A Roegadyn in Equestria

A Roegadyn in Equestria.

Chapter 87: Under The Sands. Part 3.

*Point of view: Engineer*
*Location: Bone Dry Desert*
*Time: Four in the afternoon*

The scene shows the sight of Engineer, Daring Do and the hooded stallion as they all trudged along the sands as they slowly passed by one mound after the next on to their current destination. Which was supposedly a place that the hooded stallion had previously set up in the past and hoped that they could find some supplies, along with a means of returning to civilization. With his Pip-boy out of use for the time being, Engineer was left with no way of using the swift travel to get himself along with the other two out of there and to safety.

Not only that, but all of the items aside from his one gun and machete were locked away. What made matters worse was the additional lack of food and water that he had started to take for granted with being able to pull them out in the past whenever he had a need for them. There was an attempt to use the link-pearl that was given to him to call for assistance. Although all he got was a heavy wall of static that he was unable to get past. There was also another curious occurrence described by the other two as Daring Do was unable to fly for only a second and resulted in her crashing into the sand, while the hooded stallion became so weak that he landed on his tail after just taking a few steps on the sand at the same time.

He was in the middle of grumbling to himself after glancing to the sky for what seemed like the millionth time while in search of something before he finally spoke up in an aggravated and drained tone. “Where is a buzzard when you need one?” The hooded stallion who was in the lead called over his shoulder with curiosity and clearly seen dripping of sweat off of his chin. “This is not the best time to be lamenting over the fact that we are in the middle of the desert with no provisions left, not to mention miles upon miles away from any civilization and presumed dead to wear no rescue parties would be sent out.”

Daring Do spoke up in a flat tone as her wings and shoulders drooped after hearing that. “I doubt that. He's probably just hoping to kill and cook the thing.” Engineer responded to that after giving the most hardcore Nicholas Cage face smile he could muster. “Hahaha, you know me so well.” The hooded stallion giggle to himself from under the sleeve of his right hand and the Pegasus cut him off before he even got a word out. “HAY! I swear if you dare to say the word husband again! And don't think I don't notice the eye rolls you're giving me from under that hood.”

The stallion then changed the subject after stopping in place abruptly and nearly making the others bump into him. After turning around to lift a single finger up, he said in an impossibly innocent voice that did not fit their situation as it was a question that should have been long since asked. “With all the excitement I have neglected to ask for your names. I shall go first. In light of us all being in a perilous spot to come out with our lives. Please do call me En. My friends do.”

“Ah.. OK… That's out of the blue... En. Oh well. Since we're not fighting for our lives anymore, we may as well. My name is Daring Do. Adventurer, archaeologist, role model and thrill seeker. As well as one who holds multiple doctorates. And this one over here is-.”

“Yo! The names Engineer. I'm also an adventurer.” This was followed by a couple of seconds of silence as En and Daring Do waited for more to come from him, but got nothing in the end and cause the mare to begin to massage her temples.

“Now that we've gotten that out of the way. Don't you think it's about time to let us see your face? After insinuating that we’re friends, I think this much should be done. Unless you’re fine with bein’ all mysterious and I could just start callin’ you Hoodie.”

The hooded stallion seemed to be taken aback from what Engineer said before turning his attention over to the both of them to answer. “Ah yes, sorry my dear. Hehe-hehe... My manners seem to have not been fully reconstituted quite yet.” After pulling up his sleeves to bring out his fingers to grip onto his hood. The stallion slowly pulled it back to reveal an earth pony that bore a striking resemblance to Engineer. Aside from they're being a subtle shift to a brighter color for both the fur and mane. The pair could have easily have been described as twins. Well, that is aside from the scar that was now visible on Engineers face that began to show itself after their last fight.

Now being able to see his face along with a skeptical raise of the eyebrow. He then said, “My friends call me En, however my full name is believe it or not, Engineer as well.”

In the meantime. As Engineer was staring straight at En with wide eyes that failed to blink for the next several moments. The sound of Daring Do's voice could be heard as it came out all wobbly before suddenly calling their attention from collapsing backwards onto the ground from fainting. “Oh my Celestia! T-There's... there's TWO of them!”

“I believe miss do has fainted! It must be from all the sun. Quickly, we must hurry!” Meanwhile, Engineer was just rolling his eyes as the pair grabbed onto each of her arms as to put over their shoulders and went right back to walking through the desert. Now this continued for quite a while until the sun was nearly at the point that it was about to go through the switching of day and night from the princess’s magic. They went on like this until they came to a stop at an inconspicuous rock formation that jetted out of the ground at an angle to provide some shade thanks to it resembling a triangle.

By which time, Daring Do recovered her senses and was back on her hoofs. Engineer made a quick remark about picking the wrong place for a beauty nap and only got an indignant look from the mare after getting into the shade to see the final rays of the son to disappear over the horizon and be replaced by the full moon that bathed the sand with its blue light. The pair were just about to lean on the wall with their backs when En gave a loud cough while tapping his right hoof. They gave him a quizzical look before he said the following and gingerly parted them aside and stood at the wall. “Now just how do you expect for us to get inside if you're going to stand at the entrance and block it?”

