Rarity’s Relaxing Vacation

by Lime Contraption

Rating: everyone
Tags: Original Character, Rarity, Adventure, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe
Length: 40611

Rarity visits a popular spa resort to relax and unwind. Then the theft and kidnapping happens.

Rarity has been running Carousel Boutique for a year and she’s decided its time to go on vacation and recharge her creative batteries. Hopefully the trip away will inspire new designs, help her to relax and most importantly of all, distract her from the overwhelming disaster that was her first year as a businesspony.

Unfortunately for the designer, her trip doesn’t go as smoothly as she’d planned.

Published 2021-11-29 21:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2022-05-22 13:38:11 UTC

1 The Designer, The Mechanic and The Thief

“Now, there is no need to make a fuss, Opal,” Rarity cooed, smiling warmly at the enraged features of her fluffy, white cat, “I will only be gone for a week and you know Fluttershy takes perfect care of you.”

Opal’s response was to lash out with her claws. The razor sharp weapons whipped through the air almost faster than Rarity could see. But the sudden pain and blood from her right foreleg was much easier to notice.

“Opal!” The designer hissed, “I’m going to ask Fluttershy about trimming your claws. And we are going to have a talk about your behaviour when I get back.”

The cat snorted and turned her back on Rarity.

“Carousel Boutique needs to be fumigated, Opal, you don’t want to keep living here with… thousands… of bugs in the walls,” Rarity shuddered, holding a fore-hoof to her lips in case she was about to gag at the thought, “So, while the uninvited house guests are being moved on, you have to stay with Fluttershy.”

Opal ignored the nearby scratching post and started to sharpen her claws on the edge of Rarity’s dresser, leaving shockingly deep gouges in the wood.

“I really don’t understand the fuss,” Rarity sighed, returning to packing her bags, “I know you like Fluttershy and spending a week away from the Boutique is the price we pay for a life without bugs everywhere.”

Rarity sighed again and shook her head. She’d have to ask Fluttershy about Opal’s behaviour. It was almost impossible to figure out when the cat had legitimate grievances she was trying to express, or when she was just being a violent, destructive monster for fun.

“And this is why I’ve chosen to spend the week alone at a spa resort,” Rarity said to herself as she closed the suitcase and looked out the window at the distant train station.

“I don’t get it,” the stallion said as he followed the older mare down the winding path through the jungle. “We’re just visiting the tinkerer, not summoning a demon from beyond Tartarus.”

“I’m just advising caution, Bluebell,” the mare rolled her eyes, “There’s a reason the tinkerer lives out in the middle of nowhere. There’s a reason nopony has ever seen her face and there’s a reason we don’t often call upon her!”

“Yes, she can’t afford to live in town because she barely charges for her services and the resort manager doesn’t like to spend a single bit more than he has to,” Bluebell shrugged.

They trotted in silence for a while as the mare awkwardly tugged at her uniform. The white shirt with a spa logo on the front was uncomfortably hot in the jungle, but they were on the clock, so the uniform stayed on.

“Do you have a clever answer for why her face is always hidden?” the mare asked, trying not to sound too bitter as she regarded her colleague who seemed unaffected by the heat.

“It’s impolite to speculate, Porter” the stallion responded with another shrug as the shadowy outline of a crude shack came into view.

“Just follow my lead and don’t speak out of turn,” Porter sighed, her pace slowing as they approached the lopsided structure of wood and metal built around the base of a tree, “And make sure none of the guests see her. We don’t want ponies freaking out.”

“Why would they freak out?”

The ground shook as an explosion filled the air and the shack door slammed open in a burst of flames. Bluebell and Porter scrambled back as a shadowed figure emerged from the fire with eyes glowing like the sun and dark tendrils of smoke curling away from its body.

The figure lunged forward, raising a fore-hoof and plunging a sphere of white-hot metal into a tank of rainwater.

Bluebell tumbled to the ground and the mare covered her eyes as steam swirled around them.

Peering into burning fog, the stallion shook his head, trying to focus on the creature moving through the mist. It was roughly the shape of a pony, but with broader shoulders and forelegs a little thicker than the rear.

As the steam faded, he could make out more details, including strange spikes that emerged from the figure’s back. Its whole body was covered in dark blue coveralls, shielding every inch of tail and coat. The head was wrapped in a dark material with no sign of mane or ears beneath the tight covering.

Lifting its head, dark goggles focused on the spherical object balanced on a raised fore-hoof, completely ignoring the two ponies staring at it.

“Tinkerer?” Porter stammered as the steam finally faded along with the last wisps of smoke rising from the shack’s interior. “Miss Indigo?”

The covered head turned slowly toward the sound. Glass lenses twisting as it focussed on the interlopers.

The vivid, yellow glow had disappeared, leaving pools of blackness with no sign of the eyes beyond. Looking up from where he’d stumbled, Bluebell wasn’t sure which was creepier.

As his breathing slowed and his heart stopped pounding against his ribs, the stallion focused on more details, unable to look away from the tinkerer.

The twisted spikes above her shoulders were the handles of a dozen tools strapped to her back. The sight of so many blades and heavy metal instruments conjured their own nightmares. And something about the shine of the metal seemed unlike any material he’d seen before.

“Yes?” Indigo the tinkerer spoke, not looking away from the object she held.

Her voice was gravely and distorted, like the sound made by a rusting instrument instead of a pony.

“The funicular is in need of repair,” porter explained, taking a step back as the tinkerer turned to lower the metal sphere to the ground. “Mister Day requests your assistance.”

“Funicular?” The stallion asked, pleased to be distracted by something other than the tinkerer.

“The tram elevator between the town and hotel,” the mare replied, taking a deep breath and trying to force her legs to stop shaking as the lenses covering Indigo’s eyes whirred, moving to focus on the sphere again.

“Yes, I need some time for the mechanism to stabilise and for my home to be… less full of smoke,” Indigo nodded. Closing the door to her shack, the tinkerer began to trot briskly along the winding trail through the jungle. “I will repair your funicular.”

Bluebell tilted his head to the side as his ears twitched. Indigo’s voice had come from the tinkerer’s throat, not her mouth.

A machine of some sort was strapped to her neck, with a metal grill at the front which vibrated as she spoke.

“Mister Day will be very appreciative,” Porter nodded, hurrying to catch up with Indigo before following her at a distance. “He would be even more appreciative if you… you know… didn’t spook any of the guests.”

“Spook?” Indigo repeated, her metallic voice echoing as she turned to stare at the mare with black, lifeless eyes, “I would never spook.”

Rarity gazed wearily at her sketchbook as the train rattled across Equestria. She was searching for inspiration, but after a lifetime living next to the Everfree forest she was finding the wilderness outside the window rather dull and familiar.

With a theatrical sigh, she looked at her latest sketch of ideas for Summer Sun Celebration decorations and shook her head. Creativity failed to strike, so she closed the book and slid it back into her luggage as she re-examined the spa brochure.

Until a decade ago Green Lake had been a humble village. But then the hot springs and ancient, pre-Equestrian ruins had been uncovered nearby. Now, after years of restoration and construction, the small town had become a tourist destination with ponies traveling from all over to experience the revitalising spring water or visit the exquisite ruins.

Rarity was predicting that pre-equestrian-inspired designs would be big next season, so her trip to the Green Lake resort was going to be a double victory. Firstly, she'd get to relax and unwind after a stressful first year of running her own boutique. And secondly, she could immerse herself in ancient architecture and design, getting more first-hoof experience of pre-Equestrian art than most other designers.

With a little luck, her second year as an independent professional was going to be an astronomical success!

It couldn't possibly be worse than the first year.

The first year currently felt like it was tattooed upon her soul and the red-raw itching would never heal.

No, the whole point of the trip was to avoid thinking about the first year. And to avoid being poisoned by insect repelling vapour while the boutique was fumigated.

Rarity was negotiating the curious problem of how to stop thinking about the last year when the train horn sounded and they began to decelerate. Grateful for the distraction, Rarity gathered the trade magazines and detective novels she'd scattered across the table and prepared to truly start her vacation.

The train station was rustic, even smaller than Ponyville's. Nothing more than a platform with benches and a ticket booth at one end. But the lack of buildings did allow a spectacular view of the village down the hill and the luxurious hotel and spa halfway up the steep slope.

Rarity frowned at the winding steps that led up the hill before she spotted the streetcar elevator that ferried guests between the edge of the small town and the resort above.

"That's a relief," she sighed, "I'd hate to carry my luggage all the way up that path.”

"Spa guest, ma'am?" A young pony in a white uniform asked, appearing out of nowhere in a manner that was either hyper efficient or very creepy.

"I am indeed," Rarity nodded, taking the reservation ticket from her saddlebag and holding it up for the spa employee to see.

"Thank you, Miss Cookie. I'm Bluebell and I'll be taking your bags up to the hotel," the blue stallion nodded, moving a cart toward the suitcases being unloaded from the train.

“Thank you, but I’m Rarity, Cookie is my mother," Rarity explained, "The reservation is in her name but she gifted it to me. I hope that won't be a problem."

"No problem," Bluebell smiled, "I'll correct the name as soon as possible to prevent further confusion."

"Thank you," Rarity smiled, floating a few bits to the bellhop as he finished loading her cases and moved to the next spa guest waiting for service.

Carrying just her saddlebags, Rarity crossed the short distance to the funicular and took a seat by the window to watch the scenery change as they climbed the hill. She was rewarded with a view of the lake, emerging from behind the buildings and stretching out across the end of the valley.

At that time of year, the name ‘Green Lake' was misleading as most of the surface was covered with colourful water flowers. The plants painted the lake in rainbow hews mixed with the vibrant sparkle of afternoon sun glistening amongst leaves and petals.

"This single moment is enough inspiration for a whole season," Rarity sighed, retrieving her notebooks and making quick sketches as her eyes never left the lake.

Rarity had filled several pages with designs and notes by the end of the short funicular journey. Taking a final look across the lake, she had to remind herself that she'd be able to experience the same beautiful view whenever she wished for the next week. Reluctantly turning away, she gathered her possessions and was the last pony off the carriage.

Lost in thought, she was contemplating different approaches to blending colours and representing the shape of flowers when she took the wrong path. Rarity strayed from the paved walkway and ended up along a staff-only route that passed by the funicular's engine room.

"The mechanism is repaired," a strange voice came from inside the small building, catching Rarity's attention. "But the gears are old. They were not new when installed here. Will need replacing in the next few years."

The sound was off, somehow unnatural, like a wax-cylinder recording or a music box crafted to mimic a pony's words. The unexpected noise made Rarity pause, her ears twitching, trying to unravel the audio mystery.

"I am well aware, thank you," the voice of an older stallion replied in crisp, clipped tones, "Wait here until the new guests have passed by."

"Yes, yes," the artificial voice said in neutral tones, "I will not spook guests. I prefer to be in here with the machinery anyway. Would prefer it more if I was alone."

"Spook?" Rarity whispered, wishing there was a window or open door to peek through to figure out what that detail referred to.

"Fine, I have to greet the new arrivals anyway," the stallion's voice replied, "Just make sure you're not seen if you want to get paid."

If there was a response from the strange voice, it was drowned out by the sound of hoof-steps on stone and the opening door.

"Oh, hello?" A silver-haired stallion with light grey fur looked startled as he emerged from the machine room to find Rarity ahead of him. It took a second for his expression to soften into a professional smile, "Are you a guest?"

"I am indeed," Rarity nodded, lifting her voucher for the stallion to see.

"Well then, welcome Miss Cookie, I'm Mister Day, the resort manager," The grey pony nodded his head, "I hope you have a wonderful stay with us. But I'm afraid to say this is a staff-only route. Between the machine room and the steep steps, it is far from the most scenic and pleasant path up to the spa. I'd be happy to trot with you back to the main route," he moved back toward the funicular station attempting to usher Rarity ahead of him in what was presumably intended as a polite gesture.

"Thank you, mister Day. And my name is Rarity. Cookie is my mother,” Rarity explained, following the stallion as he led her back to the funicular and around to a broader path that gently curved up to the hotel’s main entrance, “The reservation is in her name and she gifted it to me.”

“Of course,” Mister Day flashed his corporate smile which didn’t seem too different from the fashion industry smile. A smile Rarity had already learned to be wary around. “I’ll have the name corrected as soon as possible to prevent future confusion.”

“Wonderful,” Rarity nodded as they reached the grand, white doors at the front of the building.

“I’ll leave you to get settled, Miss rarity,” Day held the door open for her to enter the reception area, “And, once again, I hope you have a wonderful stay with us.”

“I’m sure I will,” Rarity replied, her own smile fading as soon as she was inside and the door closed on the manager.

Booking into the hotel and spa was simple enough. Rarity only had to listen to reassurances from two more staff members that they would correct her name on their records as soon as possible. But after nodding and smiling her thanks to the bellhop, she finally found herself alone in her room.

“A room with a view,” Rarity observed, discarding her saddlebags and trotting to the large window. “Not a view of the lake,” she admitted, looking out over the jungle stretching into the distance, “But a fairly nice view nonetheless.”

She wondered if the few campfires dotted across the greenery were archeological dig sites. She’d heard that academics were still searching for more pre-equestrian ruins in the area and visiting a dig would make excellent research.

As long as it wasn’t too messy.

Setting her saddlebags aside, rarity turned to the rest of her luggage which had been piled into a mighty tower in the corner of the room.

“I just have to unpack the essentials and then there should be time to enjoy my first spa treatment before an evening meal,” She said, idly flicking through the hotel’s brochure while her magic field opened her luggage and sorted through the contents.

The sun had been lowered and the moon was high in the sky as a dark shape moved up the outside of a tower not far from Green Lake. Metal shoes gripped silently to the stone as the cloaked figure reached the top.

Clinging to the old building, Rook manipulated the window with her lime green magical field.

The metal and glass were old and heavily reinforced with security spells. It forced Rook to concentrate on her magic to bypass the protections without setting off an alarm. With her eyes closed and her horn glowing, she tried to ignore the long drop below and the crumbling, poorly maintained stone wall that she was holding onto.

“Wait!” Rook hissed from beneath her hooded cloak, “Crumbling walls!”

Her magical field released the window and moved to the old stones beside it. With a combination of magic and brute strength, she forced one of the stones free from the wall.

“Should’ve thought of that sooner!” Rook rolled her eyes as she lowered the first stone and grabbed the next.

Three missing rocks made a big enough gap for Rook to squeeze through. Her cloak seemed to twist along with her, the material flowing across the stones and moving to avoid the sharper edges.

Stepping into the room at the top of the tower, Rook paused to stretch as her body decompressed after the tight squeeze. With a final shake of her shoulders, she straightened her cloak and turned her hooded face to examine the single room at the top of the tower.

“I know this is where you keep it,” Rook whispered, sniffing the air as she walked in a slow circle, studying every surface.

The room was a private study for the local lord with a desk, reading chair, bookshelves and a large supply of alcohol. The books were old but unspectacular and the booze wasn’t worth the effort of scaling the wall and breaking into the tower.

The bare mantlepiece above the fireplace drew her attention. Anyone sitting on the lone reading chair would be facing that fire. The rest of the old manor was stuffed with artworks, so why leave the most prominent space empty in the Lord’s study?

A smile flashed beneath the hood as Rook trotted over to the fireplace, inhaling more deeply with each step.

“Yes, there you are,” She reached out to press a polished stone set above the mantlepiece.

A soft click echoed from within the chimney, followed by a section of wall folding backward, revealing an illuminated display case holding a golden statue.

“Yes, yes, yes,” Rook hissed, dancing over to the opening and reaching inside to grab the statue.

Metal covered hooves reached out from beneath the dark fabric to caress the artwork.

“The idol of ShadowLight,” Rook said, lifting the statue and cradling it against her cheek, “He must love this trinket more than anything…”

Rook was staring into the ruby eyes of the gold statuette when the heavy thud of hoof-steps demanded her attention.

Ponies were coming up the spiral staircase beneath her. Lots of very big ponies from the sound of it.

She glanced at the trapdoor to the stairwell and debated covering the heavy wooden barrier with furniture and books. But even if she could move every available object, it wouldn’t stop a determined earth pony from smashing through, or a powerful unicorn from blasting in.

And the more time she waited, the more likely it was that a pegasus would block her only exit.

The statue disappeared inside Rook’s cloak as she dived for the hole in the wall. She’d barely squeezed through the narrow gap before the trapdoor slammed open and a trio of servants burst into the room.

Rook leaped into the darkness, feeling the familiar tingle of charging magic behind her. The dark cloak twisted as she fell, becoming ridged in time to slow her decent and turn the fall into a glide.

“So long, suckers!” Rook shouted as magic fields tried to grab at her but she was too far away and moving too fast to stop.

Gliding out of the manor gardens, Rook’s hooves skimmed the top of the stone wall before she landed in the stretch of jungle between her and Green Lake.

Shaking her shoulders, the cape lost its rigidity and she started to gallop. Head down, she watched the jungle floor while listening to the shouts and hoof-steps of distant ponies coming after her. There was no way they’d catch up with her in the dark undergrowth and if she had her timings correct, she’d be on the first train out of the valley before anypony in town knew what’d happened.

Her night vision was exceptionally good and she charged through the uneven jungle terrain without hinderance. Breathless, she emerged near the train station while the sound of her pursuers faded into silence.

“Perfect timing,” she smiled, spotting the lights of an approaching train further along the tracks.

Rook was climbing the steps to the platform when a lone pony stepped out from behind the ticket booth.

“Going somewhere, thief?” the sheriff asked, pushing back his hat and smiling.

Rook took a step back, but stopped when she heard the thud of hooves behind her. Looking around, she found five locals stepping out of the shadows with a pegasus she recognised from the manor staff.

“You have faster messengers than I expected,” Rook admitted, her cloak shifting in the breeze.

“Hand over the stolen statue,” The sheriff ordered, tilting back his hat further to make sure she noticed the glowing horn beneath.

Rook removed the golden prize from inside her cloak and held it up on her right fore-hoof. The statue was priceless, fairly delicate and was probably the reason nopony had risked grabbing her or using an offensive spell against her.

For a moment she debated using the statue as leverage to bargain her way out of town. But there were less risky ways of escaping the situation.

“One moment,” Rook said, raising the statue to her lips and licking the golden figure, “alright, I surrender.”

“Eww,” the sheriff frowned.

The hooded thief held the prize up for one of the unicorns to grab. Once the weight had lifted from her hoof, three ponies tackled her to the ground and the sheriff approached with hoof-cuffs and a magic blocker.

“There,” The sheriff nodded as the blocker was snapped into place over Rook’s horn. “If you try to cast a spell, it’ll hurt like Tartarus, understood?”

“Yeah,” Rook nodded as her forelegs were shackled, “it's not my first time wearing a blocker.”

“I’ll bet,” the sheriff said, dragging the thief to her hooves and shoving her in the direction of town.

“I'm innocent,” Rook said as the posse of locals followed them toward the sheriff’s office, “this is all just a big misunderstanding.”

“It’s a misunderstanding that you were caught red-hoofed stealing a priceless golden statue from Lord Green’s estate?” the Sheriff asked, rolling his eyes.

“Yes, I got lost looking for the train station and that statue must’ve fallen into one of my pockets as I was getting my bearings,” She explained, her eyes wide and her expression confused, “It happens all the time.”

“Did these purses and jewellery also fall into your pockets?” The sheriff asked, using his magic to open Rook’s cloak and retrieve some items from inside.

“See, that proves I’m innocent!” Rook nodded, “I told you this sort of thing happens all the time!”

The sheriff just shook his head as he led her inside the office and toward the cells in the back.

2 Like clockwork

Rarity awoke from a nightmare to find herself tangled in sweat-soaked sheets. Apparently, the massage she'd received the evening before hadn't been enough to completely ease all of her anxiety about the previous year.

Groaning, she carefully untangled herself before trotting into the shower room. With hot water cascading over her, she closed her eyes and tried to force the thoughts of financial struggles and creative drought from her mind.

Those were problems she could worry about after her vacation.

Sure, she'd burned through all of her savings and had to take out another loan to cover unexpected repairs to the boutique. And she'd lost so much of her designing time to arranging for construction ponies to visit and then working around the disruptive repairs. And ending the year with no money and feeling like she’d achieved nothing had sapped all her enthusiasm, filling her with cold, relentless dread.

But she was sure a vacation and a few spa treatments would resolve the problem.

Having failed to clear her mind, Rarity dried herself and headed down to an early breakfast. She intended to spend the entire morning enjoying everything the spa resort had to offer.

Rook groaned as she awoke. The first thing she felt was throbbing pain in her head, followed by sharper pain when she opened her eyes. This was followed by the protesting from her ears which seemed worst of all.

"I don't remember drinking last night," she whispered, shielding her face with a foreleg as she adjusted to the morning light from the window. The sun was low in the sky and seemed to be aiming directly at her retinas through the lone window. "Oh... I do remember hitting my head."

She must've hit it harder than she thought as she couldn’t remember arriving at the Sheriff’s office.

Blinking rapidly, Rook glanced around to find herself in a square prison cell with three thick stone walls and a set of sturdy bars blocking the fourth side. It was a familiar sight, the typical small town holding cell.

Getting to her hooves, Rook reached up to touch the side of her head and found that it was tender from where she'd been tackled to the ground.

Concluding that her head was probably just bruised, not fractured or broken, she turned her attention to the noise. The whole Sheriff's office was filled with music.

Loud, annoying, tuneless music.

"What is that racket?" Rook hissed, covering her ears and glaring at the open door leading to the front of the Sheriff's office.

"It's my morning music," the Sheriff called from the other room. "I find it helps invigorate prisoners to be woken early by inspirational song."

"Can you turn it down? I'm trying to sleep," Rook hissed, her head hurting more from the noise than the recent blunt collision.

