they didn't need the Unicorn anymore and thought that she would be a better hostage given her position.”

Daring Do released a very loud grunt as she stomped one of her hoofs before she spoke. “It still makes no sense! He was a male for Celestia's sake! They're protected by law and I'm sure the princess would have given anything for his safe return if he was used as a bargaining chip.” They’re practically worth more than their weight in gold in the eyes of the country.” Engineer answered as he was giving a light shrug. “Whoever did this must have not cared on what gender they were. It's that, or they must really hate males enough to go through with killing one.”

The young Pegasus’s eyes shifted from left to right as she was running some thoughts through her mind on who could be responsible. Of course, she started off with her usual suspects such as her competition when it comes to finding relics. But immediately pushed them away. She then came to a sudden conclusion as she looked straight ahead with this far off look on her face as she uttered the following words just under her breath. “The herd cult...”

Everyone in the room went silent for a moment, before Engineer was already making his way to the door and pulled it half open by the time he called over his shoulder. “Hey let's go! You heard the recording. We're running out of time. We got an airship to catch!” And with that, the two of them were gone in almost an instant, only to leave the concerned mother behind as she waited patiently for her daughter's return from the living room.

The next scene shows the sun getting close to going over the horizon to show that it was nearly six at night, when Engineer and Daring Do were standing at the entrance to the Airship Docks and trying to mix in with the crowd that were going back and forth from their own modes of transportation. There was maybe a dozen or so airships that were docked and one caught daring dues attention due to its size that was dwarfing all of the rest.

This one in particular she immediately recognized to be owned by a mare that went by Big Mama. She could not help but to narrow her eyes at it as she wondered to herself about the sudden change in that shady trading company. There were so many rumors about their shady dealings over the years and she was eagerly waiting for a chance to throw their dirty laundry out and into the open once she had enough proof. However, it seemed as if overnight the entire company just up and changed.

It went from rumors in the underground about slave trading, foal-napping and along with black market trading of illegal goods and dangerous artifacts, to an upstanding organization that even started to work with charity foundations. And it did not stop there either. Almost overnight, a large portion of the black market literally came to a stop from what she got from her sources. There was even talk going around about Big Mama actually being on a diet which nearly floored Daring Do upon hearing it.

Her attention was brought back to engineer who was already weaving between the pedestrians and going to one of the upper floors that housed some of the smaller ships. The pair took an elevator up and stepped off to see a wide wooden dock that easily went several hundred meters ahead and gangplanks leading to a number of ships on either side with anchoring lines attached. They were also many crew members and other pedestrians going to and from some of the ships and loading cargo that were mostly in crates. While others were being lifted by nets into open cargo holds with a hatch open on the deck.

The pair walked along in a way that made it seem as though they were meant to be there and carefully kept an eye on their surroundings as they counted the numbers that marked each docking port for a vessel. A few of the ships appear to be mainly for recreational purposes for the elite and possibly couriers that were to make quick deliveries with parcels that were too heavy for a Pegasus to fly with. That was when she heard engineer speaking up from the side of his mouth. “Some of these look just like the size of speed boats. It makes me wonder if they go just as fast.”

Daring Do had no idea what he was referring to and just looked straight ahead and awkwardly smiled to make it seem to others that she was a part of some type of inner joke and that nothing was wrong. After a bit, they finally came across dock number seven, and she was about to stop when she felt Engineer putting his left arm around her right to lead her into continuing their walk without him so much as glancing in the ships direction.

She gave him a pointed glare as he said the following in a whisper that was right next to her ear without being too inconspicuous. “You wouldn't want to make it too obvious, now would you? Just keep going and try taking as much details as you can.” He then started to point off to the side of the pier that the ship was on right as they were passing it so that the two of them could slow down and pivot on the spot.