They gave him the “what the fuck look” before he took out his wand shape device and held it close to the rock formation. The electronic whirling noise came to life from the crystal at the tip after giving it a few bonks with his hand to get it running and the wall began to shift and produced lines that went all the way down. Soon, it opened up and revealed a set of steps that would lead to a descending unlit passageway. Daring Do released a quick and confused huh before the stallion elaborated and started to walk down. “This is one of my off-site laboratories. I was quite fortunate to find the facility while conducting my own research in the area. Now come along! First we must take stock in what we can still salvage.”

After following along and reaching the very bottom. En walked forward and disappeared from sight while making a bunch of noises to indicate that he was bumping into and knocking over a number of items. After what felt close to half a minute of fumbling around had passed. He then called out with a triumphant huzzah before they heard a loud clank from where the stallion was and then the entire place began to light up as oddly placed crystals hung from wires that were nailed into the ceiling. En, who had this triumphant grin plastered on his face was standing near a square device that was the size of a mini-van and holding on to a lever that had been pulled down with his right hand.

It was a hollowed-out piece of ground that was mostly rectangular in shape. Although the roof was curved to give it the same dimensions that one would get when looking at an aircraft hangar. Various haphazardly thrown equipment and pieces of machinery being half put together were all over the place. In fact, one would be hard pressed to take a couple of steps without stepping on one object or another. Some look like archaic engines that would be used for automobiles in their early development. Others were varying types of contraptions that were meant for traveling on the ground and both the air thanks to some wing-like protrusions.

One machine caught Engineer’s attention as it was a one-seater with a corkscrew propeller system on top. It even had a pair of wings that had been torn up on the left and right sides that obviously were broken through other means other than becoming deteriorated through the passage of time. Large cranes and claw arms were set in place and ready to be used at a moment's notice once the cobwebs were all dusted off. Daring Do joined him and was busying herself with looking over the equipment when En walked right up to the both of them and started to talk with great enthusiasm.

“Ah, I see you found the creation that started it all! It was all thanks to her that I even found that place out in the desert.” When they gave him a look that just screamed to go on, he replied after going into the details of when he was in the middle of a test flight. After going through many failed efforts to allow anyone to fly without having to be born into either the Pegasus, Griffin's or Dragon races. He just so happened to be doing a fly by when the magical components from the crystals he had discovered recently and implemented into his engine started to go haywire after coming into close proximity with the obelisk which was still hidden under rocks.

After wanting to discover what could cause the interference. En made a journey and discovered the underground structure. This of course turned out to be what took him off of his original research and devote pretty much every minute of his time to exploring and understand what he had found. Before he knew it. Minutes became hours and hours became days. There was also another added benefit to being within the walls of that place, which he only discovered after realizing when his rations expired before he even got around to feeling the need to eat.

And that was the effect of not growing tired, hungry or even thirsty. The magic was so dense and welcoming that it literally fueled his bodily functions to where bringing supplies was not needed and he could stay for long stretches of time. And of course, he took full advantage of this and fell head first into his discovery without a moment of hesitation. A discovery that kept leading to one thing after another and completely took over all of his time.

What led up to be the workshop in which he was found in, turned out to be where he did most of his work wherever he found a component that was not put into play and just laid around as extra parts. In the beginning, he took what he could from there and brought it back to his laboratory to use in his original research on the rare occasion that he wanted to take a small break from there and keep his original research fresh in his mind for additional applications.

But eventually, he spent more and more time in the strange and miraculous structure until he completely lost track of time to the point that years went by. It was on that very day that the monster with the twin swords came out of nowhere and broke into the facility when he was just about to take a break and head back to the castle to deliver his findings to the princesses. At which point he was dreading that the idea having to explain his prolonged absence.

Engineer then asked, “Hmm, so no one thought to go looking for you? I guess you weren't very important if they just left you alone for all that.” The mare beside him gave a quick shove with her elbow before she stepped in. “What he means to say is, surely your absence was noticed. Did no one come to check on your well-being?” This got a small wince from the stallion as his eyes turned away with a bit of a blush on his cheeks as he responded. “Well~... my whereabouts may not have been disclosed.” After a couple of seconds, her eyes shot wide as she quickly covered her mouth before letting out a gasp.

After bringing herself back down from her excitement. She then exclaimed the following after grabbing on to Engineers right shoulder and shaking him like a rag doll. “He's… He’s the crazy earth pony wizard! The one who was in charge of the magical devices back when the Academy of Magic was founded!” Engineer’s eyes were rolling in circles as En responded with clear confusion written on his face before it turned into a flat look after hearing the part about him.

“Crazy earth pony wizard?!?! Miss Do! Where in Equestria did you hear that?”

“There's written records about a earth pony who was obsessed with building magical devices and started the whole process of research and development close to a thousand years ago. This led to the evolution and structuring for what we know as the Ministry of Magic and Science.”

En started to scratch the back of his right ear as he was putting on a thinking face for a couple of seconds before a figurative light bulb appeared and he responded. “I do recall starting up that small organization. If it were not for Princess Celestia's endorsement, then I might not have been made to be the chair-pony. By the way. How has it been doing since my disappearance? I could only hope that they're making strides and taking the common folk into consideration. My heart would soar whenever a new idea would be proposed and instantly followed up on with the full investment that we had to our disposal for promising young scientists.”

After regaining his equilibrium. Engineer glanced over at Daring Do and found that she was having some difficulties with coming up with an answer. “It may not be as how you remember...”

“Yes-yes, I know I have been away for far too long and much has progressed.”