"Sure," the Sheriff called, followed by the sound of a gramophone winding down to silence.

"Thank you," Rook sighed, lying down again, closing her eyes and wrapping her cloak around herself.

"The hoofball semi-final match between Whinnyapolis and Trottingham ended in victory to Trottingham after a last second goal," The Sheriff spoke loudly as he read from the morning paper, “And after the surprisingly close game with mistakes on both sides, experts are predicting that the Canterlot team are still favourites to win the grand final this weekend."

Rook groaned again, opening her eyes as the Sheriff continued reading from the sports pages, "So, you're a hoofball fan?"

"I follow the Equestria Hoofball League," The Sheriff replied from the other room. "I used to play for the school team back in Canterlot."

"You're a Canterlot colt?" Rook asked, not getting up from the bunk, “So, you're rooting for them to win the League?"

"Well, at this point its pretty much guaranteed," The Sheriff said with a grin that Rook could feel from the other room, "They've dominated the league this year while Trottingham has scraped through on luck."

“Interesting,” Rook replied with her own grin, “Do you want to bet on it, Sheriff? I’ll wager my gold statue that Trottingham beat Canterlot in the final.”

“Three problems with that proposition," The Sheriff said, walking in through the doorway and looking at her with cold, blue eyes, "Firstly, that would be a boring wager as the conclusion is too obvious. Secondly, I’m not gambling with a criminal. And thirdly, that statue isn’t yours to give away.”

“That’s a matter of opinion, Sheriff,” She shrugged, “I licked it, so doesn't that make it legally mine?”

"No, it doesn't. Are you from Trottingham or something?" The Sheriff asked, stepping toward her while carrying a scroll in his pale blue magical field. "Your accent is kind of similar."

"I'm from around that area," Rook shrugged.

"Because I've got this wanted poster for a thief with that accent," The Sheriff explained, unravelling the scroll and holding it up for her to see.

"A mare wearing a cloak?" Rook read the description beneath the incredibly basic sketch. "Fur colour, unknown. Eye colour, unknown. Mane colour, unknown. Cutie mark, unknown. Possible Trottingham accent... That describes thousands of ponies. It's not an uncommon accent and many traveling ponies wear cloaks."

“Maybe," The Sheriff shrugged, "I guess it'll be up to the magistrate to decide if you're responsible for these other crimes on top of what you were arrested for.

“Or I'll be found innocent,” Rook smiled.

“According to this wanted poster, you’ve committed crimes up and down the coast,” The Sheriff continued, “Will the magistrate hand you over to whichever town hates you the most, or does everyone on this list get to sentence you one after the other?”

“You really don't get the whole 'innocent until proven guilty' thing,” Rook shook her head.

“And you don't get the whole 'caught red-hoofed' thing,” the Sheriff smiled before heading back into the main room, “I’ll let you contemplate your future prison sentences in peace. Although I may be testing the fire alarm at random intervals over the next few hours.”

“Great. Maybe in prison I’ll be able to sleep,” Rook groaned.

Rarity enjoyed her light lunch while admiring the beauty of the courtyard.

The morning had been a great success. Steam room, plunge pool and seaweed wrap had been as relaxing, invigorating and detoxifying as she'd hoped and her stresses were finally starting to ease.

The pre-equestrian ruins were the only flaw in the otherwise perfect start to her vacation.

The resort had been built around a courtyard where the original ruins were discovered. The uncovered and preserved history was now on display for all visitors to experience. Unfortunately, there was little more than a couple of crumbled walls, the base of a stone column and the fractured remains of a mosaic.

While these ancient treasures were beautiful, there were rather less of them than Rarity had imagined from the brochure. After eating a quick lunch in the courtyard, the designer felt she'd seen everything there was to see from every angle she wished.

A trip to the archaeological dig sites in the jungle was becoming a necessity.

Finishing her meal and a final sketch of the old mosaic, Rarity headed out of the spa and toward the town below.

Entering the funicular, she found no sign of the mechanic with the unusual voice from the previous evening. Keeping that little mystery filed away in the back of her mind, she focused on the dazzling colours of the lake as the cable car descended.

The village of Green Lake was exactly as Rarity had imagined. A chaotic mixture of old and new after the recent tourist boom. Half the settlement was farming and gathering buildings where ponies harvested the bounty of the nearby lake and jungle. While the other half was eateries, clubs and hotels built to catch the overflow of visitors from the main resort.

The town was charming in its own way, but the lake was what kept Rarity's attention as she trotted toward the water’s edge.

She could stare at the calm surface for hours, taking in every inch of vibrant flowers and swaying grasses. The reeds alone could inspire an entire fashion line and she became lost in thought considering how best to recreate that supple strength in a dress.

It was only when her sketch book was full that Rarity realised how much time she'd spent on the small harbour, staring out across the lake.

"Come along, Rarity," She said to herself, sliding the book back into her saddlebag, "Celestia will have lowered the sun and the stores will close if you dally much longer."

Following the main street between the harbour and the train station, Rarity visited a number of small, tourist shops selling local goods and artworks, but nothing caught her eye. Eventually she was drawn to the sounds of a crowd and followed the noise to rows of market stalls filling a cobbled square.

The market was similar to the one regularly held in Ponyville, but the items on show were unfamiliar.

She paused at a stall selling jungle fruit and harvesting tools, debating whether to buy a gift for Applejack. She knew the farm pony appreciated seeing how fruits were gathered in different parts of the world. But she wasn't exactly on speaking terms with Applejack and didn't feel confident that a bladed mango-harvesting tool was the best way to open communications.

Shaking her head, the designer moved on to the next stall which sold a variety of knickknacks. It was the sort of random selection of artwork, decorations and jewellery that could keep her entertained for hours. There was always a treasure hidden in such piles and Rarity prided herself on having an eye for finding them.

After nudging aside a few of the less appealing items, she was rewarded with the faded shine of old, engraved metal.

"A pocket watch?" Rarity pondered, lifting the circular item with her magical field and examining it more closely, "It is indeed. And not a bad example, if I'm any judge."

Pushing the button on top of the clockwork timepiece, Rarity frowned as the watch slowly creaked open, revealing a static clock-face.

"How much for the pocket watch?" Rarity asked, holding it up to show the dark green mare running the stall. "The price tag seems a little steep, considering it's broken."

"Broken?" The mare repeated in what Rarity interpreted as an accusatory tone.

"The hands do not move, no matter how the mechanism is turned," Rarity explained, giving the small dial on the side a twist to demonstrate the lack of working clockwork.

"Let me see," the green mare frowned, placing the watch on a clear space and pulling out a magnifying glass. After turning the dial with her hoof a few times and finally rattling the timepiece beside her ear, she sighed, "Fine, I'll knock ten percent off."

“I was hoping you could you drop fifty percent from the price,” Rarity said, batting her eyelashes.

“Fifteen."

"Thirty?"

“Twenty percent and that’s as low as I go," the mare said, snatching Rarity's bits out of the air and rapidly counting them.

“Much appreciated," Rarity smiled, "I'm certain this will make a wonderful thank-you-gift for Fluttershy. Do you know of a repair-pony in town?"

"I sell trinkets, not information."

"But I'm sure a well-connected professional, such as yourself, is familiar with all the local trades ponies," Rarity said with another flutter of her eyelashes.

“Fine. There's a tinkerer out in the jungle, not far from town, but I wouldn't exactly recommend her," The stall owner explained, "she's weird. Head up to the train station, find the signpost pointing toward the lord's manor, then head in the opposite direction. You'll find a small trail that should lead you right to her."

"Thank you." Rarity wasn't sure if she'd successfully charmed the information from the green mare, or if the stall owner just wanted her to leave. Either way, she'd gotten what she needed.

Weaving her way back through the bustling market, Rarity paused at the main intersection to look out over the lake before it disappeared from view again. Wishing she'd brought more sketchbooks with her, the designer turned toward the train station, her head filled with ideas for water-flower inspired dresses.

"They would suit Fluttershy perfectly," she said to herself, taking the broken watch from her saddlebag and examining it as she trotted up the gentle slope. "As will this timepiece, once it's repaired," she smiled, admiring the engraved design on the outside which depicted a heavily stylised scene of rabbits frolicking.

Fluttershy had mentioned wanting a watch for Angel Bunny. Although Rarity had no idea what she needed to time the rabbit for. But it was hard enough to get more than a word or two out of the animal caretaker, so she was just grateful to know that a pocket watch would be well received.

Rarity slipped the timepiece away as she entered the jungle, following the trail that the trinket stall owner had described. The world around her grew dark as sunlight was dimmed by layers of deep green foliage.

Now that she was within the jungle, she could appreciate how different it was from the Everfree forest. Darker greens, thicker leaves and vines snaking up every tree trunk and hanging from branches. And most noticeable of all, there was a lack of monsters prowling the undergrowth ready to eat, smash, incinerate or turn to stone any passing pony.

"It's really rather pleasant," Rarity noted before her gaze dropped to the dirt and slime of the jungle floor beyond the narrow, clear path, "Although I do hope the tinkerer and the archaeological dig sites can be reached without stepping off of the relatively clean trails."

The path gently circled around the hill where the resort stood until Rarity found herself on the far side, trotting downward. Her blue eyes scanned the surroundings for signs of monsters, or worse yet, mud. But she found nothing except unfamiliar trees and plants with the occasional small animal scurrying away as she approached.

"I'll have to bring a fresh sketchbook next time," Rarity said to herself, admiring the unusual shape of a large leaf which curved over the top of the trail, creating a natural archway, "At this rate I'll have an entire season of designs focused on nature with no pre-Equestrian inspiration at all."

Eventually the dense undergrowth thinned out and Rarity found herself passing through a clearer section of jungle with a pony-made shack in the distance.

As she approached, she noticed some unusual details in the crude building. At first glance it appeared to be a jumble of warped wood and dented metal piled together. But there were signs of a strong framework underneath, the sort of structure Rarity would've expected on an airship or buildings designed to withstand the harshest storms.

"A humble facade arranged over a sturdier interior?" Rarity pondered.

Architecture was hardly her strongest subject, but she appreciated good design in all its forms. And there was something appealing about the shack.

"Ramshackle-chique," She nodded, trotting up to the door and knocking.

The door swung open at Rarity's touch and she found herself staring into a well-used workroom with a lone figure at the far end with her back to the doorway.

“Hello?" Rarity called.

"Busy," the figure replied in a familiar, mechanical voice.

So, this was the mysterious mechanic from the funicular. Rarity could only see her from behind as the tinkerer leaned over a worktable, but she was struggling to understand what was so spooky. Under her coveralls the tinkerer had distinctive proportions for a pony, with powerful forelegs and shoulders. But that body-type was simply unusual on a mare, not spooky.

"One moment," The tinkerer added.

"Of course," Rarity nodded, waiting in the doorway.

From her position, Rarity could only see the tinkerer from the rear, which seemed like an unladylike way to watch somepony, so she turned her attention to the workshop. Blue eyes examined the many tables and tools laid out around the room. She didn't recognise most of them, but she knew enough to realise that they’d been hoof-made, not brought at a store.

The room wasn't small, but it was full of equipment and half-disassembled machinery and the air was just as dense with scents. Rarity could smell hot metal and two different kinds of fire, one wood and the other flame-crystals. She also picked up the aroma of more oils, greases and other lubricants than she'd ever smelt before. And underneath everything was the aroma that accompanied lightning, a scent she had only recently become familiar with after meeting Rainbow Dash.

The workshop put her in mind of a particularly focused artist's studio, with every possible tool and supply close to hoof for when inspiration struck. Rarity hoped that one day her own workroom would resemble the tinkerer's, except with fabrics and dyes instead of metal and grease.

"Almost ready," the mechanical voice called, a head raising to examine a sphere of overlapping metal held in a covered fore-hoof.

Seeing the back of the tinkerer's head, Rarity noted the lack of exposed fur, mane or ears sticking out from beneath dark fabric strips. Was the headpiece an improvised mask or hood for metalwork? Rarity was sure the same pony that had built and repaired the items around the room could create something sturdier than cotton wrappings.

Giving the sphere a final polish, the tinkerer put the object aside before turning to regard her visitor.

The front of the mare's head was almost identical to the back, covered in fabric that hid every feature. The only difference was a pair of goggles over her eyes with dark lenses that whirred as they focused on Rarity.

While the designer wouldn't have called it spooky, she had to admit that the sight was, perhaps, a little unnerving.

But the more she thought about it, the less strange it seemed. The tinkerer's head wrap was unusual, but it was just a more theatrical and improvised version of the safety masks worn by many mechanic ponies.

"I am Indigo Ferrum, the tinkerer, can I help you?" The artificial voice asked, drawing Rarity's attention to the device strapped around the tinkerer's throat.

As Indigo stepped forward, Rarity noticed a series of bumps under the head covering. She assumed they were caused by the mare's ears and some aspect of her mane-style, but for all she knew there were more mechanical devices strapped under the cloth.

"Indeed, you can," Rarity smiled, taking a step into the workshop, watching where she placed her hooves, “My name’s Rarity and I have this darling little pocket watch in need of repairs," she said, lifting the timepiece out of her saddlebag and holding it up for the mechanic to see.

"Yes, interesting," the tinkerer said, plucking the watch from Rarity's magical field and examining it closely, "Minotaur design, very intricate work."

"Minotaur?" Rarity asked, stepping forward to take a closer look.

"Yes," Indigo nodded, taking a small screwdriver from a nearby workbench and opening the back of the watch, “Very similar in appearance, but they work metal differently to ponies. Did you know all modern Equestrian watches are based on Minotaur designs? That’s why we call hour hands ‘hands’ instead of limbs, hooves or pointers. Equestrians used to have magical timepieces that depicted the cycle of day and night, but they fell out of popularity around a thousand years ago.”

“Really? How fascinating," Rarity said, wondering if Minotaur fashion was something she should look into, "I think my friend is going to love this even more then, she does have a fondness for the exotic."

Indigo remained silent as she removed the back of the watch to examine the clockwork beneath. The lenses of her goggles whirred, zooming closer to the fine detail.

"Those glasses appear useful," Rarity observed.

"They are," Indigo nodded.

"Where did you get them?"

"Made them myself," The tinkerer replied, not looking up from her work.

"Really?" Rarity frowned, taking a step closer despite the grease and dirt smudged floor, "I'm surprised to see somepony so talented working in such a small town. Well... outside such a small town."

"I like the quiet," Indigo shrugged. "This watch has taken a hard hit. Possibly several. The mechanism is damaged and out of alignment," She held the pocket watch toward Rarity and pointed at the intricate clockwork inside, "I will need to repair, replace, realign and rebalance everything before it will work again."

"Oh, that sounds like a lot of trouble," Rarity shook her head, "I was rather hoping it would be a simple matter to fix."

"No, very complicated," Indigo confirmed, her strange voice free from emotion.

"I hate to be indelicate," the designer sighed, lifting a purse from her saddlebags, "but do you have any idea how much the repairs will cost?"

“Cost?”

Rarity watched the tinkerer frown. Or she watched the goggle lenses rotated in a way which suggested frowning. Rarity wasn’t sure how they did that.

“It will cost nothing,” the mechanic announced.

“Nothing?”

“The mechanism is a Minotaur design,” Indigo explained, “I've never worked on Minotaur clockwork before. So, I’ll happily repair this for free.”

“Are you sure?” Rarity asked, “Money is tight at the moment and I certainly appreciate the generosity, but I don't want to take advantage. A professional should be paid for their work, after all.”

Indigo looked up from the pocket watch and shrugged.

“I could charge a few bits for materials, if that would help?” She said, returning her attention to the immobile gears, “Brass is not the most common material nearby.”

Rarity was about to respond when their conversation was interrupted by a knock at the open doorway. Designer and tinkerer both turned to find two earth ponies entering the workshop with old, overstuffed saddlebags across their backs.

“Hello,” Indigo said, putting the timepiece aside. “Can I help you?”

The newcomers wore armour around their fore-hooves and their manes were cut short and swept back from their faces. Rarity guessed they were caravan guards or local soldiers.

“I hope so,” The pale yellow mare nodded from the doorway, “is one of you the tinkerer?”

“That’s me,” Indigo nodded.

“Of course,” The mare smiled warmly while the stallion with her walked around the edge of the room, admiring the many contraptions. “We’ve asked around and ponies say that you’re the best when it comes to repairs.”

“That’s right,” the tinkerer nodded, “I can fix all kinds of machinery and magical devices.”

A frown flickered across Rarity’s face as the dark blue stallion came closer. There was something about his eyes and the state of his saddlebags that worried her. She felt like the dark stains were familiar.

“Even pre-Equestrian items?” the yellow mare asked, her gaze never leaving Indigo as her companion circled around them. “We’ve got a tricky problem to solve, if you’re up to the task.”

“I can fix anything,” Indigo assured them, “And I do have a little experience with pre-Equestrian tech,” she added, nodding to the metal sphere on the workbench beside her.

“Then you’re just the filly we’re looking for,” pale yellow’s friendly grin turned into a grotesque smirk as she gestured to her companion and barked, “Grab her!”

The mare pulled a smoke bomb from her saddlebag and threw it to the floor as she strapped a gas mask across her face. The explosive burst and green mist filled the room as the stallion reach for Indigo, his armoured foreleg sparkling with electricity.

“What the buck?” the tinkerer gasped, reaching for a heavy tool strapped across her back.

But before she could free the hammer, the stallion’s sparking fore-hoof touched her shoulder and there was a flash of light through the thickening green smoke.

Rarity heard the thud of a body hitting the ground, but she couldn’t see it. Her eyes were watering, her lungs burning and whatever the green mist was made of, it slowed her thoughts and made her limbs feel heavy.

Stumbling blindly, the designer grabbed at her saddlebags as her legs trembled and her magical field winked out.

“You got her?” The yellow mare called from somewhere near the door.

“Yeah,” The blue stallion replied, his grunt muffled by the gas mask as he hauled Indigo across his back.

It was impossible to see their own hooves in front of their faces. But the sound of benches and tools being knocked over echoed around the smoke-filled workroom as the stallion headed toward the mare’s voice.

“You’ve taken care of the unicorn?” he asked, finally bumping into the yellow mare who pushed him toward the doorway.

“The sleep bomb got her,” the mare grinned as they headed outside and the thick mist started to fade, “I didn’t mess around when I was mixing this-”

The boast was interrupted by Rarity staggering out of the workshop wearing a scarf wrapped around her face. The designer’s eyes were watering and mascara ran down her cheeks as she swung a surprisingly powerful hoof at the yellow mare.

The blow connected with the earth pony’s head, sending her stumbling back.

“Drop the tinkerer, ruffians!” Rarity half snapped and half slurred, her legs trembling and her vision blurring as she tried to focus on the two ponies in the smoke.

“You’re feisty,” the yellow mare said, rubbing her aching jaw and straightening her gas mask, “But we don’t have time to play, sweetie.”

Rarity spun to kick the kidnappers. But the earth pony knocked the shaky blow aside with ease as she grabbed a second smoke bomb from her saddlebag. Before the half-unconscious designer could think, the grenade hit the ground in front of her and she was surrounded by a fresh cloud of green mist.

“You… won’t… get…” Rarity hissed before her eyes closed and she slumped to the jungle floor.

“Sweet dreams,” the yellow mare grinned beneath her mask before turning to nudge the blue stallion’s shoulder, “Let’s get out of here. The boss will want to see our new friend.”

3 Rounding up the posse

Rarity awoke for the second time that day with her head aching and her muscles still trembling from the sleep bomb. For the briefest moment she considered it preferable to the nightmares about her boutique, but then she remembered Indigo.

"Tinkerer!" She gasped, struggling to her hooves as fast as her still-recovering legs would allow.

Shaking her head to try and clear the drowsiness, she scanned the clearing outside Indigo's workshop. There was no sign of the tinkerer or the ponies who'd kidnapped her. She knew there would be hoofprints, broken branches and other signs indicating the direction the escaping criminals had taken, but she was struggling to spot them like the detectives in her stories.

After circling the clearing twice, Rarity groaned, turning toward the narrow trail leading back to town. Going for help would take time, letting the kidnappers get further away, but she was doing Indigo no good trotting in circles and failing to interpret broken twigs. With the sun hidden behind the jungle canopy, she wasn't even sure how long it'd been since the attack.

"I'm certain there was a Sheriff's office in town," Rarity said to herself, galloping back along the trail, "I do hope they're better than Ponyville's Sheriff."

Charging into town, barely avoiding the tourists and locals filling the main streets, Rarity raced toward the harbour where she recalled seeing a sign for law enforcement.

Rook crouched down near the cell door, her gaze focused on the lock while her ears twitched, keeping track of the Sheriff in the next room.

The locking mechanism was a mixture of mechanical parts and magic, which was unsurprising with a unicorn in charge of local law enforcement.

Rook considered herself a professional thief and she could manipulate the tumbles even from the wrong side without lock-picks. But getting the lock to recognise a magical signature would be tricky. The door was tied to an enchanted key and while she could try to override the spell, she couldn't do it with the blocker fastened to her horn.

Shaking her head, she stepped back from the door and regarded the rest of the cell. The old bars were the weakest point in the room. A determined earth pony could probably break them with enough effort, but not without drawing the Sheriff's attention. And Rook didn't have an earth pony's strength.

"Looks like I'll have to do this the hard way," Rook frowned, straightening her cloak.

Rook was focusing on the lock again when the door to the Sheriff’s office burst open and Rarity raced inside. Hooves thundered across the main room before skidding to a halt at the desk.

“You have to help me!” Rarity gasped, her unusual accent drawing Rook's attention almost as much as her bombastic entrance, “There's been a kidnapping!”