The stallion then started to talk at a slightly elevated volume so that others nearby could eavesdrop on what he was going to say. “I know we've had this argument a number of times, but I still think the size of the boat doesn't matter when it comes to the speed.” Daring Do was not quite sure what to do for a split second there. But she caught on quickly and saw how he was playing the fool. She then smirked back playfully and pointed towards the large ship that was at dock seven before bringing her hand to the smaller one next to it as she was talking.

“You got to have rocks for brains from working on that farm for too long to think like that. It's obvious the smaller ship is going to be quicker, it's basic aerodynamics.” This little pretend argument they had, lasted a few more minutes with Engineer constantly trying to make his case about the size difference. While Daring Do was actually throwing in some very valid points from a non-ship riding Ponies’ perspective. Eventually, this started to draw the attention of everyone nearby and a few of the crew members that were on both ships that were being used as the examples.

It did not take long for her to notice how there was a mare on the larger ship and she was looking down at the two of them. Seeing as most of the crew members were now lining up over the edge to hear the argument. This made the mare run down the gangplank and right up to Daring Do. She was wearing an outfit that closely resembled what one would wear when on the high seas. The pants were gray, while the boots were dark brown around her hoofs. Black fingerless gloves could be seen that ran halfway up her forearm.

As for her shirt. It was a light red with the front being opened enough to show her D-sized breasts that were displaying her cleavage. She even had a black hat with a white trim on top. She was mostly a beige color with a black mane. Judging from what she saw earlier and leading up to now. The rest of the crew from that ship were almost indistinguishable when it came to their clothing and the only way that this mare stood out was due to the hat itself. She then thought to herself for a second the following.

“They must be using an enchantment to keep their identities hidden. Isn't it illegal to do that when you don't have the proper permits? Only the Royal Guards and those that are guarding VIPs to be allowed to have that.” She glanced around without moving her eyes thanks to her peripheral vision and saw that there were no guards within sight and began to continue with her thoughts. “What happened to all the security?” Herself imposed questions were brought to a stop when the mare in front of them began to talk in an angry tone.

“Can't ye see that ye be troublin’ me’ crew! And take this, this thin-. Take this stallion and get out of here! A dock is no place for one of their kind! Best be not seeing his face near me ship again!” Daring Do did not really like it very much when she caught that this one in front of her was about to call Engineer a thing. And this made the fur on the back of her neck begin to bristle for but a second before she caught herself. She then brought a fake smile that was eerily convincing to her lips as she spoke to the mare. “Oh, I'm dreadfully sorry for our little dispute to halt your progress in getting your ship ready to go.”

The mare was clearly about to scream some obscenities in their way and Daring Do was ready to take them. But she was pulled away by Engineer who was putting on a convincingly scared persona and spoke a matching voice that was just a little too much for the situation. “I-I I'm really sorry if we bothered you...W-We... we'll just g-go now.” As they were leaving back the way they came. Daring Do caught on in the corner of eye the way that the mare was sneering at Engineer, and she felt her trigger finger beginning to twitch in response.

She instantly realized this and brought her attention straight ahead as she had this momentarily perplexed expression. Her eyes then went wide as she started to think the following while she and Engineer were locking arms together. “Oh, Daring, what just happened? Don't tell me I'm-. No-no-no-no-no-no! You are not going down that road! No way am I going to let my base instincts take control! I would have the same reactions if it was any other male. Yeah! That's right! It doesn't necessarily have to be because it's Engineer...”

“And why in Celestia's name is he still holding me! Come on just let go of me already! Wait why am I waiting for him to let go? I could just pull my arm away... Nnggh! ghagh! What is wrong with me?! I can't even bring myself to pull away. And was he always this strong to begin with? I know he's not trying to hold tight, but it feels the same way as that time I got stuck in that anaconda’s death grip. Just what has his mother been feeding him? And why isn't this widely done for all the stallions? Wait! What? No no! Bad Daring! Bad Daring! Just forget about him holding you and remember one of your friends is still missing!”