“No it's not that. Over recent years, the focus has been shifted to magic and exclusively Unicorns have the higher positions within the ministry. You could say they outright gave out on searching for new talents. But there has been another group that's making great strides in putting out more then what they have done in decades over the past several years.”

This apparently caused the stallion to go quiet and slowly walk over to the flying contraption to lean his head against it. From there he quietly asked her to convey all she knew and this only caused En to become more visibly depressed. Their business practices, hiring ethics, both common and underground rumors when it came to their businesses were brought up. Even their effect on education alone was enough to cause him to angrily punch the side of his ancient aircraft with such force, that it caused it to slightly shift and break a couple of pieces without him so much as flinching after that hand slowly started to drip a couple of drops of blood while still being tightly curled into a fist.

En then asked the following slowly as he lowered his head. “How could-. Do both of the Princess’s know?” Daring Do replied with, “On the surface they're doing everything right. Whenever an issue is brought up, they would stomp it out with giving their own reasons. I believe that they are using the whole monster invasions to their favor and using that to draw the Princess’s eyes away from there shady dealings.” Engineer broke up the conversation when his stomach growled loud enough to cause the two that were in a serious discussion to jump from freight and take on a defensive stance to see if any monsters had snuck in.

He then said, “Hehe~. I don't know how much longer I can go without eating anything... Please say you have some food laying around!” En was calming down after clutching over his heart to take a quick look around and found a small item that resembled a tin can and picked it up before saying, “I did dabble in food preservatives. Perhaps this will-.” He was rudely interrupted when Engineer snatched the can and located a pull tab on the top. With an almost animalistic grin, Engineer ripped off the top and was about to down the contents without so much as a second thought when a cloud of green vapor erupted and covered his face for a second or two before dispersing and everything went black for the stallion.

After some time passed. Engineer found himself groggily getting into a sitting position and dumbly blinked his eyes a couple of times. While finding himself to be laying close to the side wall. He saw that the others were running around and operating some of the dusty equipment not too far away. There was even a very large object being covered by varying parts of cloth that hung off the edges. Obviously, none of it was from the same set as the colors were varied after getting stitched together roughly. Engineer began to rub the side of his head as he let out a groan of annoyance and caught the attention of the others.

It was En who called out first as he was wheeling over a cart that house several trays stacked up on one another with numerous glowing rocks. “Great, you're finally conscious! That was completely my fault for not realizing that these one-thousand-year-old preserved beans would turn into a surprisingly powerful nerve agent.” Daring Do was in the middle of carrying a large crate and plopping it down before she spoke up as well after stretching her back to pop a couple of muscles. “Now that's calling it mild. toss a couple of those near an Ursa Major and it would knock even that out. If I hadn’t jumped away in time, then I probably would still be laid out. I even tied a rag around my muzzle to keep me from smelling it for the first couple of hours.”

Engineer began to feel a little woozy and had to lean back into the wall a bit when the world began to get somewhat hazy for a couple of seconds and closed his eyes. He then said, “What are we going to do about eating?” He could vaguely hear the steps coming closer to him before Daring Do's voice came after sitting a few inches away along the ground. “Well, En and I have been talking and the plan is to get out of here and head back to the Obelisk. We can get supplies from the caravan that’s set up shop there.”

He was barely able to crack his eyes open enough to glance to his right and at the mare and ask, “We're more than fifteen miles away and there's all that desert between us and them. We got no water and no food. Not to mention night time and that's when more monsters tend to roam these lands. If I was in any kind of fighting shape, then I'd be all for it.” He glanced down at his Pip-Boy to see his progress, which was not very good before he continued. “I can't even bring out any items. All I got to use is my machete and this rifle that only has about-.” He took a quick second to check how many rounds was left and said, “Only six shots in the clip and one in the chamber.”

The mare took out her revolver and opened it up to show that she only had four bullets before flipping it closed. She released a sigh and said, “That's about it. My pouch is completely emptied. Really regretting on not taking you up on that offer to get me a bigger container.” En called out as he was going up some kind of ramp that was on the far side of the large covered object and appear to be having some trouble after getting stuck on something for a couple of seconds. “Priorities need to be established before we look on what we don't have. Make haste and we will be out of this trouble soon. It is as I once told others. A problem is not the end. It is simply another puzzle worth solving.”

Wanting to get whatever it is done. Engineer attempted to get up, but started to stumble for Daring Do to end up catching him midway. She helped him over and they continued to grab some parts and bring them inside. After going up the ramp himself. Engineer was surprised to see the layout and inner workings of what he thought to be the inside of an old World War two style plane. It was just big enough to allow somebody to easily walk from the tail to the pilot seat. On one of the walls, it depicted a general diagram and he got to tell that it had four propeller-based engines. A couple of crates were already loaded and safely strapped down on one side. While the other was obviously containing trays filled with more of those glowing stones.

(Here is a picture of how the aircraft basically appears.)

When En passed by to head out to grab something else. Engineer’s right shoulder was tapped as the stallion stopped to point out a few of the functions for him. “What do you think of the concept? These four spots have blades that spin fast enough to create a powerful gust of wind to propel this entire aircraft. I got an idea from those components back at the obelisk and Incorporated them into an engine design that ran off of these crystals that were carrying. You would not believe how many times the previous designs exploded until I got it just right.” Engineer gave a quick glimpse of worry before the stallion patted him on the back to reassure that nothing was going to go wrong before heading out.