“A kidnapping?” the Sheriff frowned, opening one of the desk draws and pulling out a notepad before looking up at Rarity again, "Please describe what happened and try to remain calm."

"I am calm! This is me calm!" Rarity snapped, her previously perfectly styled mane becoming more frazzled. “Two ponies grabbed her, a stallion and a mare. Both earth ponies. They took her from the workshop. I tried to stop them,” Rarity explained, hanging her head in shame, “But they escaped after hitting me with some sort of sleep bomb.”

“Sleep bomb?” The Sheriff raised an eyebrow as he took notes.

“That's what they called it,” Rarity nodded. "And whatever it was, it knocked me out cold.”

“Alright,” The silver-maned Sheriff said, adding the extra detail to his report. “When did this happen and who was taken?”

“Some time this afternoon. I don't know when exactly. But it can't have been too long ago,” Rarity explained, “And they took Indigo Ferrus. I'm certain of that!”

“Indigo?” The Sheriff frowned, "the tinkerer?"

"Yes!" Rarity nodded, "They grabbed her from the workshop and disappeared into the jungle."

“Oh,” the Sheriff nodded in realisation, “just the tinkerer. Well, technically she lives outside of town so there’s nothing I can do to help.”

“But you’re a Sheriff, a stallion of the law,” Rarity frowned in confusion, "And a mare has been kidnapped!"

The Sheriff shook his head and Rarity’s attention was drawn to a noise from the next room. Looking over to the open doorway, she watched a unicorn trot into view in the corner of a holding cell. From behind the bars, the dark coated mare glared at the back of the Sheriff's head.

There was something odd about the prisoner and Rarity felt it had something to do with the cape she wore. It was made of no material she recognised. The cloth moved like silk, but appeared as thick as angora. But the designer had other things to worry about, so she filed that little mystery away at the back of her mind.

“I notice you stopped being interested the moment you realised the kidnapped filly is the town eccentric,” Rook called from her cell.

The Sheriff didn't bother looking back, he just sighed dismissively.

“I’m here to look after this town. Not the folk outside of it. That’s what the Rangers and Royal Guard are for,” the Sheriff replied with a calm shrug.

“We're a long way from Canterlot," Rarity almost growled the words, "Can't you help? It's the right thing to do. The noble thing to do."

"The right thing for me to do is make sure this town is safe," The Sheriff shook his head, "If I left to deal with every crime that takes place outside of town then I'd be leaving Green Lake vulnerable."

"Fine," Rarity hissed, "where can I find the local Rangers?"

“The biggest town in the region is four days trot away. They've got a Ranger station,” The Sheriff glanced down at his desk and shuffled through some loose papers until he found a map and a timetable, “Or you could take the next train and you’ll be there by tomorrow evening. No guarantee there'll be a Ranger at the station though. They're spread pretty thin in these parts.”

“Days? I can’t wait days!” Rarity groaned, her blue eyes studying the Sheriff as she debated applying some pony charm. But a stallion so heartless that he’d let somepony get kidnapped by ruffians was unlikely to be sweet talked into caring. "Can't you at least do something to help? Anything?”

“Sorry, I've got a job to do. But if you really want to help the missing tinkerer, then your best bet is to try and round up a posse,” The Sheriff shrugged again, “Maybe some of the locals will help find her.”

A posse? That wasn't a bad suggestion. Back in Ponyville, Rarity would've gone straight for Applejack and the others for help before even considering the town Sheriff. Hopefully Green Lake had a group of similarly helpful ponies.

“I doubt it,” Rook called from the other room. “From what I've seen, if they aren't a local or a paying tourist, then this town doesn't care.”

“Check the tavern down the street, or the market square,” The Sheriff ignored Rook again as he gestured vaguely toward the harbour and then back the opposite direction.

“I’ll try there, then,” Rarity nodded before heading toward the exit, "Maybe somepony in this town will be at least vaguely useful!"

The slamming door was louder than expected, the designer somehow managed to make the entire building shake as part of her dramatic exit.

“Odd filly,” the Sheriff said, crumpling up his half-started report and tossing it in the trash.

"Odd?" Rook called from the cell in the back room, "She's worried about a kidnapped pony! That's not odd!"

"I don't think the tinkerer is even a pony," the Sheriff shrugged, "She could be anything under those wrappings."

"That's irrelevant," Rook answered, her volume raising as she rattled the bars, "By Equestrian law, any self-aware creature is entitled to the same rights and protection as a pony."

"Don't be stupid, thief," The Sheriff snorted, "Who would make a law like that?"

"The Princess did, centuries ago," Rook rolled her eyes, "It doesn't matter if this missing Indigo is a pony, a zebra or an admittedly strangely proportioned dragon, she deserves protection."

"Do you do anything but lie and cheat?" the Sheriff asked, getting up from his desk to activate the gramophone again.

"I could quote the relevant sections of Equestrian law!" Rook called, but the Sheriff didn't answer.

With a frustrated grunt, Rook paced around the cell, her lips moving silently as her cloak swished back and forth more aggressively than would be expected from momentum alone. After six circuits of the small room, she stopped and shook her head.

“I don’t have a choice. I need to make a dramatic exit of my own,” she whispered to herself before shouting to the stallion in the next room, “You’re a terrible Sheriff! You've got one innocent mare locked up and you're happy to leave another mare in the hooves of kidnappers!”

“We both know you’re not innocent. And I take my responsibility to protect this town seriously. I'm not running off on some wild goose chase just because a tourist thinks that the tinkerer has gone missing.”

"Really? You couldn't have spared a few minutes to help organise a posse? Or do you think coordinating a rescue effort from your office would've put the town in danger?" Rook snapped.

"Enough!" The Sheriff barked, trotting into the back room to glare at Rook through the bars. “If you keep complaining like this then I’ll tell the Magistrate that you’ve been uncooperative. And you can look forward to whatever sentence you receive being doubled.”

“No, I’ll tell you what’s going to happen,” Rook smiled from the other side of the cell door, “First, I’m going to escape. Then I’ll knock you unconscious. And finally I’m going to help rescue the kidnapped mare that you can’t be bothered to deal with!”

“Seriously?” the Sheriff laughed, “How are you going to escape, thief? Slither through the bars? Teleport with no magic?”

The Sheriff smirked at Rook's silent frown before turning to head back into the main office.

“Yeah, I thought so," he snorted.

The moment his back was turned, Rook twisted and the edge of her cape rushed forward, the strange material slithering between the bars before wrapping around the Sheriff's throat. Yanking back, the material stiffened like tensed muscles as she pulled her captor off his hooves, sending him tumbling into the bars.

He tried to escape, hooves struggling to pull the material away as his magical field reached for Rook. But her cloak constricted further, knocking off his hat as it tightened around his horn and forelegs.

"You really are a terrible Sheriff," Rook sighed as the cloak forced the stallion to turn until he was facing her, "You should sleep now."

“What… are you?" the Sheriff gasped, unable to move as he felt something pull at the well of energy inside his body.

Rook opened her mouth and a pale glow formed across her lips, growing stronger as the Sheriff weakened. His own light faded before he dropped unconscious. Wincing, she felt tears rolling down her cheeks as she licked her magic-coated lips.

When the Sheriff finally went limp, Rook relaxed and the cloak released its victim.

"That is surprisingly painful while wearing a blocker," she informed the Sheriff who whimpered in his sleep. Groaning, Rook leaned against the bars as she wiped her eyes and caught her breath, "Luckily horns aren't the only source of magic."

Rook leaned closer to the bars and the end of her cape unravelled from the Sheriff before twisting into a pointed tendril. The fabric tentacle trembled before it's movements became smooth and it slithered inside the unconscious stallion's waistcoat. Rook's eyes narrowed as the cloak searched from pocket to pocket before finally hooking a set of keys.

"Bingo!" She grinned, using her cape to unlock the cell door and remove the blocker fastened around her horn.

As her twisted cloak unravelled from the tendril and flattened to become a regular cape again, Rook's green magic dragged the Sheriff away from the door before opening it.

"Freedom!" She declared, stepping out of the cell with her cloak swishing around her, “And I’m taking your hat!” she added, grabbing the Sheriff’s fallen hat with her magic and putting it on her head.

With the Stetson in place, Rook dragged the Sheriff into the empty cell and locked it behind him before seeking the evidence locker in the other room.

The office was small and it didn’t take long to locate the secured metal box inside a locked storage area. The Sheriff’s stolen keys unlocked both and Rook lifted out her confiscated climbing boots and collection of purses and jewellery.

“There’s less bits here than I remember,” she frowned, returning every item to the pockets inside her cloak, “Why am I not surprised that the Sheriff is skimming from evidence.”

Rook glanced toward the back room, debating setting up some karmic justice for the corrupt lawpony. But she shook her head and turned to the exit. There were more important problems to deal with.

“Sleep tight, Sheriff,” Rook called, strutting out of the building, “I’ll be back for you later.”

“I need your help!” Rarity called, standing on a soapbox in the centre of the market square.

Half the ponies in the bustling market turned toward the designer. The rest continued what they were doing while lowering their heads and avoiding eye contact.

"One of your own has been kidnapped!" Rarity declared, projecting her voice across the entire square, "The Sheriff refuses to help her, so I need you to join me in a rescue party!"

Ponies gasped in shock.

"Who's been taken?" A voice called above the general murmur of concern.

"Indigo Ferrus, the tinkerer!" Rarity watched as the ponies who'd been gathering around her suddenly dispersed, their heads dropping as they looked away. "She's been kidnapped! How can you be so heartless?"

"She chose to live outside the town," one pony answered from the crowd of averted gazes.

"She knew the risks of living in the jungle."

"I'm not putting my life in danger just because she chose to be reckless."

The crowd had scattered, creating an open space around Rarity that nopony stepped hoof in. Everypony focussed on packing away their stalls or doing some last-minute shopping. And many were leaving early as the once bustling market was suddenly a lot sparser.

Rarity felt her heart racing and anger burning through her body. Somepony was in danger and the entire town was ignoring it. How was that even possible! Her right foreleg tensed and she had to force herself to remain calm and not break the jaw of whichever stallion had called Indigo reckless.

"Seriously?" Rarity snapped, glaring at the ponies around her, "Is no pony in this town willing to step up?"

“I’ll help!” Rook called, running in from a side street and skidding to a halt on the empty cobblestones.

Frowning, Rarity looked down at the violet-coated mare she'd seen locked up in the Sheriff’s office.

“Not to sound ungrateful, but weren't you in jail?” Rarity tilted her head to the side as the other mare straightened her hat. “Doesn't that make you an escaped criminal!”

“I’m no criminal, I’m the deputy,” Rook grinned, pointing to the badge on her stolen hat. “I was just… testing the jail cell. For security. Perfectly normal deputy duty. And now I’m here to help rescue your friend!”

Rarity hesitated. On the one hoof, the violet unicorn wearing the dark cloak didn't look or act like any law enforcement pony she'd ever met. And the hat she wore appeared to be the exact same hat that the Sheriff had been wearing. But on the other hoof, Rarity needed the help and this was literally the only pony in town who was willing to offer.

"Well, thank you,” The designer said, trying to force her frown to relax as she offered her hoof, "I'm Rarity."

“Name’s Rook,” the cloaked unicorn replied, shaking the offered hoof, “Deputy Rook.”

“Charmed,” Rarity nodded before glancing up the hill, toward the hotel. “Should we try to form a bigger posse? I've had no luck at the tavern or market, but there's still the spa resort.”

“That would be a waste of time,” Rook sighed before glaring at the ponies around them who continued to avoid eye contact, “The locals won’t lift a finger to help somepony they consider an outsider. And I highly doubt you'll have more luck persuading some tourists to take time from their vacation to join the hunt.”

Rarity's jaw clenched and she wanted to protest, but recent experience made it difficult to disagree with the deputy's opinion.

"I am disappointed in the lack of 'strong community values' that the brochure spoke of," she sighed.

"It's amazing how quickly community values evaporate when the pony in trouble is a little different from everypony else," Rook explained as Rarity stepped down from her soap box. "The quicker we start looking for your missing friend, the quicker we find her. You told the Sheriff that they took the tinkerer from her workshop?”

“That's right,” Rarity nodded, leading the way back toward Indigo’s home while turning her nose up at every pony they passed on the way out of town, “But I have no idea where they went after that. I did try looking for signs, but I'm afraid that I'm no tracker.”

“Luckily for you, I'm an expert at hunting ponies down. It's practically part of my cutie mark," Rook said, trotting alongside the designer, “And you said there were two kidnappers?”

“Yes, a blue stallion and a yellow mare. Both earth ponies,” Rarity replied as they passed the empty train platform and turned to follow the narrow trail into the jungle, “but they were smart enough to not use their names.”

“Common coat colours, so that doesn't narrow things down much,” Rook said as she reviewed all the gangs and bandits she knew of in the region. “Any other distinguishing features?”

“They were both powerfully built. More like soldiers than farmers,” Rarity bit her lower lip as she tried to remember. “Brown, patchwork saddlebags with dark stains that may have been dried blood. And they wore scratched and dented armour around their forehooves.”

“Sounds more and more like bandits,” Rook sighed, "The kind of ponies who live out in the wilderness, praying on trade caravans."

"I should've known,” Rarity muttered, "I should've done something."

"You're not law enforcement," Rook observed, "There's only so much that one... artist?"

"Fashion designer."

"There's only so much that one fashion designer could do," Rook gave Rarity a smile, but the designer wasn't making eye contact.

"There's still only two of us," Rarity said, keeping her head lowered and her eyes on the narrow trail. "And I'm assuming there will be more bandits at their camp?"

“Yeah. I've never heard of just two bandits working alone in a region this remote," Rook nodded.

“Maybe we should've tried harder to get reinforcements,” Rarity sighed, entering the clearing and spotting Indigo's empty shack ahead of them.

The place looked different with nopony inside.

“We don’t need to fight the bandits, Rarity,” Rook shrugged, “We just need to find where they took your friend and sneak her out without being seen. This is a rescue mission, not a raid. It’ll be easy.”

“That doesn’t sound easy,” Rarity frowned as she paused, staring at the scuff marks in the dirt where the fight had taken place. If she could call it a fight when she’d only thrown a single hoof before being knocked out. “We still don’t know where they took her. And I’m not exactly a mistress of stealth. I'm more about drawing attention than avoiding it."

“Maybe, but I am incredibly stealthy,” Rook nodded, bending to examine a hoof-print, “trust me. I can sneak anything out of anywhere."

"What a useful skill for a deputy," Rarity observed as they moved past the scene of the fight and approached the tinkerer's workshop. "Even if we can rescue Indigo, doesn't that mean her kidnappers will escape justice?"

"We can pass their descriptions and the location of their camp to the local Rangers and let them deal with it. If we have to choose between trying to capture a large group of bandits by ourselves or rescuing a kidnapped pony, I'm going to prioritise the rescue."

"I appreciate your point," Rarity nodded, approaching the door to the shack and wrinkling her nose at the remaining scent of smoke bombs in the air, "But I don't like it."

"Feel free to take them all out yourself when we get there," Rook shrugged, stepping inside and examining the workshop, "Until then, help me search this place."

"What are we looking for?" Rarity asked, stepping into the open room and looking around at the various tools and workbenches with nopony to use them.

"I couldn't see anything useful outside," Rook explained, heading to the back of the workshop, “And I don't have much experience reading the jungle floor. I'm not a local, if my accent didn't give it away. But if we can find any clues in here, that would be great."

"Clues?"

"A piece of torn parchment with the address of the bandit camp? That would be useful," Rook grinned and Rarity didn't, “Alternatively, I should be able to track the tinkerer using a personal possession, something she had a lot of contact with."

"A possession? You have the bloodhound mark?" Rarity asked, realising for the first time that she'd never seen Rook's cutie mark as it was hidden by her cloak.

Not that she'd ever seen a bloodhound mark in real life, but they were a regular element of detective fiction.

"Not quite, but similar enough," The deputy shrugged, “It is very useful for tracking missing ponies, among other things."

Rarity wondered if the ability was anything like her own spell for finding gems. Divining magic.

"I've got fragments of smoke bomb over here," Rarity said, looking up from the shards on the ground, "No obvious signs as to where it came from, I'm afraid. This looks like common clay and metal to me."

"More hoof-prints back here," Rook called, "any sign of a personal item I can use to track with?"

"One moment, darling," Rarity replied, exploring the workshop.

"Darling?"

"A figure of speech, I assure you," Rarity explained as she found the bundle of blankets that Indigo apparently used as a bed. "What are you looking for? Does it work by scent or personal attachment?"

"Personal attachment," Rook confirmed, "If she loved an item then I can use it to track her."

"Then I think I have what you need," Rarity nodded, her gaze briefly lingering on the pocket watch left on the workbench before focusing on the hoof-made tools surrounding it. Searching through the items, she found the one that had seen the most use and had the most repairs. "This... I'm guessing it's a multi-tool? It looks like it was important to Indigo."

"Let me see," Rook trotted over to Rarity. Without explanation, she lowered her head to lick the metal tool, "Yes, that will be perfect. Let's go!"

"Did you just..." Rarity shivered in disgust.

"That's how the magic works," Rook shrugged, trotting outside and pointing into the jungle, "She's in that direction."

Rarity swallowed hard before following the deputy into the undergrowth. She knew that you didn't question cutie mark magic... no matter how strange it seemed.

The designer was soon distracted by the thick plant life surrounding them and the muddy ground under hoof. It was impossible to see far through the mess of leaves and after a short trot into the jungle she doubted she could even find her way back to Indigo's shack.

"You're sure you know where you're going?" Rarity asked, trying to ignore the soft ground.

"Trust me," Rook replied, "my sense of direction is perfect. We'll find your missing friend and be home safe in no time."

They continued deeper into the jungle and Rarity found herself trudging through dense undergrowth. She would've described herself as trotting purposefully, with her head held high, her expression resolute and her mane immaculate. But in reality, she trudged. It was difficult not to trudge when surrounded by heat, dirt and the oppressive vegetation that seemed to close in on them from all directions.

Rook led the way, apparently unaffected by the heat as her dark cloak remained floating lightly around her with no sign of the sweat that soaked through Rarity's fur.

“So,” Rook said, glancing back at the designer, “Why are you doing this, Rarity?”

“Doing what?” Rarity frowned in confusion.

“Helping this tinkerer,” Rook clarified, looking ahead again as she pushed through the undergrowth, “You told the Sheriff that you’d only just met this filly. Why risk your neck tracking down bandits?”

Rarity fell silent and after a moment she realised her mouth was open with no words coming out. Frowning, she closed her jaw and tried to think.

She wasn't sure where to begin. It was like being asked why she had four legs. There had to be an answer, but it wasn't something she'd ever thought about.

“Because it’s the right thing to do,” she answered hesitantly, feeling as if it was a trick question she didn’t fully understand.

“Most ponies wouldn’t see it that way,” Rook said, “Not for a stranger. It's not how ponies work.”

"That's not..." Rarity's voice trailed off as she thought back. "In my hometown..."

Ponyville was full of ponies who'd risk their lives for others. Well...when it came to physical danger there were only a few of ponies who always took the lead and Rarity was proud to be among them. But, now that she thought about it, that wasn't how the majority of ponies behaved. Most of ponyville was happy to stay back and let bigger threats be dealt with by somepony else.

"It's part of my nature," Rarity finally spoke again, her accent breaking a little, “I've always gotten involved and stepped up in times of trouble. I don't really think about it. If there's a threat, I just act."

"You're a strange one, Rarity," Rook replied with a soft chuckle.

“Well... I've always prided myself on standing out from the crowd," Rarity said with the daintiest of indignant huffs. "So, how about you, Miss Rook, how did you end up as a particularly proactive Deputy?"

"Oh, I guess I just fell into this roll," Rook shrugged, pushing aside a cluster of leaves to find a small clearing ahead, "And I know what it's like to be the weird one in town that everyone, the one else would ignore if they were in danger."

"Everyone?"

"Wait, I see something!" Rook barked, holding up a hoof for silence as she trotted cautiously into the clearing. “Well, that’s not good,”

“What is it?” Rarity asked, following the deputy's gaze and frowning at the thick indentations in the ground, "Oh dear... they had an air-balloon."

"A small airship, I think," Rook replied, tracing the outline where the craft had landed, "It looks like they loaded your friend onboard and took off. The good news is that I can still track them. The bad news is they’re now much further ahead of us than we thought.”

“How far could they have gone?“ Rarity snapped anxiously. In the back of her mind she'd been hoping to catch up with the kidnappers before they reached their camp and the reinforcements it contained. "Should we try and get the Rangers involved?"

"An airship this size, piloted by earth ponies?" Rook frowned, looking up at the sky, "The range would be limited. The equivalent of around a day on hoof before needing to recharge their engine.”

"So, the camp is likely closer than the nearest Rangers" Rarity groaned, "Unless they have extra fuel supplies out there, in which case they could be on the other side of Equestria in no time."

"And we have a bigger problem."

"A bigger problem than a kidnapped mare in the clutches of bandits for who knows how long?” Rarity rolled her eyes.

"Yeah," Rook whispered, nodding toward the jungle.

Rarity turned to see three shapes slithering out of the shadows. They were twice the size of a pony and appeared to be a cross between a snake and a leech. Large, circular mouthes with razor sharp teeth snapped together as the eyeless, scaled creatures growled in a deep rumble that Rarity felt through her hooves.

“That is indeed a big problem,” Rarity said, backing away from the creatures and taking a deep breath, “But we can take them together, we just need to-”

Turning to Rook, she found the other mare had vanished. The clearing beside her was empty, with no sign of the violet-coloured deputy.

“Oh dear….” She groaned as the monsters circled around her.