By the time they got a fair distance away and were near the end of the dock. Daring Do finally got around to wrenching her arm free just as Engineer began to talk. “We found what we're looking for.” This got an annoyed yet confused sound from Daring Do as he continued. She was way too hostile towards me. Even though my argument was that her ship was obviously faster. Which should have gotten me on her good side at the very least. If she was the culprit for that dead body we found, then I believe it.”

After Daring Do recovered, she then asked the next obvious question to him. “We're going in there aren't we?” Engineer then gave her a quick nod before he said the following while gesturing ahead. “Eeyup! Coming back for sure. First, we need to do a little shopping and find the nearest hardware store.” And with that, the pair disappeared into the crowd when he took a hold of her left arm near the wrist and began to pull the Pegasus along. The entire time this was going on. Daring Do was fighting his grip with no signs of any real progress. But from an outsider’s perspective, the mare wasn’t really trying all that hard to begin with.

The next set of scenes depicted Engineer going through a couple of stores that first started with one full of food and the next with them being surrounded by small tools and an assortment of glass jars of various shapes and sizes that were along the shelves. This was then followed by going back to his hotel room and being busy at one of the tables that was practically covered with random assortments of goodies that were procured. As all the while this was going on. Daring Do was following and glancing over his shoulder at what he was getting at the stores and keeping a close eye when it came to their time in the room.

This all took a couple of hours. So, by the time they arrived near the docks again. It was already getting close to six at night as the sun was already at the point at which it would go over the horizon with hardly any effort needed on Celestia's part. Daring Do was already decked out with her survival gear and weapons being held on her hips. Which consisted of a survival knife and the pistol that she got from Engineer.

As for the guy himself. He didn't look all that different from before when they were last there, but he did have a couple of items that could be seen just under his open coat. Running along his belt was a couple of loops and a few pouches that were filled with items. There was even a crisscrossing set that would go over his chest and these were filled with a number of vials with powdery substances. Some were long and thin, while others were the size of the bottles that baby food would normally be stored inside.

After getting to a spot where they could not be seen anymore. Engineer had Daring Do wait behind and went sneaking off for several long minutes before coming back. But before he went. The stallion just brought a single finger up to his lips and gave a very low shush to get her to not draw any attention as he replied. “Just putting together a little distraction for when we'll need it.” Daring Do was beginning to get a little irritated with the way she was tapping her hoof at this point when she replied.

“I don't like waiting so much. Spitfire could be on that very boat and who knows what they're doing to her.” Engineer was keeping an eye on the situation while speaking through the side of his mouth in a whisper. “Spitfire’s a part of the military, isn't she?” She gave him a slow nod before he continued. Then odds are the girl’s capable of handling some torture for a few days. Going with away that that one mare was acting towards me and only me, gave me the impression that she would be treated a whole lot better than your friend at the shop. She's also a possible bargaining chip if they should get cornered.”

Once he was finished, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a device that could be held in his hands that was in the shape of a tube. It was about an inch and a half wide and nearly six inches long. While still grasped in his right hand. He brought one end to his right eye and pointed the other towards the ship as he started to talk again. “Our little commotion from before brought out thirteen crew members and this included the mare that came down to see us. I only see six right now on the deck. The others must be below. Once the sun starts to go down, we will make our move.”

Daring Do raised an eyebrow to this and looked between the ship and engineer for a few seconds before she spoke up. “You plan to do it during the switching of the sun and moon? If we're going to wait, shouldn't it be better for after it's gone completely dark?” The stallion gave a quick, yet firm head shake as he was continuing to survey the ship while answering.

“They don't come off as the type that only just started going into this sort of business. They'd most likely expect something to happen in the dark, so they'll be on high alert then. Here, take this and have a look at both ends of the ship and on the mast above. They appear to be doing their duties, but they're really just posted there for lookouts.”