He then turned over to Daring Do who was also helping by strapping a few more crates to the appropriate harness points. She glanced at him and said with a resigned tone to her voice which was also filled with some mischief of its own. “Don't look at me. I've been around you long enough that this almost seems normal.” Engineer hobbled over to the cockpit to sit down and familiarize himself with the controls as he mumbled the following.

“It's okay if I'm the one who's crazy. I'm just not really used to it being from someone else. We're about to take flight and something that's obviously never been off the ground and we're hauling enough crystals to send the Chrysler Building into orbit if something were to go wrong. And why do I feel even less safe in this thing than I did inside that old nuclear sub on that island with all the crazy Children of Adam fanatics?”

After nearly going through half of the controls, he soon found himself dozing off again from severe hunger. The next thing he knew was a rumbling sound that was shaking him right down to his core and this caused him to startle awake. He was just about to try and get up when he found that he was fitted with a harness and Daring Do was right next to him while holding on to his hand with her eyes looking straight ahead full of fear. All three of them were inside the cockpit as the two of them were on the back chairs on either side of the one that En was sitting in. The front of the cockpit was covered with thick glass and revealed them to be within a long stretch of runway that was built underground and there was a speck of light at the end.

The engines continuously built up their speed and released a heavy amount of noise that was dangerously close to robbing one sense of hearing. The plane itself which was already going at close to fifty kilometers an hour was already showing signs of heavy rattling. Engineer’s attention would have been more focused on the plane if it was not for the bones in his right hand already feeling the crushing vice-like grip of Daring Do’s own. Even over the loud noise, he yelled out to her while leaning in as best as he could. “You fly all the time!”

Without so much as turning in his Direction and screaming in what he thought to be the most high-pitched and feminine voice he had ever heard from her. She said, “Under my own power or some Airship that's been tested. And I don't see any balloons on this flying death trap!” Engineer turned his hand over after wrenching it free from her grip and held on to her hand once again as he called out. “I'm sure he has a pilot's license and we'll be just fine!”

This got a loud response from En, and caused the pair to start shaking a little bit while Engineer’s hand being crushed made him wince. “What is this pilot license?!” The engines did one more revving up before they approached enough speed right as the opening came up. From being underground in the dark for so long with artificial light, the rays of the full moon staring straight at them from the way they were coming out was almost blinding.

It would have almost seemed to be a magical moment if it was not for En screaming at the top of his lungs as excitement filled his voice. But on the part of Engineer, the stallion was gripping on to his seat right under his own butt with his free hand and gritting his teeth. There was also a single tear coming from his right eye. Unfortunately, this was not a sign of emotion. But that of deep pain from Daring Do squeezing the life out of his other hand as he quietly screamed in his head for her to let go.

The scene then transitions to where they were coming up on where the wall of sand should have been. But even with the moonlit sky lighting up everything. Engineer was having trouble with locating the weather phenomenon as he was carefully nursing his throbbing hand while looking over the shoulder of En. Meanwhile, the one mare in the cabin was holding on to a bag and dry heaving. One might have even said that along with the slight green complexion, she might have even increased the number of white strands in her hair. Engineer glanced at her and said under his breath, “Damn! She looks worse than Piper after she tried to out drink Hancock and Cait after a stupid bet.”

After making a few more passes with the aircraft and causing Daring Do to nearly throw up again from the multiple turns of the airplane. Engineered tapped on En's shoulder and spoke up over the engines as loud as he could. “We're at the right place, right?”

“Undoubtedly!”

“But there's nothing down there!”

“It makes no sense! Even if the storm is gone, we should still see the structure! Hold on, I'll take us around for another pass and go in low for a better look!”

“Quick question!”

“What might that be?”

“There's no Runway! How are we supposed to land?”

There was a long pause as En straightened up in his seat before giving an apologetic smile while turning towards the pair with only his head. “I knew I forgot something! Yeah, we're not going to be able to land! Miss Do is going to have to jump out and grab the supplies if we see them and come right back in as we go low. I will do my best to lower the speed as much as possible!”

By this point, she was looking more towards the spectrum of being confused for an undead as she slowly unbuckled herself in trudged near the back of the plane on shaky legs in a hurry after being told that she could finally get out. But before she left the cockpit, she shoved the bag she was using into Engineer’s chest and grunted that he should hold on to that for her. This prompted him to hold it out as far as he could while holding his nose and calling out to En. “How can it be that what came out of her… be nearly as bad as the beans!?”

His jokes were pushed away as he pointed towards something in the distance. It was just barely noticeable after getting to a lower altitude, which turned out to be the remnants of the camp that was set up at the edge of the safe zone. From where he sat, more than half was buried in sand as the rest was torn to pieces and scattered. The back hatch was opened and Daring Do jumped right out to check the campsite as the plane continued further ahead. Instead of there being an Obelisk standing tall from the sand where it should have been. Was just a large hole that was in the same shape as the base. When the plane flew over the site, there was a loud rumble that could be heard from even within the cockpit.

This was from the ground beginning to cave in after the planes strong gusts of wind hitting it thanks to their low altitude. While looking down through the last piece of the glass compartment at the front, the two stallions watched in amazement as the ground kept falling away and keeping up with their plane’s movements. Eventually, En had to pull up slightly to avoid the sand that was crashing upwards and turn around after making a long arc over a sand dune that they nearly crashed into.