4 Into the wild

While Rarity was being surrounded by a trio of monstrous creatures, Indigo was regaining consciousness after being taken by kidnappers. If the two ponies had been aware of each other's predicament, they would've struggled to decide who was worse off in that moment.

Indigo's head ached and her goggles took longer than usual to cycle out of total darkness and reveal the world around her. While she was waiting for her vision to return, she heard the constant rush of air, felt the vibrations beneath her and smelt the familiar scent of a low-grade magical engine.

She deduced she was on a small airship before her goggles finally adjusted to confirm her surroundings. Unfortunately, knowing what kind of vehicle she was in didn't help her escape. She couldn't fly and she wouldn't survive a fall, certainly not a fall at high speed.

“Look who’s awake,” a stallion's voice interrupted her thoughts and Indigo looked up to see the male kidnapper sitting beside her. His blue head lowered as he checked the rope binding her legs. “Between the shock-tap and the sleep bomb, I wasn't sure she'd be waking up at all.”

"Don't be so dramatic, Zap," a mare's voice replied and Indigo turned to look further up from where she lay sprawled on the airship floor to find the female kidnapper operating the vehicle's controls. "She's fine. Just like I said."

“She's been out for twice as long as usual,” Zap grumbled, nudging Indigo's head with a forehoof, "Are you sure we didn't fry her brain, Sapper?"

“Yes, I'm sure. Because I know what I'm doing,” Sapper rolled her eyes before looking down at the tinkerer, "what law describes the rate of magic-point decay within enchanted crystals?”

"Brightspark's law of potential," Indigo replied instinctively.

"See, she's fine."

"Let's hope so, the boss needs her alive and with a fully functional brain," Zap replied with a shake of his head.

While her captors were bickering, Indigo checked her bound legs. The ropes were thick and the knots tight, she could probably escape them, but not without drawing attention. Twisting as much as she dared, the tinkerer confirmed that the tools and weapons that were usually strapped across her back had been removed, so even if she did free her limbs, she'd be unarmed and on an airship with two thugs.

“What do you want with me?” she stammered.

“We just want you to live up to your reputation and fix something for us,” Zap explained, leaning down to grin at their captive, “If you can do that then everything will be fine. If you cant… well, it’s not going to be pretty.”

Indigo felt her heart accelerating as two thoughts tried to overwhelm her mind. Firstly, if they just wanted her to fix something, then she was perfectly safe because she could fix anything. But secondly, that was only true if the ponies kidnapping and threatening her upheld their end of the bargain, which seemed far from guaranteed.

The tinkerer swallowed hard before yelping as the small airship skittered across the treetops, the thin floor beneath her scraping across branches at high speed.

Sapper giggled with delight as she yanked at the controls, swerving the airship around a taller tree with sparks flying as the armoured front section almost bounced off of a thick trunk. Zap rolled his eyes while Indigo struggled to wedge herself into the space between seats and hold tight with bound hooves.

“Maybe you should slow down,” Zap called over the roar of the engine. "Or at least fly high enough that we're not skimming jungle canopy!"

“Don’t spoil my fun,” Sapper replied with a shrug. "And we need to fly low or we'll be spotted from a distance."

“We'll also be spotted if we crash in a fiery explosion,” Zap observed as Indigo yelped again, desperately trying not to get bounced out of the small airship, “And we don't want this engineer to have a heart attack before we reach the camp.”

“Fine,” Sapper sighed, looking down at her passengers from the pilot's platform before easing off on the throttle and raising them a little higher in the air.

=

Rarity backed away from the trio of large, snake-leach monsters that slithered slowly toward her. Deep blue eyes glanced around, looking for an escape route or for Deputy Rook who had disappeared the moment the threat turned up. But there was no sign of the missing lawpony and the only way out of the clearing was into the thick undergrowth of the jungle, not something she'd be able to gallop through at full speed.

That left her with the option to fight or talk.

“I sense that you’re unhappy with my presence?” Rarity said, “I do apologise and I’m more than happy to leave in peace. There’s no need to compound this faux pas by resorting to violence.”

The nearest beast roared in response before charging at her, moving with surprising speed as it lunged forward with its circular mouth open wide. Rarity darted gracefully to the side, avoiding the jaws before raising a fore-hoof to slam into the creature’s body as it flew past her.

Rarity was expecting a subtle flash of blue-white light around the edge of her hoof as it collided with the monster's scaled skin. Instead there was no flash, just an unexpected jolt of pain that left her stumbling as the second monster lunged.

Desperately twisting, Rarity managed to avoid the knife-like teeth plunging into her neck. Instead the monster glanced off of her shoulder, the heavy beast sending her tumbling to the ground.

Grunting in the most ladylike way she could manage under the circumstances, she rolled to the side, avoiding the third lunging creature but finding herself face to face with the first as it slithered closer, angling to wrap itself around her fallen form.

"Nope!" Rarity snapped, her rear hooves bucking into the creature's head. The impact stung her legs as it sent the monster thudding to the ground on the far side of the small clearing.

Still on the ground, she grabbed a cluster of nearby stones with her magical field and flung them toward the two upright monstrosities. But the pebbles moved awkwardly through the air and bounced off of the reptilian hides with none of the force she was expecting.

“I assure you, this is not the finest example of my skill,” she gasped.

Scrambling to her hooves, Rarity backed away from the trio of monsters as her mind raced. When it came to fighting, she wasn't physically or magically the strongest, but she prided herself on attention to detail and having the skill to act on her analysis.

The snake-leech-creatures liked to lunge and they telegraphed the attack. The monsters would compress their bodies, sinking back like a coiled spring before bolting forward, teeth first. Now she knew what to look for she could avoid being hit as long as she was careful about her placement and managed to keep all three attackers in view. And as long as she stayed moving and on her feet, they wouldn't get a chance to wrap around her and squeeze until she broke.

The bigger problem was how to fight back. Rarity had landed a couple of blows, but they had lacked the power she'd intended and her telekinetic attacks were just as weak. She wasn't sure if her magic was still low after the sleep bombs rattled her brain or if the monsters were somehow draining her power. Either way, she couldn't fight back.

So, she was left dodging attacks and hoping the snake-leeches became tired before she did.

"It appears we are at an impasse, darlings," Rarity explained as she reached the edge of the clearing and debated whether using the undergrowth for cover was worth the risk of loosing sight of her opponents, "So, perhaps we should just call this a draw and go our separate ways. No hard feelings?"

The nearest creatures prepared to lunge together and Rarity dodged to the side, ducking down low as she brought up both fore-hooves to lash out. It wasn't a particularly natural or comfortable position for a pony, but she managed to avoid both attacks and land another blow on the body of the second snake-leech.

Gasping, she scrambled to her hooves again and twisted to buck the third beast before it had a chance to attack. Her blow landed awkwardly as the creature turned in the air to swipe at her with its tail.

Rarity thudded to the ground for the second time with her flank aching and the third monster recovering quicker than the others. Scrambling, she got to her hooves before the beasts could lunge again and backed away to the opposite edge of the clearing.

"Alright, maybe I can't fight this to a draw, but I promise I will make it a pyrric victory for you," Rarity winced as she put weight on her aching flank.

The snake-leeches slowly spread out, taking their time as they made sure Rarity was surrounded with her back against the thick jungle. The unicorn was about to turn and run when she caught a flash of movement above her.

“Incoming!” Rook screamed as she dropped from the jungle canopy, plummeting straight at the monster to Rarity's right.

Rook slammed into the creature, her metal climbing shoes colliding with the leech-like head. The beast slumped to the ground as Rook leaped upward again, spinning to buck both rear hooves into the second monster, forcing the beast to sprawl on its side as the last of the trio turned to face the cloaked unicorn.

The deputy kicked the fallen snake trying to whip her with its tail while the final beast prepared to lunge at the occupied Rook. Rarity darted forward, her hooves slamming into the monster's jaw before it could attack. Her blow caught the creature off guard, sending it tumbling to the ground where Rook's metal shoes could land a barrage of powerful kicks.

With a hollow, shrieking sound, the trio of monsters slithered back into the jungle, moving with pained, awkward jerks.

"I was afraid of this, we've been lucky for too long,” Rook sighed, inspecting her climbing shoes to make sure the spiked bases were largely undamaged. Turning to the white unicorn glaring at her, she smiled, “How are you holding up, Rarity?”

Rarity panted, her head tilting to the side and her eyes narrowing. Her body ached, her heart was racing and her fur was slick with sweat and dirt from the jungle floor. Most importantly, she was flooded with adrenalin and the pony who'd abandoned her at the start of the fight was now standing right in front of her.

“You disappeared!” Rarity frowned, stomping her right fore-hoof before taking a step toward Rook. "You disappeared, leaving me to fight alone!"

“I climbed a tree.” Rook explained calmly as Rarity stopped almost muzzle to muzzle with her. Still smiling, she gestured to the spiked, metal shoes strapped to her hooves. “I needed to get the drop on our uninvited guests while they were distracted,” she nodded in the direction the creatures had retreated before pointing upward, “I knew you could protect yourself while I got into position. You’re a fighter. I’ve got pretty good instincts about these things.”

“Instincts? You put my life in danger based on instinct?” Rarity continued to frown as Rook removed her shoes before slipping them back into the pockets hidden within her cloak.

“Yes and no,” The violet mare nodded, “Those vampire-wyrms feed off of magic, not life-force. I thought everypony knew that?"

"Clearly I'm not well versed in local wildlife!” Rarity snapped, "We don't have these vampire-worm things back home!"

"Vampire-wyrms" Rook corrected, "They're common jungle pests and were probably drawn to whatever powered the air-ship. They wouldn’t kill you, just suck out your magic. So, yeah, you would've been left unconscious for other monsters to find, but I was always going to intervene before that happened.”

"Was that supposed to sound reassuring?" Rarity rolled her eyes again, "And how do you explain the circular mouths filled with razor sharp teeth that they tried to plunge into my flesh! Are they simply a decorative choice?"

"Their saliva is a paralytic, they were just trying to scratch you. A single small cut would've been enough to leave you helpless for them to feed on," Rook explained, ”They weren't planning on severing an artery or anything, they need their victims alive."

“They were attempting to scratch me by plunging hoof-width teeth into me?”

“It would’ve been a… bad scratch… I’ll admit.”

“It still sounds like you were relying on luck," Rarity sighed and shook her head, trying to move past the lingering weight of anger, "You said those things were magical leaches? That explains why my kicks felt weak. I was trying to use magic to enhance my attacks.”

“Yeah, you were flash-shielding, right? I recognised the U.M.A style,” Rook nodded. "Nice technique by the way. I'm no expert, but you looked like a professional."

“Simply a skilled amateur, I assure you. So, you needed to take them by surprise so you could use your own magic without the... vampire-wyrms weakening you,” Rarity sighed theatrically, “I can see why that was necessary, but a little warning would’ve been nice. For all I knew, you'd left me to die alone in the jungle.”

“I... yeah… it doesn’t sound good now that I hear it out loud,” Rook replied with a slightly awkward, apologetic smile, “Sorry. I’m used to working alone.”

“Alone? You’re the deputy. Surely you’re used to cooperation?”

“The Sheriff isn’t exactly a great example of teamwork,” Rook replied with a shrug.

Rarity hesitated. The deputy’s story didn’t sit right with her and she wanted to pick it apart like the detectives in her favourite stories. But Indigo was still missing and standing around, questioning her only ally wouldn’t help rescue the kidnapped tinkerer.

“Well, no harm done,” Rarity said with forced politeness, “if you can still track Indigo while she's in an airship, we should keep moving. We’re already falling behind, no need to delay things further.”

"Agreed," Rook said before sniffing the air a few times and turning toward the setting sun and pointing into the jungle. "Let's go.”

=

Indigo and her captors were far ahead of the rescue party, racing above the jungle in an airship the tinkerer felt was too small and too cobbled together to safely carry three ponies at high speeds. But Sapper, the female bandit still seemed intent on traveling as fast as possible and as close to the jungle canopy as she could get away with.

The tinkerer focused on the airship around her and tried not to think about the kidnappers or the jungle rushing beneath them. More specifically, she focused on thinking of improvements for the craft.

The gondola beneath the balloon was put together from random scraps and suspended using old metal cables. Indigo’s first thought for improvement was to destroy it in a fire and then rebuild from scratch.

The balloon itself was small, too small to lift the craft on its own, so their elevation was being enhanced with magic. The tinkerer couldn't see the engine, but she could hear it, at the back of the ship beneath the pilot's platform that Sapper stood on. She could reliably guess how it was fuelled and what enchantments were being used to produce speed and lift. But the rattle and burr echoing around them told her there was plenty of room for improvement. And plenty of chance for the engine to fail at any moment, leaving them plummeting from the sky.

"Skybound's gravitational distortion," Indigo whispered to herself, her goggles cycled shut so she could focus on the sounds, "Four enchantments rigged to work together, incorrectly balanced. Need repositioning and calibrating."

“Quit muttering, tinkerer,” Zap said as the engine hissed and they started to slow down, "We're here. Home sweet home.”

"Bandit camp sweet bandit camp," Sapper added as she guided the airship toward the ground.

Taking a deep breath, Indigo steadied herself for looking over the side of the gondola. Peeking her goggles over the top, the tinkerer’s already racing heart accelerated as tree branches rushed by, less than a hoof-width from the bottom of their craft.

Swallowing her scream, Indigo looked ahead to find the mountain range at the edge of the jungle and spotted a rocky alcove with a ramshackle camp beyond a wooden barricade. Half hidden by foliage and stone, a ruined airship sat at an odd angle at the rear of the bandit camp.

From a distance it was difficult to say for certain that the ship was pre-Equestrian, but Indigo recognised familiar design elements within the damage and decay. If it really was over a thousand years old it would’ve been the biggest artefact from that era to be uncovered.

“If you haven’t already guessed, that’s what we need you to repair,” Zap said, leaning closer so he could be heard over the roar of the engine.

“You want me to fix an ancient, pre-Equestrian airship?” Indigo whispered, tilting her head to the side as she studied the ruined craft they rushed toward, “Yeah, I can do that,” she nodded.

Even with the dozens of archeological digs nearby, they’d only uncovered a few small pieces of technology. The thought of working on an entire airship was enough to make the tinkerer forget her predicament as her mind raced with ideas.

A pair of guards waved to them as their airship passed over the crude wooden walls to land in a clearing surrounded by tents and shacks. The Pre-Equestrian craft disappeared behind the largest tent in the middle of the improvised settlement as they descended, and indigo snapped out of her engineering trance in time to register the bandits surrounding her.

They’d barely touched the ground when Zap dragged Indigo upright and shoved her out of the gondola. Stumbling on the rocky ground, the tinkerer glanced around as a dozen ponies stepped out of their tents to study the new arrival.

They were mostly earth ponies with a couple of unicorns at the back. Everypony was dressed the same as Sapper and Zap, wearing a simple harness and saddlebags around their torso with metal armour covering their hooves and parts of their fore-legs.

“Welcome back, my friends,” a voice boomed as an unusually large unicorn stepped out of the main tent, “I see you’ve brought another tribute for our grand cause!”

The unicorn stallion was soft orange in colour with both his fur and mane sharing the same tones. Most of his cutiemark was hidden by saddlebags, but what little could be seen appeared to be twisted and jagged.

Indigo shuddered, her heart racing with fear as the crowd started to chant and stomp their hooves. The heavy thuds of metal against stone echoed in her memories.

“What do you say, engineer?” The pale orange unicorn called, his voice louder than before as the tinkerer huddled back, trying to hide from the world, “Will you be the one who finally completes our airship, allowing us to achieve our dreams?”

Indigo trembled as Zap kept her from running with a firm hold on the rope binding her legs. Not that the bound pony could even think of running.

“Yes?” she answered hesitantly, looking up at the larger unicorn.

“She agrees!” the bandit leader called, eliciting more cheers and stomps from his followers. “And of course… if she fails us, we’ll have fun breaking her while we wait for the next tribute.”

More loud stomping echoed around her.

“Great,” Indigo stammered as the leader turned to trot back into his tent and she was forced to follow him as fast as her bound hooves would allow.

“Sapper, take care of the airship,” Zap called over his shoulder as he shoved Indigo ahead.

“Yeah, yeah,” Sapper sighed dismissively, turning her attention back to the small craft, “I guess I’ll take care of the maintenance while you take all the credit for grabbing our new engineer.”

“That’s the plan,” Zap grinned, following the tinkerer into the tent.

Indigo was surprised by how orderly the interior was compared to the rest of the bandit camp. Instead of piles of junk and roughly thrown together structures, everything was neatly separated into distinct sections.

She’d never set up an office inside a tent, but the bandit leader’s room felt like something she’d organise herself. There was a familiar structure to everything.

“I’m Red Roses, the leader of this merry band and its time for me to..." The bandit leader frowned as he fully registered Indigo's appearance for the first time, "Why is she wearing a mask?"

"She was like that when we found her," Zap shrugged, standing guard by the tent entrance.

"It's medical," Indigo explained, her artificial voice a rough whisper, "I need the mask."

"Fine, whatever," Red rolled his eyes before continuing, "I don't care what you look like or how you're dressed, I just need you to understand the rules," He rested both fore-hooves on the table, leaning across to grin viciously at the tinkerer, “Do you understand the rules?”

“Fix the airship, or else?” Indigo offered when he paused expectantly.

“Exactly! Fix the airship, or else,” Red nodded, “specifically, or else we’ll torture and kill you. And, in case you get any clever ideas, like trying to escape or sabotaging our project, we can always make you suffer worse. Some of our members can be very creative.”

“Understood,” Indigo whispered, swallowing hard and hoping her trembling legs wouldn’t collapse completely.

“Wonderful. It appears you’re a smart one after all,” Red smiled, his horn glowing a soft, golden colour as he opened a desk draw to retrieve an old pocket watch. Without breaking eye contact with Indigo, he solemnly placed the silver timepiece on the worktop between them, “So, no sabotaging the project, no trying to escape and, perhaps most importantly, you have exactly one day to fix the airship.”

“Wait!” Indigo gasped, shock overriding her fear, “You want me to fix a wrecked ship I’ve never seen before in a single day?”

The tinkerer's goggles whirred, the focus shifting rapidly as her gaze darted from left to right and her ribs heaved from rapid breathing.

“Precisely,” Red nodded, tapping the button on top of the pocket watch, “I've had trouble in the past, keeping engineers focused. So this time limit means you'll get properly motivated and our airship will get finished. Sooner or later. And remember, if you're the lucky mechanic that gets the ship working, you'll get to live. Isn't that generous?”

Indigo clenched her jaw and held back the observation that the bandits would quickly run out of skilled engineers if they stuck to Red's plan. They weren’t in a highly populated or highly educated region. But she kept quiet and nodded along with the imposing leader’s speech.

“Let’s hope you’re as good as you claim,” Zap laughed, his armoured fore-hoof pressing into Indigo's shoulder again as the ticking clock filled her thoughts.

“It looks like you understand,” Red said as he trotted around the table, lifting the watch and carrying it with him, “Let’s show you what you’re working with. The clock is ticking.”

Indigo continued to nod numbly as she was shoved toward an exit at the back of the tent.

Stepping through the fabric doorway, Indigo found herself surrounded by piles of junk with the wrecked airship ahead, leaning against the vertical rock-face at the base of the mountain. Up close, she could see that the craft was smaller than most modern flying machines with the main ship roughly the same size as a train car. But what made it stand out from more recent designs was the way it blended magic and technology using techniques that'd become lost or impossible to replicate since the end of the pre-Equestrian era.

"We've been gathering supplies ever since we uncovered the ship," Red explained, leading her through the piles of junk, "But despite her best efforts, Sapper has been unable to restore it to working condition. That’s why we’ve brought in a professional."

Indigo nodded idly as she trotted closer and ran her right forehoof over the airship's damaged exterior.

“No wonder they can't repair you,” She whispered, her gaze lingering on a cracked crystal decorated with ancient runes, “Most ponies wouldn’t even know where to begin.”

“Can I take it from your muted mutterings that you’re confident you can fix the ship?” Red asked, standing to one side of the tinkerer with Zap on the other.

“I’m... familiar with the technology,” Indigo nodded, “Or as familiar as any pony can be as most pre-Equestrian machinery has been lost for over a thousand years. But to repair an entire airship, with no workshop, no assistance and no reliable way to replicate ancient workings... It won't be easy.”

“Yes, it won't be easy,” Red nodded, “Take whatever tools and equipment you need from the junk piles and we'll send scouts looking for any additional parts you ask for. But your time is limited, so I'd prioritise making your requests as soon as possible.”

Indigo stared at the junk pile and spotted a variety of magical and technological items all taken from ground vehicles. The small airship they'd flown in on was the only airborne machine in the camp.

“i’ll get to work,” Indigo nodded before turning to examine the rest of the ship.

“Wonderful,” Red grinned, “Remember, we'll be watching you the whole time. And while I’ve instructed the guards not to kill you until the twenty-four hours are up, they’re free to hurt you as much as they like if you try to escape.”

Indigo forced herself to nod again as Zap laughed savagely.

"I'm Indigo Ferrum, I can do this, I can repair an entire airship," she whispered to herself. "I just don't know if I can do it before the deadline..."

5 Dark times

Indigo's goggles whirred as she darted around the ancient airship’s exterior. Examining every surface in rapid succession, she contemplated the monumental task of repairing the wrecked vehicle in just twenty-four hours under threat of death.

“Structure, thrust, lift and control. Just need the basics to work, everything else is cosmetic,” she muttered, her heart racing as she felt the gaze of three bandits watching her work.

Zap, Sapper and a new mare she didn't recognise stood in the shadow of their leader's tent. The trio seemed content to watch her from a distance, but they all carried weapons ready to use at the slightest provocation. Sapper had a selection of grenades attached to her harness. Zap's electrified hoof-armour occasionally sparked with magical energy and the third bandit had a mouth-wielded spear across her back.