She was then handed the item which she found out to be a miniaturized telescope and began to use it. Indeed, the crew members that came into view were mindlessly repeating the same mediocre task repeatedly while keeping a good look at all angles of the ship to be inconspicuous. However, what did catch her attention was the way the light from the lowering sun reflected off one of their faces and revealed that they were wearing a set of goggles with a green tint to the lenses.

The Pegasus could not help but to angrily mumble under her breath the words, “Night vision,” before she paused for a few seconds and continued. “I was sure I didn't see any of them wearing goggles before.” That was when she reached into one of the coat pockets and pulled out a small pair of goggles. These were similar and had the same green tinted lenses before holding them up for Engineer to see as she spoke. “They got the same equipment that I do. It wouldn't matter if we came in under the cover of darkness if they had those on.”

The reply she got from him only caused her to smirk. “That's why we're doing it during the transition. If we can't go during the day and we can't go during the night when those things are active, then we'll just have to slip in before the darkness takes hold and everything is being covered in rapidly moving shadows. I want you to wait here and keep an eye on the ship. I'll sneak on board during that change of lighting and take out the guards so you can swoop on in.”

She looked towards the ship again with the device in hand for a few seconds before she lowered it in order to ask how he was going to do such a thing without getting spotted. Although this did not really get a chance to happen. This was due to Engineer being gone without giving any type of indication that he had even moved. She then had this flat expression that just said that she was not entirely amused when she said the next bit in a condescending tone to no one but herself. “How the hay is a big fella like that move so quick?”

From that point on, Daring Do waited as she counted the minutes that went by until the sun and the moon began to exchange their positions. The bright orb in the sky just barely made it over the horizon and the guard on the mast, as well as the one at the front of the ship were already taken out. Everything went unusually dark between the couple of seconds of the sun going away and the moon finally coming up to illuminate the night sky by the time the last guard was knocked out from behind by Engineer.

Through the scope she caught sight of him waving and she immediately flew over after dodging and weaving between a few of the ships lower holds and swooping up onto the deck to land on the ship, so she was now right next to him and looking around for any surprises.

Without even exchanging any words between the two of them. They immediately went down below deck through the main entrance and were stalking the hallways and taking out a few of the wandering crew members with a combination of sneaking up behind or causing a distraction with one of them making some odd noises so that they would turn their back towards the second of the pair. This continued until they searched the entire level which included the dining hall and some personal rooms that the crew members obviously slept in.

By then, they counted to nine of the crew members, which included the three up on top of the deck. Daring Do had a bit of trouble and almost messed up on a couple of occasions when the one that they were currently going after was about to make a loud enough noise to alert the others. However, she was always surprised with how quick and efficient Engineer was when it came to literally doing one motion to knock them out with a strike to either the side of the neck or the back of their head with his hand. He even went so far as to have one in a chokehold and the crew member could not even let out anything louder than a wheeze before succumbing and getting knocked out due to a lack of oxygen.

Once the level they were on was completely secure. The third was immediately descended upon thanks to a small set of ladders leading down and under a trap door. These were discovered when Daring Do could hear a strange sound as her hoofs stepped onto a section of the hallway that sounded different than the rest of the time they were roaming the halls. As soon as they got to the bottom and had a chance to look around at their surroundings. They immediately saw built-in cages that were on either side of a narrow hallway that could have spanned the length of the whole ship.

As they were being passed one after the next. Daring Do’s eyes quickly ascertained that they were meant to hold beings such as Ponies with the way there were shackles attached to the far wall so that they would be connected to one's arms and neck. The one trapped would then be forced into a standing position and limbs pulled nearly to their limits. Several of them looked clean. While a few obviously gave off a strong odor of someone who had clearly not bathed in days and the undeniable send of fecal matter that was obviously coming from a dirty bucket that was seen in the corner of one of these cells.