On the next pass, they were greeted with a colossal-sized sinkhole that seem to go down forever and stopped just a little short of causing the remnants for the camp to go in. All Engineer could do was to hang his jaw low after seeing this. While En was close to crying and out stretching one of his arms and a pathetic motion to beg for it to come back. Soon enough the back hatch was closed and Daring Do was coming back to the front after dropping off a couple of large bags that she managed to carry with her when the plane was close enough to catch up with.

In the meantime, Engineer was patting the other stallions back and reassuring him with words such as, “I'm sure it will come back. And, at least you still have your health~.” But all the mare could do was to roll her eyes before saying the next part without any forethought. “What's the big deal? It was just some old ruins. Trust me, there's plenty of those out there.” This only caused En to start bawling and intern, causing the airplane to rock a couple of times. Even in his weakened state. Engineer gave her a disappointed look before offering a counter. “How would you feel if the museum that you put all the stuff you ever found into, was to just up and disappear?”

It took a moment for that visualization to take hold and this made her drop to her knees and cry out the word “WHY!” in an extremely dramatic fashion with that of En. He then said, “I know that this is not the right time, but I think we should probably head somewhere soon. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a date with a sack full of food. He had just opened a bag and took a couple of bites out of a banana and a large red apple in the back when the air craft began to shake again. These two pieces of fruit were quickly devoured by the time he stomped towards the front and angrily screamed while poking his head through the small door. Oi! Can't a man eat in peace anymore?!”

His on coming speech about the importance of eating properly was stopped in its tracks when multiple colors streaked near the airplane and almost collided with the cockpit after passing by them. The control stick for the plane was roughly pulled down right as a blue light nearly hit the top of the cockpit before En straightened out and started to pull back up again. The stallion then screamed while fiddling with a couple of knobs and levers. “We're Under Siege!!! Hold on, taking evasive measures.”

*Point of view: Third person*

The outside of the aircraft showed five small airships following closely behind and one larger one directly towards the right and traveling parallel. The larger one had a big oval shaped balloon with metallic spines to give it a dangerous design. While the ship connected underneath brandished four cannons on both sides. Each one on the port side was pointed straight at the aircraft and manned by a unicorn who was in the middle of levitating cannonballs inside the front and juicing up an explosive charge Inside to launch the projectiles. The lights produced from each one of the cannons being used corresponded to the type of magic that was being used by the Unicorn manning the weapon.

There was a pony at the wheel and a couple more running around on deck and going below every now and then to bring up more ammunition. Right behind the one steering the ship was another figure dressed in black and they were holding up a glowing red stone to their face while screaming. “Galleon to sloops, Galleon to sloops! Enemy Airship does not have weaponry that can be seen! Move in after the next full volley! Its speed is making it difficult for the cannons to get a good shot.” After putting away the stone. The person started barking more orders while pointing to the sides of the ship. Get those side turbines going! More speed, more speed, or to Tartarus you all go!”

She even brought out a purple crystal and started to shake it angrily before putting it away and mumbling the following. “Long range communication is still down. What the buck is going on.” Meanwhile, on the lower parts on both the left and right sides of the ship had an object that resembled a bottled rocket. The back and gave off a strong surge of pink light after the Helmsman pulled on a long lever near the wheel. As a result, The Galleon was given a substantial speed boost and was beginning to slowly close the gap between itself and the aircraft.

When going back to the smaller crafts that was just big enough to carry no more than three people aboard. The bow was equipped with a single harpoon gun and two miniature cannons could be seen ready to fire on either side at the midway point. The rear had a set of three propellers along the same drive shaft to give it that little extra propulsion. Normally this would not have been enough to keep up with the World War two styled airplane in terms of speed when it came to how fast they were turning. But magical enchantments along the blades themselves were supplementing a far greater amount of thrust than what anyone would think of on a first glance.

The first ship to get within a couple hundred yards was manned by two. One already aiming the harpoon gun as the other remained on the wheel to drive and turned a large lever connecting to a crystal embedded into the wheel and surrounded with glyphs. In turn, the ship was coated with a translucent glow that lasted only for a couple of seconds. The driver then called out over the wind. “The new shield’s up! Wish I could see the stupid look on their faces when they find out they can’t do a thing to us! HAHAHAHA!”

The one up front kept calling for them to get closer so that the line would reach, while the second was constantly complaining that they were going as fast as they could. And if she wanted them to go any quicker, than she was welcome to grow a pair of wings and get out to push. The harpoon gun was carefully aimed with the sites squarely set on the airplanes tail when approaching the one-hundred-meter marker so that the line would reach and hook onto their prey.

A wicked laugh was given when their finger could be seen lightly pulling back on the trigger. But before the last twitch could be given to shoot. The back hatch of the plane opened up and they could see Daring Do standing there and holding on to one of the hydraulic arms. The sights of the harpoon were then trained on the mare and fired. The long object was soaring through the air as a thin cable was attached and heading straight for Daring Do only a moment later. Either it was a stroke of luck, or the Pegasus somehow knew that this was going to happen with what she did next.

With a subtle turn of her body to the right. The tip of the harpoon zoomed right past her and impaled a brown crate that was just barely high enough to be a comfortable short spot to sit on and yanked it right out of the plane thanks to the wire reaching its length and automatically retracting. On her part, the Khaki wearing adventuring Pegasus was deeply confused when the crate suddenly went right by her and zoomed right out of the plane without her even realizing what had happened.