Focusing on the airship again, Indigo studied the structure first, trying to cover every section of the metal skeleton that supported the balloon and car as well as the thick layer of armour that would’ve surrounded the whole thing. Most of the protective outer layer was lost, corroded over time or damaged in whatever battle had left the airship crashed into the base of a mountain. But the metal structure beneath was largely intact, albeit with plenty of repairs and replacements

“So, they've made some progress,” she muttered, cringing as the trio of bandits moved to watch her trot inside the ship.

The interior matched what she'd seen outside. The structure was solid enough to keep the airship in one piece as it flew, but everything else still needed work. A lot of work.

Ignoring the central space which seemed designed for cargo and weapon placements, she climbed the steps to the flight deck, noting that the incline was uncomfortably steep for a pony. She wasn’t surprised by the scene of devastation when she reached the top. The airship had crashed head-first into the rocky wall of the canyon and the flight deck had suffered worst.

“Most of the controls are wrecked,” She said to herself as she poked at the console.

The exposed technology was relatively simple. Most of the controls were mechanical with wires, rods and cables linking the console to the thrusters, rudders and enchantments that would keep the ship in the air.

There appeared to be a magical display connected to the controls that she guessed was for viewing elevation, speed and other details. Repairing the display would be impossible, the crystals were shattered beyond use and whatever spells they once contained were unlike anything Indigo had ever seen. Unlike anything anypony had ever seen.

Except, perhaps for Princess Celestia.

"Well, the fancy display isn't strictly necessary to get the airship flying," She said with a shrug before turning her attention to the rear of the ship where the main engine was housed.

Hopefully being at the back would've protected the main source of thrust and lift from damage during the crash. But indigo didn't think she'd be that lucky.

Rarity and Rook made steady but slow progress through the jungle. They pushed through thick vegetation and skirted around patches of swamp-like ground while the deputy continued to sniff the air, following a trail that only she could sense. The setting sun bathed the already shadowy world around them in shades of red and Rarity struggle to keep her footing in the dying light.

She sensed the movement of creatures around them, the sound of a large group following their journey but keeping just out of sight. Rarity had no way of knowing if the beasts were waiting for the right moment to attack, or just keeping an eye on them, making sure the ponies didn't linger in their territory. It was the sort of information that Fluttershy or Applejack would know and that thought made Rarity wish her friends were with her.

But instead she was travelling with a stranger that she didn't really trust.

As they passed through the seemingly endless wilderness, Rarity found her thoughts consumed with Indigo. They had already trotted for hours and it was still going to be much longer before they caught up with the kidnappers. Anything could happen before they arrived, and even if they did track her down, there was no guarantee they'd be able to rescue her.

They wouldn't even know if the tinkerer was alive until some-time the following day if Rook's assessment was correct.

They weren't happy thoughts to dwell on.

"I don't suppose you brought any food?" Rarity asked as her stomach grumbled, thankful for something to say to break the silence.

"No," Rook shrugged, "Don't you have something in your saddlebags?"

"I have sketching supplies," Rarity explained, "I was planning on drawing some of the local scenery, not hiking for hours."

"Well... there is plenty of fruit in the jungle," Rook replied over her shoulder, "but I wouldn't recommend eating it at this time of year. Unless you want to poison yourself for no nutritional benefit"

"Wonderful," Rarity groaned, examining the trees and bushes around them to find plenty with fruits and berries, although she wasn't familiar with any of them. Once again she wished Applejack or Fluttershy were with her, "This isn't really what I had in mind when I planned to sample the exotic, local cuisine. Why aren't you hungry? We’ve been on the move for hours.”

"I ate before leaving the sheriff's office and my metabolism is different to yours," Rook said with another shrug, "If we keep heading in this direction, we'll cross one of the trade roads before morning. Hopefully we'll be near an inn or passing caravan where we can stop for food."

"Trade roads?" Rarity gasped. "If there are roads through this jungle, why aren't we following them? Instead of forcing our way through this tangled, sticky, thorny mess of vegetation!"

"Because the roads and rail tracks all cross from the mountains to the coast, there's nothing heading in our direction."

"I detest how much that makes sense," Rarity sniffed indignantly, "I'm not built for hiking through the wilderness."

"I thought you were tough. You defend your hometown from monsters?" Rook replied as she kept pushing through the undergrowth, "And you had no trouble fighting those vampire-wyrms."

"There are important, fundamental differences between trekking through the wilderness for hours and holding my ground to help defend my home. And... it's not just the physical unpleasantness of the journey. Back home, I'd hear an alarm ringing and go to help. It was simple, find out what the threat was then help drive it back into the Everfree forest. Here and now, I have no idea what threat we're facing or what condition Indigo will be in when we find her. I'm not appreciating this particular mystery."

"So, how do you usually cooperate in a fight?" Rook asked as the cloaked lawpony gave the designer an appraising look.

"That's quite the abrupt segue, darling."

"It sounds like you could use a change of topic," Rook explained, "I'm hoping we can rescue your missing friend without any more trouble. But if we need to fight then we're better off working together. So, I know you've trained in unicorn martial arts, what specific style?"

"I thought you had an instinct for these things?" Rarity frowned, pouting at more potentially poisonous fruit in the passing trees, "You sounded very confident in your ability to judge my skill. Confident enough to risk my life, I recall."

"My... instinct doesn't work like that. I can tell that you love being stronger than you look, that you love having an extra skill that other ponies might not expect from you. Love how it makes you different, how it makes you useful. I know how you feel about your ability to fight, I don't know the specifics of what you can do."

"Is that part of your cutiemark too? Like the bloodhound talent?" Rarity asked, "That does sound useful for a pony of the law."

"Yeah, it's something like that," Rook nodded without looking back at the designer.

"Well, you've already noted that I use flash-shield techniques," Rarity explained, "Generating a small, magical shield for the briefest of moments as my kicks land, or somepony tries to land a kick on me. I can't cast a full shield and I'll probably never be able to, but a small barrier in the right place at the right time can make a big difference, even if it's just for the blink of an eye."

"Cool," Rook grinned, "I can't do shields at all, not even for a millisecond. So, what fighting style are you using while flash-shielding?"

"I tend to mix Earth Pony light-weight boxing and Pegasus rapid style combat. The reliance on grace and quick-wits appeals to me. I've also been taught heavy-tank style martial arts, although I've never had the muscle mass to really make it work. But, when push comes to shove, I can shove a lot harder than you might expect."

"For a unicorn who claims to be an amateur, that is a very comprehensive range of fighting styles," Rook replied with an impressed whistle.

"Well, I could've gone professional when I was younger. But, despite your insistence that I 'love' it, fighting isn't where my true passion lies," Rarity explained before narrowing her eyes, "You do say 'love' rather a lot."

"What can I say, I'm a romantic," Rook shrugged. "So, what style were you using when you threw a dozen stones at the vampire-wyrms with your magic? I didn't recognise that attack."

"Well, it's not strictly a U.M.A move..." Rarity hesitated before continuing with a sigh, "in fact it's an immediate disqualification in any official bout. But, when you're fighting for your life against monsters, it's a rather useful tactic."

"Fighting dirty? I like it," Rook's grin broadened. "We have more in common than I thought."

"What a delightful thing to hear from a law enforcement pony," Rarity rolled her eyes, "Do you have any preferred style? Or should I expect you to climb a tree every time we face physical danger?"

"You may joke, but the tree tactic works," Rook nodded, "I do prefer to strike from the shadows or take the high ground whenever possible. And if I'm fighting ponies I've got a pretty good chance of knocking them out if I can get close enough."

“You sound like a ninja," Rarity frowned, "I was expecting a deputy to fight more like the Royal Guard or the Rangers."

"In my experience local law enforcement are an eclectic and inconsistent bunch," Rook explained, "But fortunately for us, our styles are complimentary. You're flashy and attention grabbing, so any enemies we cross will naturally focus on you, allowing me to sneak up on them."

"I can't say I'm a fan of being used as bait," Rarity shook her head, "For monsters or bandit kidnappers."

"Don't think of it as being bait... think of it as... being the centre of attention, the filly in the spotlight, the star of the show!"

"No matter how you spin this, I'm still the one in most danger."

"Until we reach the bandit camp, then I'm the one who'll be sneaking into enemy territory alone to rescue the kidnapped tinkerer."

"True..." Rarity rolled the idea around in her head before sighing again, "I was hoping this conversation would distract me from the situation, but I'm starting to realise just how reckless our plan is."

"It's only reckless if it doesn't work," Rook grinned.

"That's not what reckless means, darling."

Indigo explored the lower level of the airship in the fading light of the sunset, passing cluttered, twisted walls and uneven floor panels with jagged rock poking through some sections. There were more mechanical and magical devices throughout the ship than she'd been expecting, certainly far more than a modern airship.

“Weapons," the tinkerer frowned behind her mask as she examined one of the larger pieces in more detail.

The exact workings were unlike anything she'd seen, but she recognised enough pre-Equestrian symbols to guess that the cannon generated and propelled magical fire. If the dozen similar devices around the main chamber did the same, then the airship was capable of raining arcane magma upon an entire city.

"It's a battleship," she gasped, her artificial voice trembling as she stepped back from the destructive device.

"Correct," Zap called from the doorway, making Indigo jump, "And you'll need to fix those weapons if you want us to uphold our end of the bargain."

"But, magical weapons like this don't exist anymore," Indigo stammered, "The airship itself shares some of its design with modern flying machines, even if the specifics are unique, but the cannons... I'd have to conjure the repairs out of nothing."

"Then get conjuring, engineer. You sounded so confident in your skills when we grabbed you," Zap's grin broadened. "And we need a fully functional battleship."

Indigo nodded, her attention returning to the damaged weapons. They were undoubtedly the most challenging task she'd ever faced and part of her mind was racing with potential solutions to the seemingly impossible challenge. But not only was she working under threat of death, she would be providing murderous bandits with an attack ship capable of wiping out a city. Could she do that? Could she exchange her own freedom and safety for the potential deaths of so many others?

"You seem to be hesitating," Zap growled, raising his right fore-hoof as the armoured shoe sparked with magical lightning.

"Just... thinking," Indigo said, her gaze lingering on the electrified fore-hoof before turning to hurry into the rear of the airship where the engine was housed.

The room was largely intact with little of the damage that the rest of the airship had suffered. Placing the lantern to one side, Indigo squeezed into the tight space which was mostly filled by the magical-technology of the engine. There was little room to move, but that meant Zap was unable to follow her, leaving a battered wall between her and the threatening bandit.

“Not too bad,” Indigo muttered, crouching to examine the large device from a different angle. “The cores are still in one piece… along with most of the moving parts. Although a lot of the connectors have either degraded over time or were destroyed in the crash. And half the crystals have cracked."

Reaching through the reinforced framework, she nudged a few of the loose levers and rods that didn't appear to be attached to anything. It was unlikely they were decorative, so she had a lot of work ahead of her, just figuring out how the jigsaw of technology fit together.

"Somepony’s tried to replace damaged magical systems with incompatible components and it doesn't look like the jury-rigging has helped,” She said, her goggles whirring as they zoomed closer to the rune-engraved crystals linked to a more modern set up with a bundle of seemingly random wires. "But they've got the right idea, I'm going to have to replace what can't be fixed using technology scavenged from the junk outside... It'll be like trying to build a working locomotive out of Roc droppings..." Indigo rolled the idea around inside her head, "I can make it work, but it's not going to be pleasant."

The rescue party's pace slowed as the sunlight faded and Rarity struggled to pick her way through the dark undergrowth. Moonlight made little impact through the layers of jungle foliage above and the glow from Rarity's horn could only penetrate so much as she was wary of burning through her magical reserves. The vampire-wyrms had drained her and she had always been below average when it came to recharging.

“Is there a particular reason you’re not casting a light spell?" Rarity asked, stumbling over a tree root.

"I can't," Rook replied with another of her shrugs, "I've got telekinesis and a few other tricks, but not light. Fortunately I can see very well in the dark."

"Lucky you," Rarity frowned.

“Do you need to stop?" Rook called over her shoulder as she ducked under a tree branch that Rarity couldn't even see, "We could take a few hours break when we hit the road. It should be safer there."

Rarity peered into the darkness around them, listening to the sound of creatures still following their movement. The sounds had only grown more sinister as the sunlight faded.

"No, I can't stop while Indigo is still in danger," the designer shook her head, "Assuming your prediction is correct and we reach her before the next nightfall, I should be fine. This isn't my first all-nighter."

"But I'm guessing you haven't spent all night hiking through a jungle before?" Rook asked, looking back to raise an inquisitive eye brow that was barely illuminated by the soft blue light of Rarity's horn.

"That is... a fair point," the designer conceded, "Hopefully we'll be able to get some wake-up juice if we do pass an inn or traders on the road."

“Wake-up juice? That stuff always makes me sleepy."

"How very unique of you, darling," Rarity wearily replied as she forced herself to keep trudging forward.

Searching through piles of random magical and mechanical junk wasn't an easy task at the best of times. It became almost impossible in the middle of the night, by the light of an old lantern, with a trio of bandits glaring the whole time.

Indigo worked as fast as she could, noting everything useful on the surface and trying to uncover what she could from under the weight of metal and wood.

The bandits had gathered random items from passing traders on the nearby roads, rails and rivers, but there was nothing from an airship. The tinkerer prided herself on being able to improvise, but restoring the flying machine would need magical levitation devices. There was only so much lift the balloon could provide and while she had ideas for using rocket thrust to provide lift, that was only ever going to be a backup plan as sourcing enough fuel for the rockets would probably be even harder than finding gravity distorters.

"I have a list of requests," Indigo barely whispered, nudging the scrap of paper with her hoof as Zap stared down at her from the crude ramp leading into the airship.

"Sapper!" the bandit called, waving over the mare from where she was standing watch, "You ready to go shopping for our engineer?"

"It beats standing around here in the dark," Sapper shrugged before trotting over to the tinkerer and accepting the list. With the sheet of paper held up on her armoured-hoof, Sapper read through the items in the dim light, "I don't think it's going to be possible to swipe all of this. You've got things on the list that probably aren't even on this side of the continent."

"If you could retrieve whatever you can by morning, I'll work the rest out from there," Indigo explained in a trembling whisper.

"Will do," Sapper nodded, "I notice this stuff is all magical and mechanical components, there isn't anything on this list for repairing the ship's structure."

"Those repairs are already adequate," Indigo nodded.

"Sweet! I knew my repairs were good!" Sapper grinned as she slipped the list of requirements into her saddlebag.

“It’s a shame you couldn't fix the rest of it, Sapper,” Zap called from where he was still watching them at the top of the ramp.

"I'm not an airship engineer," Sapper shook her head before adjusting her bags and harness to expose her cutiemark which displayed a red-green potion inside a steel circle, "chemicals and metal, Zap, that's my talent."

"Chemicals, metal and fetching the items on that list," Zap replied, gesturing for the other bandit to get moving, "You're on a time limit, Sapper."

"Alright, I'm going."

Rarity listened to the irregular beat of her hooves against the jungle floor. The thud against tree roots, the rustle of leaves and the soft squelches that she tried not to think about. The designer was so focused on not tripping in the dark that it took her a moment to realise that the world around her had grown quieter.

"Have you noticed that the large animals tracking us have gone silent?" Rarity asked, glancing around the dark jungle and increasing the brightness of her horn.

"Yes," Rook nodded.

"Is that a good sign or a bad sign?" Rarity pondered.

"Depends what the animals are," Rook shrugged, "Jungle cats would've been silent the whole time while armoured-boars would-"

The deputy's response was interrupted by the sound of charging trotters and undergrowth being trampled aside as six large beasts thundered through the jungle toward them.

Rarity dodged to her left, but hit thick leaves too dense to push through, A set of razor sharp tusks collided with her right shoulder and she barely managed to generate a flash-shield in time. The protective spell took the brunt of the impact, turning what could’ve been torn flesh into a blunt thud, but it left Rarity rattled.

The designer realised for the first time that she had no experience fighting in the dark or in tight spaces. Despite traveling through the thick jungle for hours with dangerous beasts all around them, it hadn’t occurred to her how much of a disadvantage she would be in if they attacked.

She needed to improvise, fast!

Allowing momentum to carry her backward, Rarity skidded to a halt a short distance from the first beast which was shaking its head and pawing at its jaw. Clearly the taste of a magical shield had disagreed with it. Unfortunately this wasn’t slowing the approach of the remaining five creatures.

The beasts were about the size of a pony, but with glowing yellow eyes and a sturdy body covered with thick, grey plates of armour.

Rarity dodged the second attack, but was caught head on by the third. Her fore-hooves moved quick, deflecting the tusks with flash of blue-white, but the blow still send the unicorn flying. Crashing into the base of a tree, the designer barely had time to recover before the next boar reached her. Her right foreleg lifted, blocking the sharp tusks but receiving another bruising hit.

Diving to the right, Rarity rolled in the tight space, avoiding another attack before springing up to slam both rear hooves into the side of a charging boar. Another flash of blue-white light illuminated the jungle as her attack shattered a piece of armour. The beast staggered away while the ceramic-like protection covering its side fell to pieces.

Rarity dodged again, tusks grazing her flank as she repositioned herself. With her back against a broad tree-trunk, the designer activated her telekinetic field, grabbing the splintered remains of the boar's armoured plate.

"Thank you for giving me a clear target and ammunition," With an unladylike smile, Rarity let the ceramic shards fly, throwing them with surprising force at the pairs of glowing eyes around her.

The boars squealed and grunted in pain as they scrambled to turn tail and run. In less than a heartbeat, the beasts had disappeared into the jungle and the sound of their retreat was quickly fading.

“Armoured-boars?" Rarity said as she checked the graze on her side. She didn't appear to be bleeding, but the impact was red and painful beneath her fur, "We don't have those around Ponyville either."

"Once again, very impressive work," Rook said as she stepped out of the shadows, her cloak twisting oddly around her before falling normally.

"Where were you?"

"Getting ready to attack," Rook frowned, "You took care of them before I could even get into position."

"Perhaps you could be a little faster next time?" Rarity rolled her eyes, "I pride myself on being a lady who can take care of herself, but you're supposed to be a deputy! You really shouldn't be using a civilian as a pony-shield."

"I was confident that a pony with your remarkable skills would be in no danger," Rook replied with a shrug. “You’re clearly somepony special."

"Flattery..." Rarity groaned theatrically, but her ears perked up and she stood taller, "I do appreciate flattery. "

Indigo rushed back and forth between the junk piles and the airship, ripping out what she didn't need while trying to preserve and restore what could be salvaged. Her overalls had been designed for hard work, but the reinforced hoof-covers were starting to fray from her constant back and forth. It didn't help that she had limited tools until Sapper returned, so kicking was occasionally the best way to make progress.

"Remember to design better overalls," She muttered to herself, ripping out the last of the jury-rigged components so she could better examine what was left f the engine. With a shake of her head, she trotted back outside, "And I need to add night vision to my goggles. Or a flashlight attachment to my head-harness. Or both."

The tinkerer hoped that by focusing on the task at hoof she’d suppress some of her terror at being surrounded by potentially murderous criminals. But the constant gaze of Zap made the danger impossible to ignore.

Indigo was used to working alone through the night. In fact, she preferred the quiet and isolation. But working under the threat of death was a new and unpleasant factor as was the pile of junk she was expected to utilise. She’d never built a flying machine before and certainly not out of scrap parts from a dozen, incompatible machines. But her mind was racing with ideas and if it hadn't been for the bandits and the deadline, she would've described the challenge as a dream come true.

Grunting, she finished attaching a large engine component to her harness and began dragging it toward the airship. The task would’ve been a lot easier if any of the bandits standing guard had been willing to help. But instead they stood, silently watching her from a distance, adjusting their weapons if her gaze lingered on them for too long.

“I can do this,” she muttered, forcing the heavy load up the crude ramp and debating if it was worth the time to build a better slope for loading equipment. “I can do this. But I might work myself to death in the process,” she added, her legs trembling and her whole body aching as she turned toward the engine room.

6 Getting to know you

Rarity frowned at the jungle around her before realising that the faint red glow seeping through the dense foliage was the sunrise, not an imminent danger or hallucination. The pale light made it easier for her to move through the undergrowth without tumbling or stubbing her hooves against the rocks and rock-like tree roots. But it also illuminated her frazzled mane and dirt-stained fur.

"I was booked into a luxury spa," the designer muttered, longing for a couch to faint upon, "now look at me..."

Rook turned her head from where she was still leading their small rescue party, purple eyes finding Rarity in the morning light.

"No, don't look at me!" Rarity snapped, holding her right forehoof dramatically to her forehead while closing both eyes. “I look hideous!”

"Anypony ever tell you that you're a little overly dramatic?" Rook asked.

"Overly dramatic?" Rarity scoffed, "I am perfectly dramatic, thank you, darling."

"Of course," Rook gave a snort of laughter, "And you look fine, love. Very pretty."

"Love?"

"You say daring, I say love," Rook shrugged.

"Fair enough. And you think I'm pretty? I didn't realise you were a connoisseur of the feminine form?" Rarity replied with the faintest flutter of her extended eyelashes.

"Well, I don't find any ponies physically attractive, if that's what you mean," Rook tilted her head to the side as she thought, "But I know what's considered desirable and you certainly fall within that category. Despite the messy mane and the layer of sweat... or perhaps more so... depending on personal taste, love."

"Well, thank you, darling," Rarity's lips curled into a subtle smile, "And you don't find any ponies attractive? No preferences at all?"

"Nope. Never have, probably never will," Rook shrugged again, "They're just not my cup of tea."