At the end of the hallway, was a single door with two lit up crystals on either side for illumination. The entrance itself did not look all that much, but there were a few markings along the edges to show that something or perhaps someone, had grabbed on to prevent themselves from being brought inside at one point or another thanks to the scratch marks and faded dirt. Engineer came right up to the door and carefully placed an ear to listen for anything on the other side for several moments. After getting nothing, he gave a solid nod and gestured with his eyes to the lock just below the door handle.

At first, she believed that he intended her to pick the lock. So, she was already beginning to dig into her bags for her tool pouch that had some lock picking equipment. However, before she could even find it. Engineer was already crouched down in front of the lock and was holding in his hands a simple screwdriver with a red handle and what appeared to be a bobby pin being pinch between some fingers in the other. Honestly, she did not believe that it would work at all and continue to ruffle through her pack quietly before she heard a subtle click that drew her eyes away from her belongings.

Engineer was giving a wide smirk from over his right shoulder towards her as she was just staring at him with her jaw partially dropped at the very notion that he was able to open it so easily with those items. In her mind, she could not help but to indignantly think the following. “Oh come on! I'm Daring Do for crying out loud! At least give me a chance to show my skills. Also, how does that even work with just a bobby pin and a screwdriver?! I paid a lot of bits for this kit. It better not have been a waste if I could’ve done it with those this whole time!”

She was brought back to reality when he slowly turned the handle to open the door and exposed a dark room on the other side as soon as a few inches were cracked open. Daring Do immediately snatched from in her bag her personal pair of night vision goggles and put them on before she took another look. When she did, the room was bathed and a dim green light that showed it to be a fair bit larger than what one would expect. At the far end and near the middle of the wall was a wooden chair with some thick armrests. It appeared to be larger than it needed to be, and more than one pony would be required to lift it.

On said chair was a mare that was bound up so that her legs and arms had multiple straps in a way to prevent any real movement to any that was secured. She was currently leaning forward and hanging her head low. She was wearing a full body jumpsuit that came up to their neck and judging from the shading thanks to the green tent of the lenses, it could have been a light shade of blue if the Pegasus were to place a guess on it. The rest of the room vaguely showed a couple of shelves with an assortment of jars and currently unidentifiable objects all around. There were even a couple of large thin boxes that laid against the walls at equal spacing that for roughly two meters in height and hardly over half a meter wide.

There was even another door towards the left of the restrained mare and near the corner that led to another room. Although, the door was currently closed, and Daring Do could not make out any light from the small crack underneath the frame to show that anyone could have been using it on the other side. She then quickly glanced over to Engineer and gave him the go-ahead with her eyes and motioning towards the room. Once he got the signal, they both immediately entered and went straight for the mare in the chair.

The only means of actual light for the room, was coming in from the hallway thanks to the entrance being left open and casting a direct path of Illumination that was long enough for all three to be seen all the way across the room itself. Daring Do stepped aside so that the hallway light could show just who they were approaching. One she did, the Pegasus immediately identified it as Spitfire. And the mare was not looking in the best shape as she had a couple of cut marks along her arms that tore away at bits of her jumpsuit near the area one would get blood drawn.

Her head was immediately lifted by Daring Do and this exposed a slightly swollen left eye that was caused by an injury not too long ago. The mare was seemingly out of it as she was not showing any signs of waking up soon. This even went on as Daring Do was lightly tapping the side of her face with her palm and whispering the mare's name.

As this was going on, Engineer removed the straps within moments. As a result. Spitfire ended up leaning forward without the support and needed to be caught by Daring Do, while Engineer was apparently giving her a go over to see if there were any other injuries. He went with the pulse, then looking over the cuts. Lastly, her eyelids were pulled up to check if they could dilate correctly.

She saw him giving her a subtle nod to indicate that there were no other problems, and she was going to be OK. The stallion then gestured towards the exit with his right thumb and the two placed themselves at either side of the knocked-out Pegasus so that they could use her arms to go over their bodies to carry her out. They had not even gotten halfway across the room when the boxes lining the room flew open in such a way that the front pieces were sent flying fast enough to catch them all by surprise.