When following the crate. The scene shows how it rammed right into the front of the gun and smashed to pieces thanks to the rate it was flying back with. Pieces and small splinters of wood showered both of the crew members on the smaller ship and blinded them for a couple of seconds. Small tin cans nearly knocked out the driver as she deathly dodged one that was heading straight for her forehead at the last possible second. She then called out to the one in front while shaking her fist and making sure that the ship was not going out of control. “Who taught you how to aim?! A blind old bat?”

The other while examining the harpoon gun and sliding the rod back into place only blew the other a raspberry before noticing that something was stuck on the sharp tip and reached for it. After a little bit of work with wrenching it free and bringing it to her face. It was noticed to be one of the cans with a large noticeable dent that barely broke through. She began to examine it further and gave it a cautionary shake to find out what could have been inside. But this turned out to be a horrible mistake as it was enough to cause the pressure within to break the seal and erupt a toxic green cloud that spewed right into her face and traveled straight to the one at the helm thanks to the assistants of the rushing wind.

Without even any time to scream or cough. The pair were instantly knocked out and this caused their airship to sharply veer off course and go into an uncontrollable spin until it crashed and erupted into a fiery explosion. The leader back on the Galleon angrily stomped her hoof while leaning over the railing to witness the carnage below. She then brought out the first crystal and yelled into it. “Be advised, the target is using an unknown weapon! The anti-magic barriers are ineffective! I repeat, the target is using non-magic-based weaponry!”

The scene then shifts back to inside the aircraft and Daring Do walking through the plane to poke her head into the cockpit to scream over the rushing wind that was still being let in by the open back door. “We lost one of them and a crate that was sitting in the very back tail of the plane! I hope there wasn't anything valuable inside!” En gave it some thought and soon came to the realization as to what it could have been and gave out a drawn-out whine of disappointment before he said, “I was bringing that back as a sample. My intentions were to do some tests to determine exactly when the food went past its expiration date. Oh well~. It's as my mother once said, there's no point in crying over a spilled bucket of milk. We got plenty more!”

This was indicated with him pointing with his thumb back and past Daring Do towards another stack of perhaps five or six more of the same. As this was all going on. Engineer was still snacking away and only pause between bites as he had this sour expression from remembering what he had gone through when he opened up that can. It was then proceeded by him giving an uncontrollable shutter before shaking his head and continuing to eat until his hunger was satisfied. En brought their attention to the front and pointed towards a rock formation with high walls that gave just enough room for the plane to fly right through.

He then said the following while double checking is harness. “We might be able to lose them in there! Hold on tight! Never before have I made these maneuvers and would make for a great endurance test for my design.” This instilled a great amount of worry between the other two as they scrambled to get into their chairs and secured many of the harness straps as possible before the plane entered. All the while forgetting about the back hatch being opened. With the scene shifting back towards the outside. The plane disappeared into the winding ravine with the rest of the smaller ships following closely behind one after another as the last barely clipped one of the walls to scrape some paint off.

The Galleon itself needed to swerve off course and take the long way around when they had to turn as hard as they could without crashing thanks to its large size making it virtually impossible to enter. In order to keep from colliding. The wheel was turned all the way around twice over and every crew member ran to the opposing side to help with leaning the airship just enough so that it can make the turn and scrape the bottom against the wall before racing to catch up with the rest by going around to the other side.

When it came to those within the ravine. It showed how the aircraft was banking from left to right in order to make tight turns almost every few seconds to avoid either the random cannon fire or harpoon being fired by the pursuing airships. There was even one time that there was a spire of rock that nearly clipped their wings and En cause the whole thing to go into a roll and pass right over it. This had the effect of causing one of the pursuers to crash into it after not being able to see it in time to turn. It even had another outcome for Daring Do who was grabbing on to whatever she could from within and almost losing her lunch.

In Engineer’s case, he was almost paying no mind to it as he was fully engrossed with trying to eat what he could after the food he had was wrenched from his hands and began to Tumble all over the cabin for him to try and snatch up with many failed attempts until he got a hold of another banana and started to peel it and eat with a very happy monkey-like expression. This caused the mare to call out while trying to keep herself from upchucking in the process. “How can you stand to eat?!”

Engineer reached into the bag after finishing the banana and pulled out a head of lettuce and gave it a quick shrug before taking a quick bite and replied after swallowing. “Pardon my French, but I'm so hungry I could eat a horse! If I only Had some meat, then I'd be just fine! This vegetarian food I got right here is crap when it comes to refilling the tank!” Both her, as well as En slowly turned their heads towards him as though they heard something unbelievable and just left it at that to go about their business. But not before En silently mouthed the words towards Daring Do, “He eats meat?”

(Play this music for the chase.)

The stallion continued to pull the stick in almost every conceivable way to avoid more hits and zigzag through the ravine at what seemed to be a random path whenever he made a choice at what direction to go when hitting a fork. Overtime more of the smaller sloops would have one accident after another and cause them to either crash into each other or into the walls. These would usually consist of their harpoon missing and getting stuck to where they were unable to pull them free or cut the line and get slammed in the process thanks to their speeds. Others would be unable to adjust to the rapidly changing environment and crash all on their own.