"You're ace? Or do you like any... other creatures?" Rarity asked hesitantly, unsure if it was an impolite question.

"No other creatures, not physically," Rook shook her head, "Do you have any preferences?"

"I am attracted to ponies," the designer pouted as she mulled the idea in her mind, "Although I've spent very little time around other creatures, so who knows? Maybe I'll cross paths with a rich, eligible griffin someday and fall hopelessly in love. But even with ponies, I've never made the leap from having a crush on somepony to actually dating them. The curse of having high standards, I guess."

"Sounds like you're open minded, but with very exacting tastes."

"That describes me perfectly in every aspect of my life," Rarity nodded before frowning, "You know, we've been traveling together for hours and I still know nothing about you. Just that you're possibly ace and come from one of those islands around Trottingham. Probably Cartshire, if I had to guess."

"You know I'm from Cartshire?"

"I have a good ear for accents, darling," Rarity smiled as her ears flicked forward for emphasis. "And before you say anything, I'm aware that my own accent isn't normal. Or, to be precise, it is several centuries extinct."

"So, that's not how most ponies talk in your hometown?" Rook smiled, "There must be a story behind that."

"I am unique in Ponyville. Perhaps unique in all of Equestria," The white unicorn gestured theatrically to herself. "But there's not much to the story. I'm just a filly chasing a dream. I tried to reinvent myself at fashion design camp when I was younger. I doubled down on the voice when I moved away to make it in the big city, only to return home with my tail between my legs. And the accent has remained now I'm working hard to start my own fashion label from my hometown."

“So you design fashion and have a side job as part of the emergency response volunteers and town militia?" Rook asked.

"An unpaid, unofficial extra job, yes," Rarity sighed, "How about you, Rook, why are you so far from Cartshire?"

"It's fairly simple," Rook’s sigh echoed the designer’s. Removing her hat, she brushed back a wave of mauve coloured mane, "I had a falling out with my family, so I left."

"A falling out?"

"They wanted me to work in the family business and I didn't. The situation escalated," Rook gave a sad shrug. "Such is life."

"I'm sorry, darling," Rarity quickened her pace so she could put a forehoof on the lawpony's shoulder, "There was some stress and confusion when I first told my parents I wasn't going to be following in their hoofsteps, but thankfully we were able to work through it. I'm so sorry to hear that you weren't so fortunate."

"Well, this wasn't the kind of disagreement that could be worked through," Rook sighed, "But thank you. After leaving the... after leaving home, I traveled the world to experience new things and find where I belonged. It wasn't until very recently that I ended up in Green Lake."

"And how recently did you become the deputy? Because I assume it was during the brief minutes between my first walking into the Sheriff's office and you finding me in the market square," Rarity raised a dainty eyebrow.

"Pardon me?" Rook stammered, coming to a stop as she turned to look at Rarity.

"I know you're not really the deputy," Rarity smiled, "I've suspected for a while and I don't think perpetuating the charade benefits us, darling."

Rook groaned, "What gave me away?"

"Lots of little details. But most recently it was your hat, Rook. It is identical to the one the Sheriff was wearing and it is too big for you. And when you removed it just now, I noticed silver mane hairs inside. So, either you really are a deputy, but you share a chapeau with the Sheriff… or you're a criminal who escaped and stole the sheriff's hat," she rolled her eyes at the other pony's open mouth, "I told you, darling, I'm good with details."

"Fine, I'm not really the deputy," Rook admitted, taking off the sheriff's hat and dropping it in the mud, "I'm an escaped thief. So, where does that leave us?"

"Exactly where we were before," Rarity shrugged, "You're the only pony from town who volunteered to help rescue Indigo. As long as you uphold your end of the bargain, I'm not too concerned whether you're a thief or a deputy."

"That is very... pragmatic of you," Rook tilted her head to the side, studying the designer.

"You'd be surprised by the number of ponies who don't realise how practical I can be," Rarity smiled again, "Besides, if my judgement is wrong and you turn out to be a bandit who's lured me out into the jungle for nefarious reasons... Well, I will absolutely make you suffer for such a betrayal of trust."

Rook swallowed hard, her purple eyes never leaving Rarity's steely blue glare, "I believe you."

"As well you should, darling," Rarity nodded, "Now, if we could get moving again? We have a pony to rescue and time is off the essence."

Indigo's mechanical voice hissed in complaint as the rising sun finally peeked over the tents and junk to hit her directly. Scrambling back from the holes in the airship wall, she waited for her goggles to adjust to the brightness before grabbing a box of fabric scraps and wrapping them around the damaged sections of her overalls.

Once every strand of the fur beneath had been covered, she took a deep breath and stepped back into the daylight.

"Should've asked for more overalls," the tinkerer muttered to herself as she bent down to reassemble the cables and rods that should've connected the main engine to the rest of the ship.

Working through the night, she'd removed most of what couldn't be salvaged and made some sense of what was left. But there was still a huge amount of work to be done before the airship would fly.

More work than one pony could manage before the deadline.

Tilting her head to the side, she debated replacing the central power converter with a more modern equivalent. Or modifying what was already there to interact with modern forms of magical energy storage. Neither choice was guaranteed to work and risked ruining the remaining pre-equestrian technology across the rest of the ship. But she needed to start cutting corners somewhere.

Indigo was still in thought when she heard the sound of an approaching airship.

Peering through one of the holes in the wall, Indigo watched as Sapper returned, skimming over the treetops, the gondola almost overflowing with parts and components. The tinkerer didn't want to think about how the bandit had acquired her haul of technology, but it looked like she'd got almost everything that'd been requested.

"I've returned, bearing gifts!" Sapper called down as the small airship passed over Red's tent in the centre of the camp to land among the piles of junk.

The bandits that'd been standing guard remained where they were when the gondola touched the ground. Nopony seemed interested in helping unload the supplies.

"I couldn't get the compressors or power couplings that you wanted," Sapper called before hopping down from the pilot's platform, "So, I hope you've thought of a way around those problems while I've been gone."

"Yeah," Indigo whispered with a brief nod as she headed out the airship to inspect the delivery. Most of what she saw was old, battered machinery that'd probably been taken from abandoned logging camps, mines and river boats. But it was better than what she'd started with, "I can work with this."

"Great," Sapper grinned, proudly patting her haul of junk, ”Let me know if you need an extra set of hooves."

Indigo hesitated.

The bandits were terrifying. Individually, they were just ponies, but they carried weapons and seemed to have no problem hurting or even killing to get what they wanted. And she didn't have good memories of working with others even before being kidnapped.

But she couldn't fix the airship alone. Not before the time ran out.

"I... could use an extra set of hooves. Please," She said, her voice straining.

"Sure," Sapper shrugged, following the tinkerer back inside the larger airship, "But I'll warn you, all this mechanical and magical stuff is beyond me."

"Where do you think you're going?" Zap barked, his armoured forehooves sparking as he stepped away from where he was standing guard, stomping at the ground. "That's against the rules!"

Indigo stopped moving. Her legs trembled as she lowered her head and hoped the shouting would stop.

"Rules?" Sapper scoffed, standing tall and frowning at the other bandit,"Since when do we have rules?"

"The engineer has to fix the ship by herself!" Zap growled defiantly.

"That's ridiculous" Sapper's frown deepened as she shuffled so the grenades slung over her shoulders were easier to grasp. "Who cares how much help she gets, so long as the airship gets fixed?"

Indigo's goggles cycled shut so she couldn't see. Although the last thing she saw was Sapper taking a step in front of her to stand between the tinkerer and Zap.

"It's more fun to watch her squirm alone," Zap insisted. "That's part of the game."

"Don't you want the airship completed?" Sapper shook her head, "Isn't that the whole point of us being here?"

Zap took another step toward Sapper, his electrified hoof-armour crackling constantly.

"Enough!" A deep voice boomed as Red stepped out of his tent to glare at the arguing bandits, "As much as I enjoy making ponies squirm, Sapper has a point. Fixing the airship is more important than toying with our engineer. Fixing the airship is everything. understood?"

"But, you said-"

"Let Sapper help. Is that understood?" Red repeated with a stomp of his hoof and a scarlet spark of magic from his horn.

"Understood," Zap nodded reluctantly.

"Good," The bandit leader turned to stare at everypony present before trotting back into his tent.

"Let's get to work," Sapper said with a shrug, heading back up the ramp into the airship, "No idea what that drama was all about."

Indigo followed the bandit, being careful not to look back toward the others. She had a feeling that she knew what the drama was about. Zap cared more about the torture and killing than the airship.

Stepping through the open doorway, the tinkerer hoped her legs would stop shaking soon. Because she really needed to finish her work.

"And you're certain we're heading in the right direction?" Rarity asked, forcing her way through the endless rows of branches and thick leaves that felt as heavy as lead.

"Yes," Rook nodded, "We're going the right way, but I can't tell how much further it'll be. My tracking sense doesn't work like that."

"Hopefully we'll find Indigo before night falls again," Rarity sighed, "The thought of that poor filly surrounded by beastly bandits for a whole day..." the designer shuddered.

"From what you said, it sounds like these kidnappers need her to repair or build something," Rook said with forced reassurance, "She'll be safe until they don't need her help any more. That should give us time to reach them."

"It should," Rarity nodded, "But it's not guaranteed."

"Well, we've reached the trade road at least," Rook announced, pushing aside more undergrowth to reveal a dirt track cut through the jungle.

The road wasn't perfectly straight, it weaved around the bigger trees and less stable ground, but it was lined with warding stones and seemed to be in fairly regular use. It was the first sign of civilisation in hours and at the very least, Rarity appreciated being able to see the sky instead of the endless canopy of green.

"Any sign of an inn or passing trade caravan?" Rarity asked, trotting onto the road and taking a moment to catch her breath.

“I’ll check," Rook replied as she trotted over to the nearest ward stone, "If the symbols engraved on this marker are to be believed, we're another three hours trot from the nearest inn."

“We cant waste that much time,” Rarity shook her head before closing her eyes and allowing her horn to glow softly.

"What are you doing?"

"Quiet, darling," Rarity waved a dismissive hoof as she turned her head from side to side, "I'm concentrating."

Rook frowned, but remained silent as Rarity continued to sway back and forth, the glowing horn leaving a faint trail through the air.

"There, found something," Rarity opened her eyes and smiled as she pointed along the track, "There's a trader in this direction. They're not that far and they're heading toward us, so the detour won't be too big if we meet them halfway. And as much as I hate delaying our journey at all, we're not going to be much of a rescue party if we're starving and dehydrated."

"How..." Rook's frown deepened, "Do you have the bloodhound trait?"

"Just an affinity for finding gemstones," Rarity explained before glancing back at her cutiemark, "It's my special talent. And as it happens, the trader is hauling gems."

"Gems? You can sense gems?" Rook's frown twisted into a broad grin, "You would make such an awesome thief."

"I would never dream of such a thing," Rarity gasped, "My talent makes me a somewhat successful prospector. And it's rather useful as I incorporate gemstones in my fashion design... although, I'm afraid to say that at the moment I make more bits selling unwanted stones than from dress-making," the designer sighed.

"At least you've got some money coming in," Rook said as Rarity began to lead the way down the trail, "There were times when I was literally starving and penniless. Having the ability to uncover gems would've been useful."

"I don't mean to sound ungrateful, darling," Rarity replied hastily. "I'm very fond of my special talent. But digging in the dirt isn't what I dreamed when I first set out to become a fashion designer."

"I can see how those two situations would seem diametrically opposed," Rook nodded.

"You have a curiously sophisticated lexicon for a thief," Rarity observed.

"I'm multifaceted," Rook grinned before falling back into a comfortable silence as they traveled.

Rarity shook her head and was about to respond when they spotted the trader around the curve of the road. First they noticed the faint trail of smoke from a magical engine, followed by a steam engine dragging two metal carriages.

Three ponies sat upon the engine, one driver and two guards. The driver frowned, hitting a pair of levers to slow the vehicle as they approached the two mares trotting toward them. The earth pony guard reached for a spear which hooked onto her armoured foreleg while the unicorn guard ignited his horn.

Rarity quickly hid her frown, turning it into a warm smile while her mind raced. She'd never seen armed guards with a trade caravan before. Not around Ponyville. But she'd never seen bandits around Ponyville either, so the designer guessed it made sense that travellers would need more protection in the jungle.

She wished she'd known that before booking her vacation.

"Good morning," Rarity called, waving a forehoof, "We're short of food, water and wake-up juice and were hoping you'd be willing to trade?"

The three ponies exchanged confused looks and whispered hurriedly among themselves before the earth pony guard turned her pink eyes toward the pair of disheveled travellers.

"You're in the middle of the jungle, without food?" The guard called as the distance between the groups slowly diminished.

"We charged off to rescue a kidnapped pony and didn't think about our supplies until we were already traveling," Rarity explained as the traders finally came to a halt a few body-lengths away from them.

"I thought about it. I just assumed you had food and water with you," Rook frowned.

"You're not helping, darling," Rarity shook her head before looking back to the trio, "So, do you have spare provisions? We're more than happy to pay."

"A kidnapped pony?" The driver asked as the guards studied them cautiously.

"Indigo, a tinkerer from the town of Green Lake has been kidnapped by bandits," Rarity explained, failing to keep the fear from her voice.

The earth pony guard lowered her weapon as the unicorn's horn went dark. The trio shared a sad, knowing look before the driver started rummaging through a storage compartment beside them.

"I keep telling the Rangers that this region needs more protection," The unicorn guard sighed, "We didn't used to have two armed ponies traveling with every trade caravan, but these days it's essential if you want to reach the coast without being robbed."

"Brigands and thieves are a constant problem," Rarity agreed as Rook stifled an indignant snort, “And I am sorry to be rude, but if you could spare some supplies, we do need to keep moving."

"Of course," The driver said, lifting a bag out of the box beside them and holding it toward Rarity who grabbed it in her magical field, “Food, water and some wake-up juice. We'll update the Rangers when we reach the next town, but even if we abandoned the caravan and started galloping, we're a long way from the next Ranger Station."

"And we can't abandon the caravan," the earth pony guard added.

"We understand," Rarity gave the trio a thin smile as she pulled a coin purse from her saddlebag, "How much do we owe you?"

“It’s free," the driver replied quickly, "They're emergency rations and this is an emergency."

"Well then," Rarity's smile grew warmer as she put her coins away, "Your generosity is appreciated. Thank you for the help, but we really do need to get moving again."

"Yeah, thanks," Rook gave the trio a brief wave before turning to lead the way into the jungle again.

As they disappeared into the undergrowth, Rarity removed a thick biscuit from the supplies and took a bite.

"I like to think I have a refined pallet, but food never tastes so sweet as when you really need it," the designer said before taking another mouthful.

"Ain't that the truth," Rook nodded.

"Would you like some?"

"I'm not hungry yet," the thief shook her head, "I ate before we left and it was a rather substantial meal. So… does your talent let you know how many gems were in those carriages?"

"Yes," Rarity nodded, "Both carriages were stuffed full. Although they're all industrial and academic grade stones. The kind used to store magical power and enchantments. Not the sort of rocks I'm interested in. Why, were you planning on robbing them?"

"Of course not. That's way too many stones for me to fit inside my cloak," Rook shook her head, "I specialise in taking prized artefacts from rich idiots who love their possessions more than they love other ponies. It's more satisfying that way."

"So, you rob ponies to teach them a moral lesson about avarice? That seems somewhat... contradictory, darling."

"I never said it was a great philosophy," Rook shrugged, "It's just how I operate, love."

Indigo glanced up as she lay on the uneven floor, her goggles focusing on Sapper as the bandit held a heavy piece of machinery in place as the tinkerer worked beneath it. The earth pony's muscles were tight and her fur glistened with sweat, but she held the engine-part perfectly still between her hooves.

"You're staring," Sapper observed with none of the aggression or bravado that her voice usually held.

"Do you need to rest?" the tinkerer asked, "Pony bodies are fragile machines. I don't want you hurting yourself. Or dropping that on me."

"Trust me. I’m good with metal," The bandit grinned, "and I'm not even close to my limits."

Indigo nodded before sliding deeper under the heavy machinery to realign a series of crystals inside the device. If Sapper dropped the metal block while she was beneath, it could easily split the tinkerer's skull. But if metal was part of the bandit's special talent, then Indigo had to trust she knew what she was doing.

Not that she was in a position to stop working, no matter how dangerous it was.

"Tilt to your right," Indigo's mechanical voice instructed, "I need to restore one of the engraved crystals."

"No problem," Sapper replied, rotating the machinery to the side as the tinkerer twisted to look deeper inside the ancient technology.

Sparks flashed from under the machinery followed by the distinctive scent of crystals being engraved. The bandit held the metal block steady while leaning forward to peer through the gaps in the framework. After a few twists, she spotted a row of engraved gemstones near the centre and watched as the ancient runes became distorted with new energy.

"How do you work on the stones?" Sapper asked, her eyes narrowing as she tried to follow the faint changes in the glowing crystals. "That's all unicorn magic. The best I could do was replace damaged stones with already enchanted ones and hope the spells were compatible. And most of the time they'd just explode"

"I am a unicorn."

Indigo's goggles twisted into what Sapper now recognised as a frown before the tinkerer finished what she was doing and slid out from under the device.

"You can lower it now, but I want to test the mechanism before you bolt it into place," Indigo explained.

Sapper grunted as she placed the metal block on the airship deck before wiping sweat from her brow and finally turning to the tinkerer.

"You're a unicorn?" the bandit raised an eyebrow, "I'm not an expert, but you seem to be lacking the defining unicorn trait."

Glancing at the sunlight pouring in through the doorway, Indigo took a step toward the earth pony and tapped her own forehead just above the goggles.

Sapper listened to the distinctive thud before reaching up to cautiously touch the fabric mask covering Indigo's head.

"A broken horn?" her eyes opened wide, "snapped off at the base."

The tinkerer nodded as she crouched to test the device they'd been working on.

"Fragile horn, eyes and body covered from tip to hooves..." Sapper bit her lower lip as she struggled to remember, "You have Polledic syndrome?"

"I've never been diagnosed, but yes. I can still project my magical field to hold objects or work enchantments. My range is just incredibly limited," Indigo nodded to a large gear on the side of the machine, “Please turn this clockwise for me while I check the mechanism."

Placing her forehooves against the gear, Sapper started turning. "I learned about Polledic syndrome in history classed. I wasn't the best student, but I'm sure they found a treatment for that illness a century ago.”

“A potion. A simple potion taken during puberty. It’s not a cure, but it reduces the light sensitivity and horn brittleness to manageable levels.”

“Yeah, that sounds right,” Sapper nodded, “I've always been into potions, so I’m pretty sure this one was created by unicorns and zebras. Two completely different styles of potion making, working together to make something that neither could create on their own."

Indigo nodded along silently as she studied the machinery. After a moment she stood up again.

"You can fix this one in place. It functions well enough," The tinkerer explained, turning to the next repair job. Dismantling some of the moving parts, her magical field almost invisible apart from faint sparkles as she whispered, “I read about the treatment recently. My… community didn't believe in modern medicine or modern technology. They didn't get me diagnosed or treated."

"A century ago isn't modern," Sapper snorted as she bolted the machinery into place using a tool that hooked onto her hoof-armour.

“Its modern to my community," indigo's mechanical voice continued at a whisper. "They believe in their hearts, in their souls, that two centuries ago was the cut off point between the pure, natural, holy practices of the past and sinful, corrupting modern vulgarity."

"So, they were a weird cult?" Sapper shook her head, "The kind of monsters who knew you were suffering, but just ignored it?"

Indigo hesitated, her mechanical voice box buzzing as words caught in her throat. She hadn't talked about her past in years, not since she'd left it all behind. But talking was distracting her from the violent criminals outside the airship.

And the more they talked, the less she thought about Sapper being one of the bandits.

"No, they didn't just ignore it, they treated me as a freak, an abomination, as if I was unclean," The tinkerer's voice trembled and the device around her neck hissed as if the machine was sharing her pain, "I was weak and that weakness was a sign of my failure. And it only got worse after I took an interest in technology. You can imagine the technophobes weren't fond of that."

"That's rough," Sapper groaned before thumping a bolt into place with more force than it needed, "How did you even develop an interest in machinery when you were cut off from modern devices?"

"The older I got, the more I strayed away from the village. They punished me for disappearing, for spending time outside of the community. But I was being punished anyway, whether I'd broken the rules or not, so getting time away from everypony else was worth the consequences." Indigo sighed and her mechanical voice somehow conveyed the emotional struggle despite the limited range of the device. "One day I trotted further than I'd ever gone before, to the top of the highest hill in the region. In the valley beyond I saw a train track for the first time and a locomotive traveling along it. That moment changed everything for me. The sight of something so intricate, so powerful and so beyond anything my community had ever imagined. That's when I knew what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. And that's when the community moved from their previous discipline and neglect to more... forceful punishments."

"I'm so sorry to hear that," Sapper shuddered, "I thought I had a bad family, but that's unbelievable. At least you got away from them.”

"I'm not sure that being kidnapped by murderous bandits is much of an improvement," the tinkerer said, not looking up from the machinery she was working on.

"Murderous?" Sapper frowned.

“Enough talking,” Red’s voice barked as the bandit leader entered the airship, his gaze drifting across the dismantled machinery that covered almost every surface, “You’re halfway to the deadline, so I thought i’d check on your progress. See if I need to prepare for a celebration or a funeral.”

7 The Deadline

"Sapper, go get breakfast, I'll keep an eye on the engineer while you're gone," Red instructed.

"Sure," The bandit mare shrugged before heading down the ramp and toward one of the tents inside the walled camp.

Indigo could smell the cooked food and hear the muffled sounds of chatter as the bandit gang ate their morning meal. Only Zap remained on guard, watching her from outside the main tent as Red picked his way through the interior of the airship.