One lid crashed into the floor and did a few tumbles as the corners collided with the hardwood floor. This was before it slammed into the door they left open and caused it to shut with a loud bang. Another lid crashed into her backside and sent Daring Do, along with Spitfire to the floor as they were wrenched out of Engineer’s grasp. One of the other lids ended up crashing into one of the shelves and caused a couple of jars on display to rattle and roll over the edge and smash open, thereby sending shards of glass and the unknown contents to pour all over the room.

This all resulted in the room being filled with an eerie black and blue fog that was giving off a phosphorescent glow as it went all around and left a thick layer that was easily up to their waist. Because of the way they fell. Daring Do hurriedly got back up to her hoofs, while struggling to bring Spitfire with her so that they were above the gas’s level.

But during this, her eyes could not stop themselves from watering as her nose was literally being burned from the inside out. This was all from the rancid smell that may have been from over a dozen disgusting and decaying origins that were too numerous to pick out from one another. It even sent her into a horrible coughing fit, that the act of breathing even turned into a labored feat.

Her eyes were now stinging so much from what was in the air now, that her vision was rapidly fading in and out. Her stomach was even churning to where she was ready to throw up everything it held. It only took a couple of seconds until she realized that her own body was beginning to feel heavy, and her muscles were also having the subtle twitches that were growing in number. Even in this condition, all she could do was to think the following and panic. “By Tartarus! W-We must be standing in a toxic cloud… We need to get out! NOW!!!”

Her thoughts were brought back to her surroundings when the site of the rest of the ponies that were unaccounted for when it came to the crew, came stumbling slowly out of the boxes and surrounded them on both sides of the room. Daring Do then thought to herself, “They're not wearing masks. How are they fine in all of this?” The fact of the matter was this was all true. As they were just standing there and not showing the smallest signs that the fumes even had any effect to the new arrivals.

But what she did also notice. Was the way their eyes were completely unfocused and had absolutely no life in them at all, as they were just trained straight ahead to whatever direction their heads were facing. In each of their possession was a curved cutlass already drawn and heavily stained with dried blood to show that they were used many times before. The way they stood also seemed unnatural in a sense. To her, it closely resembled what one would see when watching a wooden puppet being controlled by some invisible strings in one of those performances on the side of the street for the kids.

She attempted to call out to Engineer with what little breath she had still, but only got out a set of sickly coughs before she fell to the ground along with the still out cold Spitfire at her side. Her vision was finally beginning to fade as everything was turning black once this happened. She was also feeling the uncontrollable movements of her eyelids closing.

But before she lost consciousness. The Pegasus felt a rush of wind out of nowhere that almost caused her and Spitfire to roll over from the force. This was immediately followed with a loud roar that nearly scared her half to death and a near blinding amount of yellow light that barely came into view just before her eyelids fell and plunged her whole world into darkness.

There was no way that she was going to be able to forget the sound being made. As it caused her to think that it came from over a hundred monsters all roaring in both that of anger and pain. It even resonated throughout her entire body and almost threatened to make her soil her own pants. It was immediately followed with a loud crashing sound that was a mix of something being thrown and colliding with a solid surface to produce a wood shattering noise.

Her consciousness was nearly gone within the next couple of seconds, but she did feel the sensation of something grabbing on to her shirt from the back and being lifted into the air so that her hoofs could just barely be off the floor. The next thing she felt was the sudden weightlessness of her body, before coming to a hard stop and skidding along a flat surface.

And lastly, before everything was gone. Was the exhilarated feeling of taking in fresh air into her lungs. However, even with all this happening to where it would cause any normal person to panic and lose all sense of rational thought. All the Pegasus could have running through her last thoughts, were the following in both a scared, yet weak tone that would never have been heard in the outside world. “W-Where… is… Where is he… … Engineer! Run… Please, get away…”