Soon the pass led to a short straight away and showed the exit that would be coming up in a matter of moments when there was just one sloop still on their tail and closing in fast now that it did not have to worry about doing any last second maneuvering. That crew even went so far as to activate another boosting system that was on a much smaller scale to raise their maximum speed and start to close in the gap. Daring Do grabbed on to one of the crates full of the old food and open the lid to start throwing the contents in hopes that it would have the same effect as last time after getting out of her seat and heading to the back.

But instead, they were shot out of the air before they even got close and released the visibly toxic gas thanks to some well-placed magical shots from the Unicorn up front. This gave the smaller craft enough of a leeway to weave just enough to avoid getting struck by the surprisingly effective and improvised weapons. She then pulled out her pistol and started to shoot back with the remaining bullets that she still had loaded up in her gun with a couple of seconds in between.

The projectiles that were hard to see when compared to arrows or bolts caused the sloops operators to duck and take cover as a couple of shots went over their heads or ricocheted off the bow. All-in-all, this kept them from doing anything else aside from just staying back and not firing anymore. Engineer was grumbling to himself while his mouth was still full and in the act of chewing about not saving that jerky for a time like this. His thoughts were broken when En called out in a panic as his left hand was pointing straight ahead at something that was blocking their path.

This turned out to be the Galleon and it was already positioned and hovering in place as its portside cannons were facing towards Engineer and the others on the plane that was heading for the exit. Thanks to the positioning of the moon, all they got was a vague silhouette of the airship before it started to fire all cannons to light itself up for them to see. Various colors of flashes came from the barrels in between getting reloaded to go again as quickly as possible to send large chunks of metal their way at high velocity. Normally a cannon would have a set distance as the projectile would lose speed and drop for an arc. Instead, the ones coming at them were magically enchanted to stay on course for a far longer distance and have a colorful trail of magic to be left behind.

Even with the best he could do. En was unable to avoid each and every one of the cannonballs as a couple managed to come just close enough to shear a few sections of the metal lining for the aircraft on either the wings or the main body. Fortunately, the engine and flaps were untouched after getting a few that could have ripped them clean off if the shots were just a few inches closer. The next thing that happened was either a complete accident or deliberately done by the cannoneer’s as multiple shots missed and veered off course and slammed into the side walls and started a chain reaction to make sections fall in the plane's path in a weird domino effect that followed on either side.

The stallion then screamed at the top of his lungs to where he almost forgoed his noble English accent. “We are royally fornicated!” His eyes were as wide as dinner plates and every hair on his body became so spiky that a balloon could pop if it got too close. Daring Do saw this and also screamed, “It can't all end here! I still haven't learned how to cook for a stallion!” It was at that moment that a rather loud belch could be heard from Engineer and he unbuckled himself before being consumed by flames. He then reached over and in one movement unbuckled En's harness and spoke with a demanding demonic voice. “I'm driving!”

The stallion started to stutter as he was not completely OK with the idea, but swiftly did as he was told and took the spot that was previously occupied while Engineer calmly got into the chair and gripped on to the stick with both hands. He then went from a loud growl and into a monstrous roar as the flames rushed out from his sleeves and traveled forward to engulf the cockpit. This made the others to raise up both of their hands to shield their faces as their bodies too were enclosed in the strangely cooled fire. En was in a lack of a better word freaking out as he was trying to keep the flames back by blowing as hard as he could and making a fanning motion with one of his hands.

Daring Do in the other seat also screamed as she was closing her eyes and having an angry face. “If this kills me, I'm going to come back and haunt you Engineer!” En caught that and quickly asked in a confused tone. “What did I do for you to want to haunt me?!” She then said, “Not you! The other one that’s burning our ride!

The scene then shifts over to the Galleon as the leader was in the middle of laughing while arching her back to hold on to the rail to watch the carnage. When the walls came crashing down and blocked her view of the plane. She loudly proclaimed that the job was done and to get ready to search for the remains as proof without any hesitation with there still being a huge dust storm. The other members of the crew by which point halted in firing any more of their cannons to get ready to follow the new orders and got to work with turning the ship. This would have been a slow process as it would require all of their help to get such a large craft to maneuver even in the slightest from the dead-stop they were at when blocking the exit.

One of the crew members that was in the middle of pulling on a rope to begin the preparations was stopped when she realized that there was something going on only a second after the order was given and pointed towards the entrance. The leader was just about to say something when a large boom and a series of crashes could be heard from where the female was pointing and saw that the crumbling walls had exploded to reveal a large fireball heading right for them as it exited the cloud of dust and debris.

Given the distance between it and them, there was hardly any time at all for the crew to react as the fireball continued on a straight path for their ship and only revealed its true form less than a second before impact to just under the line up of cannon’s. They're airplane from before with its stream line design and propellers were replaced with a gigantic fiery bat-like monstrosity. The metal wings now took on the form of bat wings with the skeletal structure being visible thanks to the elastic membrane being made of nothing but fire. The propellers and engines themselves were nothing but burning fan blades of bones that were not connected to anything as they spun at the joints.

The front of the plane where the cockpit should have been was now showing the skeletal protrusions that shifted into place to give off a bat's head and ears that had been folded back to make blades at the tips. It then used that part of its new form to ram straight through and out of the other side of the Galleon in one fluid motion. As a result, the items that were tucked away under the deck were exposed to the high temperatures and resulted in multiple internal explosions that added on to the structural Integrity being exceedingly damaged by the large object.