The craft wasn't as big as some modern flying machines, it was no luxury cruise ship or an aristocrat's yacht. But the main storage room and gun deck could fit a dozen ponies when it wasn't filled with half-dismantled machinery and an assortment of random junk that Red had to carefully work around.

"So disorganised," the bandit leader shook his head as he examined a wrecked cannon in the pale, orange light of the newly raised sun.

Indigo shuffled anxiously on her grease-caked hooves. Her cutiemark helped her work tirelessly when building and repairing, but she was still feeling the effects of pulling an all-nighter while flooded with fear-induced adrenaline. Consequently, the tinkerer was struggling to stay upright as Red continued his inspection. She needed to get back to work or she'd collapse.

Leaning against a patchwork wall for support, Indigo tried to focus on the machinery around her, planning out the next stage of repairs as Red continued to make his way around the airship interior.

“Your time is half over. Are you still feeling confident?” Red asked, his expression disconcertingly cheerful as he stared down at the engineer from the steps up to the flight deck.

“Um, yes,” Indigo nodded, looking up but not meeting Red's gaze as the bandit leader stepped closer, “I’ll repair this airship within the day. And then you’ll let me live?” she asked hesitantly.

“Of course,” Red nodded but his fake smile remained unchanging, “I’ll honour my side of the deal, assuming you uphold yours.” His eyes scanned the engines and the rest of the trashed room in the soft morning light, “Although it doesn’t look like you’ve made much progress so far. If you've made the situation worse, I will take great pleasure in letting Zap do whatever he likes with you.”

Indigo's trembling head darted from side to side as she surveyed the half-dismantled airship around them. With her legs threatening to collapse beneath her, she trotted toward a glowing panel on the rear wall.

“Function is more important than appearances,” the tinkerer replied, reaching up to a crude lever and dragging it down with her covered hoof.

The machinery protested at first, clunking and groaning before finally growling into life as enchanted crystals vibrated beneath the metal surface. The lights above them flickered before glowing steadily, illuminating the airship interior as the sound settled down to a gentle hum.

“You fixed the engines?” Red gasped, unable to hide his pleasure.

The bandit leader rushed to the back of the ship and frowned when he saw the main engine silent and the crystals inside dark.

“I fixed the auxiliary power unit,” Indigo corrected, continuing hurriedly when Red turned to glare at her, “But I’ve almost got the engine working. After that I just need to fix the controls, navigation and... weapons. Like I said, I’ll have the airship working before the deadline,” she added in the desperate hope that the bandit leader would uphold his end of the deal.

"I believe you might actually manage it," Red nodded, still examining every piece of machinery around them. "I was skeptical when the archaeologists pointed us toward you, a random, unqualified tinkerer in an insignificant little town. But they were right, you do know your way around pre-Equestrian technology."

Indigo felt her racing heart turn cold at the thought that she'd developed a good reputation with the academics at the various dig sites. And that reputation was what got her in trouble.

It seemed that problems found her no matter how much she hid or displayed her talent.

The bandit leader couldn't see her pained expression beneath the mask she wore. And he wouldn't have cared even if he could

“Keep up the good work, engineer,” Red said, his genuine smile returning to its usual, fake, twisted grin, "Your success will be rewarded. But remember that failure will be harshly punished."

Indigo forced herself to nod in silence as the bandit took a final look around before heading down the ramp out of the airship. When he was out of sight, she finally forced herself to breathe slowly until her hooves stopped shaking.

“Making progress,” she muttered under her breath as she picked up her tools and began to reassemble the main engine components.

Her hooves were deep inside the device, trying to realign the power source with the repaired focusing crystals when she heard Red's voice booming outside the airship. Broken metal walls distorted the sound, but she still understood the words and heard every drop of greed and evil pouring off of them.

“Good morning, friends!” the bandit leader called to the rest of the gang as they emerged from the food tent. "I have wonderful news. The warship is nearing completion!"

The ground rocked and the walls trembled as bandits chanted and stomped their hooves. Indigo noted that the group enjoyed making noise. Loud, violent noise.

“For too long the world has looked down on us!” Red continued to walk through the crowd, placing a forehoof on each bandit’s shoulder as he passed. “We were all cast out by society, by those who couldn’t see our greatness. Well, tonight, we will make them see! We will make them suffer! We will become legends and everypony who dared look down on us will cower in fear!”

The bandits cries of triumph were almost deafening and Indigo was sure the vibrations would cause the junk piles to collapse around her.

“So, prepare yourselves, my friends!” Red continued, standing in front of his tent and addressing the whole camp as one, “For tonight we claim our destiny!”

Indigo watched as Red turned around and made eye contact with her, grinning viciously before he disappeared inside.

“Great,” Indigo muttered, quickly returning her attention to the engine and redoubling her efforts, “Just perfect…”

Rarity stumbled as she continued to follow Rook through the jungle. She was stubbing her hooves and knocking her shoulders with even greater frequency despite sunlight bathing the world around her in a warm glow.

The wake-up juice had done its job and she no longer felt like she would fall asleep the moment her hooves stopped moving. But the invigorating drink left her somewhat twitchy, lacking some of the grace and control she usually strived for, which was why she didn't like to rely on the stuff while designing.

"Beastly jungle!" Rarity muttered under her breath as her right forehoof twisted unexpectedly, sending her staggering into a thick tree trunk. "I've picked up more bruises from the flora than the fauna!"

"It's not the easiest terrain to traverse," Rook nodded, "I'm finding the heat worse than the wildlife, it feels like I'm drowning in sweat."

The designer looked ahead to find no sign of perspiration on the other pony. She hadn't seen a drop on the violet unicorn the entire time they'd been traveling together. Although, she guessed it could be hidden beneath the dark traveling cloak and the thief somehow didn't sweat on her face or legs.

"As you say," Rarity sighed, trying not to think about the weight of perspiration soaking through her own fur, "At least we haven't seen any monsters for a while."

“Maybe, but that won't last forever” Rook nodded, keeping her eyes on the uneven ground. “The numbers will likely pick up again as we move further from the roads. I don't know how those ward stones work, but they do discourage the more dangerous creatures from getting too close. There are some pretty nasty monsters in the jungle.”

“Nastier than the vampire-wyrms or armoured-boars?” Rarity gasped before frowning at herself. She knew there were worse creatures in the Everfree forest, why wouldn't they be just as bad in the jungle.

“There are creatures out here that make those things look like new-born kittens,” Rook replied.

Rarity's expression suddenly shifted and she almost snorted with joy before suppressing the display into a warm smile, “I recently acquired a kitten myself. She is the most darling little creature... although she is prone to biting and scratching and general violent behaviour.”

"Just like her owner then?"

"I am not... I reserve violence for when the situation truly calls for it," Rarity insisted. "Opalescence seems to default to lashing out."

"Then why did you choose her as a pet?" Rook asked with a subtle smile, "You must've spent time with her beforehoof, got a sense for her personality. You would've known she was a feisty little thing."

"Yes, well," Rarity frowned before tossing her hair and shrugging, "You are not incorrect in your assumption. I couldn't imagine having a pet that wasn't beautifully elegant and at least a little bit aggressive... and that does... reflect an aspect of my personality."

Rook’s head tilted to the side, ”I met you while you've been trying to rescue a kidnapped pony and I've never seen you in your day to day life, so, this might not be a fair assessment. But you seem incredibly comfortable being aggressively violent, love."

The designer trotted in silence for a moment, her eyes focused on the ground under-hoof while she tried to think of an answer. She hadn't really thought about how comfortable she was with violence in years, not since her time at fashion camp. The other campers had made no secret that they found her presence unappealing while inspiring violent thoughts more than any other time in her life.

"I will admit this is not representative of my general demeanour," Rarity said, her slightly tangled hair bobbing as she tilted her head from left to right, "I don't spend most days exhausted, hungry and fighting monsters in the company of a thief who seems remarkably reluctant to help out in battle."

"I help... I just don't charge in head first like you," Rook stuck her tongue out at the designer who rolled her eyes.

Rarity found herself strangely trusting of the thief. Despite Rook's criminal activities and the fact she lied to her about being a deputy, she had a feeling that the other pony could be relied upon... just not in the same way she trusted Applejack.

There was something familiar about somepony who trusted her completely in a fight. Trusted her enough to not need to be at her side every moment.

"Well, let's just say that most of my friends back home would be charging in with me," Rarity observed.

"I can see why you get along with them. But we're all unique creatures," Rook shrugged, "and this isn't normal for me, either. I'm more of a lone wolf, not interacting with ponies unless I need to. I don't really do fighting side by side or friendships. But chatting with you these few hours has been... unexpectedly enjoyable. I'm... sorry if I'm not great at team work."

"You're fine, darling," Rarity replied instinctively before adding, "Well, we're fine now that we've figured out the details of our dynamic. As you said, we're all unique and we don't all work together in the same way. Life would be rather dull if we did."

"I..." Rook paused, her lips pursing as she thought, "I guess we're both kind of strange in or own ways. And if you can live with a cat then working with me can't be that much more challenging."

"If you want to compare yourself to Opalescence, then as long as you don't bring me dead little animals as a gift, you're doing well."

Indigo worked furiously. The denim fabric covering her forelegs was becoming more ragged. Each ray of sunlight through the holes in the wall was like fire against her exposed fur and the vulnerable skin beneath. She didn't have time to patch the overalls or even strap more bandages over the rips. The pain just had to be endured.

The bandits had eaten lunch and she could still smell the aroma of roasted vegetables and flat bread. It made her already grumbling stomach protest louder, but eating was something else she didn't have time for. And even if she did, she couldn't trust Zap not to poison her food for fun. It seemed like the sort of cruelty the bandit would enjoy.

Making an airship fly wasn't an easy task, especially an armoured airship carrying heavy weapons. And with the exception of the gas-filled balloons, everything from the pre-Equestrian era worked differently to modern magical technology.

Gravity defying devices from over a thousand years ago weren't happy working with newer equipment and it was a miracle that any of the ancient crystals still retained their enchantments. Indigo was starting to suspect that the gems had been grown around the spells rather than the magic being placed on the rock after it had grown.

Even if everything had been new and easy to fix, the shear number of damaged components was staggering. The tinkerer wondered if it would be quicker to build an entirely new airship from scratch.

Aching hooves fixed a series of gears into place, trying to realign everything on instinct while Sapper held the heavy metal equipment in place.

"Done," Indigo nodded, releasing the gears and wiping her grease-stained hooves on the sides of her grease-stained overalls. "It won't run smoothly, but it'll run."

"Another section complete!" Sapper grinned as she bolted the repaired component into place, "How close are we to having this baby finished?"

"It will be done before the deadline," Indigo nodded, moving to the next task and grunting as she bent down to reach inside the damaged machinery, "We won't have time to test everything and there are so many patchwork repairs that’ll need to be redone with better equipment. But in theory it’ll work.”

“Do you think we’re getting closer?” Rarity asked, brushing a wave of tangled purple mane from her eyes and trying not to think about her appearance.

“Yes,” Rook nodded, “their airship can only go so far without refuelling and we aren't near to any refuelling stations. So, they can’t be that far away.”

“Wonderful!’ Rarity's grin quickly turned to a frown, “And what if they were carrying spare fuel with them? Or steal it from the convoys of energy crystals we know are transported through the jungle?”

“I'm... fairly certain they haven't” Rook frowned, “but it is possible they're halfway across the continent now and we'll never catch them on hoof.”

"I really wish we'd thought this through before we started."

"In our defence, neither of us has ever been part of a rescue party before. I'm a thief, you're a fashion designer. This isn't exactly our area of expertise, love,” Rook shook her head, "If you want to be angry with anyone, I'd focus on the sheriff. This is exactly the sort of thing he should've been taking care of."

"Yes, well, I'm afraid I still feel responsible" Rarity's frown deepened.

Indigo grunted as the final power transfer rod was welded into place. They'd lost a lot of efficiency in rigging together the damaged technology, but she was confident it would work well enough to get the ship into the air.

That was true of every repair she'd made. The original pre-Equestrian design had been elegant, intricate and far more detailed than modern airships.

In flight the heavily armoured craft would’ve been faster and more manoeuvrable than the sleekest of current designs. But fixing every little flap, wing, propeller and gravity distorter would be impossible with or without the deadline. Most of the magic and technology it was based on didn't exist anymore. So Indigo had jury-rigged everything. Bypassing most of the more complicated systems with simpler workarounds.

When the repaired ship got into the air, it would fly like a brick. A brick with rudimentary and poorly calibrated controls.

But it would fly.

Which meant Indigo had just a couple of hours to fulfil the final piece of her bargain, repairing the weapons. She would've much preferred using that time to test the work she'd already done, but Red was very insistent. The weapons needed to work.

Her hooves trembled and the knot of anxiety in her stomach was strong enough to drown out the pain from her exposed, silver fur which burned in the sunlight.

"So, what do you need me to do?" Sapper asked after a moment of silently watching Indigo stare at the armaments. In the time they'd been working on the repairs together, she hadn't seen the tinkerer pause for more than a couple of seconds. "You... you alright?"

"Why are we doing this," Indigo whispered, her artificial voicebox hissing with pain, "Why are you doing this? Why are you with these bandits?"

"Because I owe them," Sapper shrugged, "Because they saved me."

"It can't be worth this," Indigo replied bitterly, "Working with thieves and murderers."

"They're not murderers," Sapper shrugged again, "They're just acting tough to intimidate. They wouldn't hurt anypony, not seriously. And if you knew what my life was like before, you'd see how much better this is."

"What was it like before?" Indigo asked, reluctantly kneeling to examine the most intact weapon, "You said your family was bad? Bad enough to justify all this?"

Sapper groaned before bending down to help dismantle the magical cannon. Taking apart the metal casing, she watched as the tinkerer manipulated the crystals and machinery inside with her almost invisible field.

"I'm from Canterlot," Sapper explained quietly, anger and pain tightening her words, "and my parents are a fairly well known artist and musician. I don't know if it's because they're Earth Ponies surrounded by unicorns, or something else, but they both have an obsession with appearing high class and respectable."

Indigo nodded. If there was one thing she understood apart from magical technology, it was obsessive parents.

"I always hated that. The social climbing... it was weak, desperate and pointless to me and I grew more rebellious as I got older. And the more I pulled away, the more they wanted me to obey, to be just like them, to help them look better," Sapper looked back to the mark on her flank, half-hidden by smudges of grease. "The final straw was when I got my cutiemark for chemicals and metal. What’s wrong with chemicals and metal? They’re perfectly useful talents. It should've been the happiest moment in my life, but my mark wasn't elite and high class, not in my parents eyes. Potions and metalwork are not for a pony at the top of Canterlot society."

"My parents hated my mark too," Indigo nodded again as she finished restoring the enchantments and began work on the mechanical aspects of the weapon.

“Well, unlike yours, mine didn't... try to beat it out of me," Sapper continued hesitantly, "That wouldn't reflect well on them. So they... sent me away to what's officially called a life guidance and focus retreat where they help guide fillies and colts who don't understand their marks. But most ponies think of it as cutiemark correction camp. Where they try to force young ponies away from what their mark represents."

"But the marks are a manifestation of your soul!" Indigo yelped as much as her artificial voice would allow. "You can't change it or how you connect with it."

"I'm afraid that you can, it's just... really bad for the ponies who go through it," the bandit's hooves trembled as she held a metal coil in place for the tinkerer, "I didn't know what to do. I'd never left the city before and I found myself trapped on a train heading to my worst nightmare. I sort of... stumbled into escaping.”

“What happened?”

“Red’s bandits attacked the train and everypony was terrified, but I saw an opportunity. They wore metal armour and they used smoke bombs. These were ponies who would appreciate my talents. They weren't looking for new recruits, but I showed them how useful I could be and they saw my value."

"How long have you been with these bandits?" Indigo asked, her goggles focused on a series of crystals as they glowed with red hot energy before fading again, leaving a lingering scent of burning.

"Almost a year."

"Wait, how old were you when you got your cutiemark?" the tinkerer looked up from her work, frowning as much as her mask would allow.

"I would've been thirteen," Sapper shrugged, "Got mine a little later than average. Possibly because I was so scared about what it would be."

Indigo stared at the bandit for a moment before remembering the deadline and hurriedly moving back to work.

"So... how old are you now?” She asked.

"I'm fourteen,” Sapper shrugged.

The tinkerer tilted her head to the side as she glanced over her shoulder, "You look older."

"I've always been big for my age."

"Big? You look larger than most adult Earth Ponies."

"Yeah, imagine what it'll be like when I stop growing," Sapper grinned as she flexed her powerful shoulders.

Indigo's artificial voice hummed as her brain tried to reconcile two disparate thoughts. Sapper was a bandit, a large, dangerous, heavily armed pony who'd helped kidnap the tinkerer. But she was also a child, barely old enough to have her cutiemark.

Deep in the jungle, Rook sniffed the air as she continued to lead the way through the thick undergrowth. The thief's head jolted down as she came to an abrupt stop and the distracted Rarity almost walked into the back of her.

"I've discovered why we haven't seen many monsters recently," Rook said, her cloak trembling slightly as she pointed ahead, "Venomous Vines."

Rarity's eyes narrowed as she tried to determine what the thief was talking about. After a moment she noticed some of the trees ahead had vines growing around them that were slightly darker than usual with a series of spiked thorns along their length. She was certain that she wouldn’t have spotted them until she'd been much closer.

"Venomous Vines?" Rarity groaned, "I can guess what they do, but please tell me it's not as bad as it sounds."

“Oh, they're harmless," Rook explained, "Unless you go near them. Then they'll either lash at you with their vines, shoot poisonous barbs at you or blast you with a cloud of knock-out gas."

"Wonderful, darling," Rarity sighed.

"Then they'll drag you to the heart of the vines and eat you."

"So, our already slow rescue party is going to be delayed further as we skirt around these plants?"

"I'll check," Rook replied, slipping her forehooves under the cloak to attach her climbing shoes.

With the spiked hoofwear in place, Rook leaped at the nearest tree and started scrambling upward. Rarity watched the thief's journey, shaking her head in disbelief. Ponies weren't known for being natural climbers, but Rook took to the trees like she was part squirrel.

"The bad news is I can see wide patches of Venomous Vines we'll need to work around," Rook called from the top of the tree, "But the good news is I can see the bandit camp!"

"I never thought I'd be so happy to locate a bandit camp!" Rarity grinned, "Can you see Indigo?"

"No," Rook's reply was muffled by the dense foliage between them, "it's a tiny dot in the distance, still hours away on hoof. But the direction is right, she has to be there."

"That's better than nothing," Rarity called as she peered into the jungle, hoping to see something through the impenetrable greenery, "Let's get moving!"

There was a faint rustle of leaves above before Rook dropped from the air, her cloak spread wide as she thudded down beside the designer who leaped backward, glaring at her.

"We're in a hurry" Rook shrugged before turning to lead them through the jungle, taking a more winding path, "stay close, the trigger roots are easy to miss."

"Trust me, I don't want another lungful of knock-out gas," Rarity frowned, sticking out her tongue. She was still tasting the bitter smoke from the day before.

"This is where we have to start being sneaky," Rook explained, moving at a slower pace, "Firstly, we don't want to disturb these pony-eating vines. And secondly, we can't afford to be spotted by the bandits before we rescue the tinkerer. Everything relies on stealth."

“You’re sure you’ll be able to rescue her?” Rarity asked, "If this goes wrong, we're effectively trapped in the middle of nowhere with angry bandits after us."

“Trust me, love,” Rook grinned, “I’m a master thief, sneaking in and retrieving things unnoticed is my specialty.”

"I still find it curious that a thief would be risking her life to help a stranger in need."

"Some would say it's hard to believe that a fashion designer would be risking her life too. I guess we’re deeper than superficial stereotypes would suggest.” Rook shrugged again, “And like I said before, I know what its like being the outcast of the group. Us weirdos have to stick together."

"I'm not a weirdo. I am a unique and distinct rarity," The designer said with an indignant snort.

"Us unique and distinct rarities have to stick together."

"Thank you, darling."

While Rook and Rarity were carefully approaching the bandit camp, Indigo and Sapper were still hard at work on the airship. The engineer was on her back in the flight deck, trying to force the weapon controls to work through the remains of the control panel.

“How is my ship?” Red asked, climbing the steps from the cargo hold with Zap and a third bandit trotting behind him.

“I’m almost there,” Indigo replied as she twisted two wires together and used a spark of magic to fuse them, “it'll be done in time. I swear.”

“It’d better be,” Red said, his horn glowing as he retrieved the silver pocket watch and checked the time, “You’ve got five minutes left on the clock.”

“I’m not sure if I’m more interested in her succeeding or failing,” Zap said, his armoured fore-hooves sparking with electrical energy as he stomped them, “Either way, I get my fun.”

Sapper rolled her eyes while the last bandit grinned as she stomped her own hooves which had sharp spikes built into the armour.

“Final checks,” Indigo nodded, not looking at her captors as she made adjustments to the control panel.

“Good,” Red nodded. “For your sake I hope this all works. Because if it doesn’t, you’re dead. And if you try to trick us, you’re dead.”

The tinkerer continued to ignore the bandits, working feverishly to make sure the final pieces of the puzzle came together. Sapper stood at her side, holding things still, ready to bolt them into place as requested.

“Done,” Indigo gasped, her voice strained as she finished her checks and stepped back, taking a deep breath through her mask, “We’re good to go.”

“Fantastic. Then let's get straight to the test flight,” Red said, stepping up to the controls and reaching for a lever, “This is the ignition, correct?”

“Yes,” she nodded as Zap and the silent bandit stood either side of her, holding her in place. “The controls are as similar to a modern airship as I could make them, but they'll be more sluggish. I had to remove a lot of the automated assistance.”