The whole thing barely had any time to break in half before it was engulfed in its fiery demise that lit up the night for seemed to be miles around. On closer inspection of the transformed airplane revealed Engineer at the front as he was looking through one of the gigantic eye holes and letting out a menacing laughter as he yanked on the stick to cause the aircraft to do a couple of stunt maneuvers afterwards. At the same time, the wings would even make a few flapping motions to give it an extra amount of lift.

Daring Do was tucking her legs in and holding them against her chest as her eyes darted from left to right at all the fire that was engulfing the place. Whereas, En at one point or another had gotten over the fright and was attempting to touch the flame that gave off no heat. This sparked the stallion to feel a great interest and started to ramble off a few complicated scientific terms that went unnoticed by the others. From within his robes, he even pulled out a glass tube container and tried to get a sample to go in with no luck on his part as they slipped away.

The scene then shows the two-crew member operated sloop coming out of the dust clouds that were still erupting from so much debris to bear witness to the carnage of the larger ship. And was instantly turned away after catching a glimpse of Engineers monstrous new ride and did a hard turn to get away before they too suffered the same fate. Although they had a decent start in the beginning with their ship going at full speed.

They were unable to escape as the plane was turned after Engineer saw them running and caught up as to do a dive bomb and crashed right through them with its left wing. As the ship itself was bisected in two. The two females fell to their death and landed on a couple of rocks that stuck out from the sand as Engineer and the rest turn their plane towards the North and disappeared into the night after reverting it back to its original state and leaving but a few embers to float in the air and become snuffed out after floating around for a few moments.

(Stop the music here.)

From the inside of the cockpit, Daring Do came back to her senses when she realized that they were no longer surrounded by fire and looked ahead to find that Engineer had passed out at the controls. The aircraft itself was not going to end up crashing thanks to En grabbing on to the stick while propping himself up against the side of the pilot seat and looking over to the passed-out stallion with some worry. He then said, “Is a sudden loss of consciousness a regular occurrence? And on another topic. Could you please lend some assistance in getting him out of that chair so I can fly us the rest of the way?”

Daring Do did just that and helped Engineer out and into the back after some fumbling and making a comment on him being heavier than he looks. But on his part, the guy was still in a semi-conscious state as he heard her asking the other stallion a question. “How long until we get back?” En responded as his free left hand made a so-and-so gesture. “Going off the distance… Meh. Give it three days. Three and a half tops. Uh, four if we have trouble.”

The scene then shifts to an unknown location with a single Pony wearing a uniformed outfit of black robes all twisted up to hug their form while sitting in the middle of a bright light that was shining from above. She was apparently at the end of finishing a report and giving off the impression that she was nervous with how her eyes were darting from left to right as a bead of sweat could just barely be made out as it was going between them. “Communiqué has been severed for over a days’ time... B-but I assure you that my compatriots will come through and complete the contract as instructed.”

Another female’s voice came through with a combination of sophistication and clinical coldness from both everywhere yet nowhere. “My estimations on your criminal society have underwhelmed my original view. Lack of updates, slow progress, failure to produce an outcome which was originally promised through a verbal agreement has worn thin my patience. Each of you has been outfitted with level thirty gear and weaponry that is not currently out to the public. Not even the missing documents which were enchanted with a tracking spell to lead you to the targets for a strategic assassination was not enough by going off of what was just said on your part.”

“But-but I-.”

This is not counting our latest line of airships an experimental propulsion technology. And of course, against my better judgment, let us not forget the magical gems that were imbued to resist incoming magic attacks to fortify each of the ships. Those alone were not easy to construct and are quite costly if they should need to be replaced.” There was a cold silence that lasted for a couple of seconds before the voice became that of a whisperer and caused the mare to shrink into her chair even more. “Unlike yourself, which is as easily as expendable as a used up and broken quill that should just be tossed into the incinerator when it is no longer of any noticeable use... Enough of my valuable time has been wasted, now go!”

The female quickly nodded her head and rushed into the darkness with only the sound of a door being opened and roughly closed to signify her departure. The voice then continued as another figure stepped to where their lower half only came into the light as their body was being shrouded by a red cloak. “The first sign has been shown. Preparation will need to be moved up by a couple of days. More importantly is the need for us to expedite our resources and keep the schedule on track for the new time stamp.”

The hooded figure held out an object in both hands that were placed in front of themselves to where it just barely showed what appeared to be a black sphere with pulsing jagged lines running all over it. While floating just a couple of inches above their hands. It came across as close to six inches wide and continuously rotated in different directions as pieces gave off a metallic clicking every now and then, along with a low eerie hum that instantly filled anyone's ears who were within the same room as it.

The voice then said, “A Number of my own operatives were unsuccessful in entering the dig site and now I cannot even get a hold of them.” That was when the person speaking switch to that of anger and self-loathing as they continued. “And to add more to the fire is that my research has been tainted due to that surge! Could the interpretation have gone wrong in the building process for what measures were needed to be taken?”

There was a girlie growl that emanated before it continued. “Gerrr... I must retrieve any research that is still viable and reconstruct it with haste. You! Go over the records again! No more tolerance will be given for additional complications!” The figure started to bend its body while pulling in the sphere closer to the form to indicate that they had bowed and silently stepped into the shadows right as the light flickered off. A few more seconds had gone by before the person said one last thing and faded as the volume of her voice became ever distant. “Now we have a general sense of where they all are... As well as the new chapter of history.”