“As long as it flies, that’s the main thing,” Red shrugged, dragging down the ignition lever. The airship around them hummed as the engines came to life. “Sounding good so far, let’s see if your work is as good as you claim.”

Reaching for another lever to his right, Red pulled the controls back and the airship lurched and juddered before slowly raising off of the ground, shedding rocks and debris as it cleared the crater it had been lying in.

“Finally,” Red laughed as they hovered in the air, “this is going to be fun!”

8 The Rescue

Rarity and Rook crept closer to the bandit camp, keeping their heads down. The base was still some distance away, but the wooden walls could be seen through the trees and there was a chance observant guards could spot them.

The designer frowned at the crude fortifications. Aesthetically they were distressingly ugly, but as security they looked irritatingly effective. Spiky barriers that only the strongest of earth ponies or unicorns could force their way through. And while there was no way of telling how many bandits were inside, she could see two standing guard at the main gate.

A pegasus could get over the walls. But they didn't have a pegasus and even if they did, the flyer would be seen by the guards patrolling the top of the wall.

The walls also made it impossible to tell if Indigo was on the other side. Rook insisted that the tinkerer was located within, but Rarity only had the thief's word for that.

"Alright, this is as close as you get," Rook said, dropping to the ground and gesturing for Rarity to crouch down beside her.

The designer's frown deepened, but she lowered herself to the jungle floor, her already dirt-stained fur picking up an extra layer. Trying to suppress the shiver of disgust and the desire to run directly to the nearest bath without stopping, Rarity took a deep breath and nodded for Rook to continue.

"It doesn't look like the bandits patrol this far out," The thief explained, peeking at the bandit camp through the thick foliage, "So you'll be safe here while I sneak in and grab our kidnapped pony."

Rarity reached out a hoof to stop Rook who was already moving away.

"How?" the designer hissed.

"How will I rescue her?" Rook tilted her head to the side in confusion, "You know the plan, love, we've been talking about it since yesterday."

"That was before we saw their defences," Rarity insisted in a forceful whisper, "It looks impenetrable. The wall is unclimbable and the only entrance is under constant guard."

"You're underestimating how incredible I am at climbing and infiltration," Rook smiled, "Trust me. This is what I'm best at."

Rarity hesitated, her blue eyes darting between the bandit camp and the thief.

"And besides, we don't really have a choice," Rook shrugged, "So, stay here, keep watch and be ready if anything goes wrong."

The designer sighed and nodded.

"See you soon," Rook patted Rarity's shoulder before disappearing into the undergrowth with her cloak shimmering oddly around her.

Rook's body kept unnaturally low for a pony as she stuck to the thinning undergrowth leading up to the bandit camp. When she was sure the vegetation behind hid her from Rarity's view, she came to a stop, her eyes closing as her cloak shimmered.

When her eyes opened again, the once black cape had turned shades of mottled green and the smooth surface had become broken and disjointed, like overlapping leaves. If the designer had spotted the thief, she would've sworn that Rook's fur had also turned green in the shadows of her cloak.

Blending into the jungle, the thief made her way toward the wooden walls of the bandit camp. She stayed low to the ground, her limbs flexing at odd angles to keep her position against the uneven jungle floor.

Purple eyes reflected green as Rook looked up at the barricade, studying the exterior to find the best place to climb. The light from the setting sun made it easy to find her route, but it also made it impossible to hide completely. Just one of the many reasons she usually robbed places after dark.

Reaching the edge of the jungle, she waited for the bandit atop that section of wall to be facing away before crossing the four body-lengths to the barricade. Without breaking her momentum, Rook slipped on her climbing shoes and began to scramble silently up the wooden wall.

She weaved around spikes, sticking to the smoothest path as she climbed the vertical surface. In less than five-seconds she pulled herself over the top and landed on the narrow walkway as the nearest bandit was turning around again.

Closing her eyes, Rook concentrated as the cloak shimmered again.

When she opened her eyes, the bandit was looking straight at her. Her cloak had shifted, clinging tight to her body and scrunching up in places to resemble the crude, metal armour pieces worn by the bandits.

Giving the lookout a brief nod, Rook turned toward the sloping steps that led down to the bandit camp proper. The stallion behind her shrugged and continued his patrol as the thief breathed a sigh of relief.

Her camouflage wasn't perfect, if any of the bandits got too close then it wouldn't be long before they saw through her disguise. But it allowed her to trot around the collection of tents and shacks with relative ease.

Now that she was close to her target, it was getting harder to pinpoint Indigo's direction, but Rook soon found the piles of junk and the jury-rigged airship behind them. If a kidnapped tinkerer was going to be anywhere, it would be among the magical technology in need of repair.

"Bingo!" Rook whispered. "Now I just need to sneak her out of-"

The thief's joy was cut short as the airship shuddered, the engines roared and the armoured vehicle of metal and canvas rose into the air with trembling, jerking movements. Through the glassless windows into the flight deck, she spotted a pony wearing the outfit and goggles that Rarity had described.

"Well... that's going to be a problem," Rook groaned, watching the airship turning to fly over her head and away from the bandit camp.

Indigo's goggles focused rapidly as her gaze darted across every piece of equipment inside the airship. So far it was all in one piece and showed no immediate signs of falling apart or exploding. But if she'd had a choice she wouldn't be testing her repairs by taking the war machine on a flight. She would've preferred to run the engines a few times on the ground where the chances of falling out of the sky were much lower.

"It works!" Sapper laughed, clapping the tinkerer on the shoulder with a powerful forehoof, "We did it!"

"It really is sluggish as Tartarus," Red grunted as he manipulated the controls to bring the airship around in a wide arc, "But it flies!"

The airship juddered and Indigo watched through the many holes in the hull and armour as they skimmed over the treetops. She could feel the imbalanced gravity distortion enchantments struggling and the engine trying to compensate. It wasn't elegant, but it was holding together.

She glanced upward, wondering how the balloons of gas in the upper framework were coping. The balloons had been something Sapper had worked on before Indigo had arrived and aside from a quick glance through the hatch above, she hadn't had a chance to really examine them. They were one of the many items on her list of potentially fatal corners cut because of the deadline.

"Zap!" Red barked, "Get back there and try out the cannons, I want to see something burn!"

The tinkerer suppressed a fearful groan as Zap jumped down the steps to the middle section and approached the nearest cannon. Not only were the bandits not worried about the ancient airship exploding, they were keen to increase the chances by trying out the untested weaponry too.

"Only three of these guns look like they're working," Zap growled, pointing at the worst of the cannons as he looked up into the flight deck to glare at Indigo.

Once again Sapper took a step in front of the tinkerer, returning Zap's glare.

"Seriously, Zap?" the chemist and metallurgist snorted, "You've contributed absolutely nothing to the restoration of this airship. Do you really want to criticise our work?"

"We only had enough parts for three cannons," Indigo added in a near-whisper.

"Just see if they work, Zap!" Red instructed, adjusting the controls to hover over the jungle.

Zap hesitated, his electrified hoof-armour crackling before he grunted and turned back to the weapon.

Standing on his hind legs, Zap slipped his forehooves into the grips on either side of the cannon. He leaned the weapon forward and a hole opened in the armoured hull, allowing him to aim down at the jungle around them.

"The trigger works like a ballista?" the bandit asked, not looking away from his target.

"Yeah," Sapper nodded, "But it'll take a moment to charge the shot before firing."

Indigo wondered where Zap had even seen a ballista as the giant crossbows weren't common. Earth Pony soldiers tended to kick stones, pegasai would use lightning or hail and from what she'd heard, Equestria's unicorn soldiers focused on shield spells more than projectile magic.

Zap twisted the trigger while Red and the other bandits watched out the flight deck window. The weapon hummed with power, light from the crystals inside leaking through gaps in the metal as the end of the cannon began to shimmer from the heat.

With a crack like thunder, the weapon fired and a ball of magical flames arched toward the jungle below. The white hot sphere hit the dark green canopy before exploding in a burst of flames, sparks and dark lightning. The bandits yelped, shutting their eyes and staggering back from the bright light while Indigo's goggles quickly shifted to compensate for the blinding glow.

Looking down, she saw the near-barren crater where a stretch of jungle had once stood. The circle was more than a dozen body lengths across and no vegetation remained standing. Deep down, part of her was grateful that the explosion had burnt itself out instead of setting the jungle on fire, at least that was one problem she didn't have to think about.

But the weapons were even more devastating than Indigo had imagined. Whatever pre-Equestrian magic remained in the gemstones was far more effective than the modern equivalent.

"Yes!" Red hollered with delight as his vision finally cleared and he shoved Indigo aside to get a better look at the devastation. "Look at that! That's real power!"

Zap grinned silently while the unnamed bandit mare giggled, her eyes wide as she stared gleefully at the destruction.

"A fully functional pre-Equestrian gunship!" Sapper nodded with a smile as she trotted down the steps to the middle section to admire the cannons, "They're going to pay big bits for this beauty!"

"It's not fully functional," Indigo said, but her whispered words were ignored.

"Indeed they will!" Red nodded before reluctantly stepping away from the side window and returning to the controls, "let's get this thing back to the camp. I want us stocked up and ready to move as soon as possible."

"if we can head off before sunset, we should be in Canterlot before morning," Sapper almost bounced on the spot, her messy mane dancing as she struggled to contain her elation. Kicking a lever, she watched the shutters slam down over the window, obscuring most of the view with damaged armour, "I can't wait to see what the eggheads at the Archives say when they see our masterpiece! And I can't wait to hear what the royal purse will pay for this!"

Indigo wasn't sure if it was the thought of recognition or money that excited Sapper more, but the teenager's bombastic energy-level doubled as she imagined the rewards.

"Oh, we're not heading to Canterlot," Red replied with a shrug, "I've got a much better offer from beyond the southern border."

Indigo shuddered and suppressed the urge to be sick as she realised how much worse the situation had become.

"Another country?" Sapper frowned, glancing to Zap and the silent bandit who both appeared unsurprised by the news, "You said we'd be selling to the Archives. They'd pay a fortune for a working pre-equestrian airship. Enough that we could all retire to our own castles and have a second castle as a summer home!"

Zap laughed and Red shook his head in mocking disbelief as he guided the airship over the bandit camp and began the decent into the clearing behind the junk piles. Their approach was slow, giving Sapper time for beads of cold sweat to appear on her fur.

"Why waste this beautiful airship on the archives?" Red asked without looking away from the controls as he tried to land them in the tight space inside the bandit camp. "The Princess will stick it in a museum while boring academics poke at it from time to time. This thing is a weapon, it should be used. It needs to be used. And my contacts down south want to build an air fleet!"

"But... that could start a war." Sapper stammered, "it's guaranteed to start a war!”

"So?" Red snorted as the airship thudded to the ground, "War is good. All the ponies who treated us like dirt, cast us out, told us we were worthless? They don't deserve peace. They don't deserve safety. They've been complacent for too long and we get to show them how vulnerable their naivety has made them."

"I didn't sign up to hurt ponies," Sapper stood tall and squared her powerful shoulders, "I won't let you!"

Before Sapper's trembling jaw could unhook the first grenade from her belt, Zap grabbed her from behind. Ripping the weapon harness from her shoulders, the bandit tossed the bombs to Red before pressing his electrified hooves against the back of the teenager's skull.

Sapper bucked and twisted, but Zap held on tight until she collapsed to the airship deck, her fallen body twitching.

"You were useful, kid," Red shrugged, "but we don't need you now. We don't need either of you."

Indigo stepped toward the fallen Sapper but found a lasso wrapped around her throat. Coming to an abrupt halt, she looked back to the unnamed bandit giggling at her through gritted teeth as she tugged on the end of the rope. The lasso tightened as the airship thudded to the ground.

“Alright, drag these two outside, I don't want to get blood all over our new ship.”

Indigo hissed as she was shoved out into direct sunlight. Struggling to stay on her feet, she staggered into the nearest pile of junk as Zap carried Sapper out over his shoulders before dropping her to the ground at the tinkerer's hooves.

“Sorry kid, but if you're not with us then you're not worth saving,” Red shrugged.

Goggle's whirring and skin burning, Indigo scanned the pile she'd crashed into for a weapon, anything she could use to defend herself. But the lasso-wielding bandit saw her intentions and yanked on the rope, forcing Indigo away from the pile and choking her.

"What's the matter, does the light burn you?" Red laughed, examining the grenades they'd taken from Sapper and picking out one with a purple cap, "Let's make that burning more intense."

Lifting the bomb with his magical field, Red tossed it toward the gasping, breathless Indigo.

"No!" A scream filled the air as Sapper leaped to her hooves and dived in front of the tinkerer.

The grenade collided with Sapper's head and exploded soaking the chemist with purple liquid that began to burn.

Indigo had never heard a scream like it. Pure pain vocalised as Sapper dropped to the ground with smoke rising from her dissolving fur.

“Not what I intended, but a suitably ironic fate,” Red shrugged, plucking another grenade from the belt, "Let's see what this one does."

The leader was about to toss the bomb when one of the bandits watching the execution leaped forward. Jumping onto Red's back, her armour transformed into a dark cloak which wrapped around his head. Rook squeezed tighter, blocking the bandit leader’s horn and causing the grenade to drop at his hooves as Zap charged forward to tackle the attacker.

A burst of lightning knocked Red and Zap to the ground, sending the cloaked-bandit rolling off his back and leaping to her feet.

The lasso-wielding mare didn't have time to react as Rook crashed into her, both forehooves colliding with her jaw, forcing her to drop the rope.

As soon as the lasso went slack, Indigo scrambled forward, grabbing at the grenades around the fallen Red. Tossing a sleep bomb at the crowd of bandits closing in on her, she grabbed another grenade with familiar writing around it.

Smashing the ceramic sphere open, the tinkerer poured the blue liquid inside over the screaming Sapper, watching as the burning stopped with a loud hiss.

Bandits staggered and fell in the cloud of smoke, but half a dozen emerged still on their hooves, weapons raised as they approached Indigo, Sapper and Rook.

"Can she move? We have to get out of here," Rook asked, the hood of her cloak wrapping around her face to shield her from some of the sleep-smoke drifting around them.

"What?" the tinkerer stammered, "I don't..."

"I can move!" Sapper growled, forcing herself upright and turning to kick the nearest bandit.

The attacker was thrown backward as Sapper started to run with Indigo and Rook close behind.

Charging for the gap in the bandits where the smoke was thickest, the trio held their breaths as they barrelled through the remaining ponies, knocking them aside. Indigo barely dodged a bladed hoof as Rook's cloak swept around her, blocking groggy attacks.

Emerging from the other side of the smoke, they picked up speed and pulled ahead of their pursuers. Rook took the lead as Sapper faltered, her legs trembling with pain and her eyes watering as she forced herself onward.

Indigo looked across at the younger mare, her goggle's focusing on the acid burns down the side of her face. Whatever discomfort the tinkerer felt from her sun-exposed fur, the metallurgist was suffering a thousand times worse. She didn't know how the teenager was still on her hooves.

"Follow me!” Rook barked.

"Who are you?"

"Rook. I’m part of the rescue party," the thief called as they raced toward the open gates and the two bandits standing guard.

The trio were almost upon the guards who'd raised spear and bladed shoes to greet them when a flash of blue light appeared and a pair of pebbles shot through the air, striking the two bandit's heads from behind.

The guards grunted with pain and turned to find Rarity emerging from the jungle with two more stones held in her magical field. But before the bandits could respond, Indigo, Rook and Sapper were upon them, shoving the distracted guards aside and knocking one unconscious with a well-placed kick.

"Keep running and stay close to me!" Rook called as she crashed into the jungle with the others following.

Behind them a dozen bandits were in pursuit, but some of their members were still groggy from the sleep-smoke and others were recovering from kicks and stones. This allowed the escaping ponies to pull further ahead as they disappeared into the greenery.

"The filly with the pocket-watch?" indigo gasped as she ran alongside the designer.

"Rarity," Rarity reintroduced herself before frowning at Sapper, "Isn't that the mare who kidnapped you?"

"Long story," Sapper grunted, her left eye closed tight with most of the fur on that side of her face burnt off.

"Less talking, more running!" Rook insisted, "And stick closer! This is going to be tight!"

They crashed through the dense undergrowth, vines and branches whipping at them while Rook kept a rapid pace. Rarity was sure the only reason nopony had tripped or broken a leg was pure luck.

The first shriek of pain behind them was almost lost in the thunder of hooves and the snapping of branches. But it was quickly followed by a second and third scream at which point Rook slowed their pace. By the sixth bandit scream, the escaping ponies had come to a halt and were turning to face their pursuers.

"What's happening?" Indigo gasped.

"Venomous Vines," Rarity explained, brushing back a wave of sweat-soaked mane and taking a fighting stance, "Rook led us straight through them."

"And the bandits weren't as careful," the thief shrugged, her dark cloak shimmering as she reached inside to fix the metal climbing shoes to her forehooves.

"Not all of them," Sapper hissed as five armoured ponies staggered out of the jungle.

"Can you fight?" Rook asked Sapper as the remaining bandits came to a halt before circling around them in the small clearing.

"You were always too weak to be one of us!" One of the bandits sneered, taking a step toward the four ponies, "You've outlived your use-" the rest was interrupted by a scream as Sapper turned to kick a stone which slammed into the attacker's forehead, knocking the stallion to the ground.

"Yeah, I can still fight," The metallurgist nodded, twisting her head back and forth so the one good eye could keep track of the four remaining bandits.

The attackers charged in unison. Rook leaped upward, grabbing a thick vine and scrambling up the nearest tree while Rarity and Sapper tossed more stones.

The bandits were expecting the projectiles and managed to take the blows on their armour, staggering but not stopping as they pushed forward.

Blue eyes narrowed as Rarity dodged an armoured, bladed hoof aimed for her head. With the bandit carried forward by momentum, Rarity slammed her bare hooves into his side, knocking the stallion to the ground.

Sapper grunted as the shaft of a spear bounced off of her acid-burned shoulder. Grabbing the weapon with her teeth, the muscular pony ripped it from the attacker's grasp before spinning it around and thrusting it back at its former wielder. The older mare yelped as the jagged point pierced her shoulder followed by Sapper's hoof colliding with her jaw.

Indigo kept her head down, shielded between Rarity and Sapper as the three remaining bandits circled around them. There was a flash of blue-white light as a weighted hoof hit Rarity's shoulder and her flash-shield barely caught the blow. Both designer and attacker staggered back, wincing from the impact.

One stallion was unsteady on his feet, still dazed and breathless from where the designer had knocked him down. And the other two were hanging back, more cautious now that the chemist had a bladed spear and Rarity had proven herself harder to hit than the average unicorn.

"Now would be an opportune time for you to surrender," Rarity offered.

"Never!" the largest of the remaining bandits screamed, waving her comrades forward as she leaped at the designer.

Before armoured hooves could slam into Rarity's head, Rook dropped from the shadows above. The thief slammed into the lead attacker, metal climbing shoes hitting her head and sending the mare thudding to the jungle floor.

The last pair of bandits were distracted by the pony falling from the sky, their attention flicking away for a heartbeat. The moment of confusion was enough for Sapper to turn and land a bucking kick against the nearest attacker while Rarity reared up and launched a flurry of blows with her fore-hooves.

With every bandit knocked down, the four mares took a second to catch their breath. Rook examined their fallen enemies, determining that most of them were unconscious and the remainder were in no position to be attacking any time soon.

"Sapper?" Indigo whispered, getting to her hooves as her goggles focused on the scarred bandit.

"Need... need to find..." Sapper staggered to the edge of the clearing, her one working eye scanning the undergrowth.

Checking her freshly bruised shoulder, Rarity sighed before stepping closer to the recently rescued pony.

"Are you alright, Indigo?" she asked, her attention split between the tinkerer and Sapper.

"I'm... fine," Indigo nodded.

"What's the deal with her?" Rook asked, removing her climbing shoes and pointing toward the teenage bandit.

"She... saved my life," Indigo explained as Sapper stopped to sniff a cluster of blue flowers with yellow veins across the petals, "She didn't realise how far the others were willing to go."

“Then she's terribly naive," Rarity sighed, watching Sapper bite into the flowers and start chewing.

"And brave," Rook added with admiration, "I don't know many ponies who'd jump in front of an acid grenade for somepony they barely know."

"But you all did," Indigo frowned, “Well, you've all risked your lives to save me."

"It's the right thing to do, darling," Rarity shrugged before wincing at her aching shoulder.

The tinkerer slowly shook her head as they silently watched Sapper bite into a dozen orange berries, mixing them with the blue paste in her mouth. Swallowing most of the mixture, the former bandit spat the rest onto her left forehoof before applying it directly to the worst burns.

Indigo rushed forward as Sapper screamed with pain before collapsing to the ground.

"I'm alright!" the teenager insisted as the exposed, scarred skin on the side of her face turned bright red, "It'll go numb soon."

"We need to get you to a hospital," Rarity said, glancing back into the jungle, "And away from the bandit camp. The rest of them will come after us soon."

“No. We need to destroy the airship," Sapper insisted, getting to her feet and cautiously touching her face and the less serious burns down her shoulder and forelegs.

"She's right," Indigo nodded, her goggles shifting to focus tighter on Sapper's injuries. She wasn't a medic, but she had experience assessing damage and was certain pony skin didn't bounce back from that condition. "They're going to sell it to an enemy army. That's our priority."

"Well, they won't get very far without this," Rook grinned, reaching inside her cloak and pulling out a large, orange crystal with ancient runes decorating the exterior, "I swiped the power core!"

The tinkerer was about to respond when the group turned toward the sound of roaring engines. Looking up, they watched as the airship passed overhead, accelerating as it headed away from the bandit camp.

"You were saying?" Rarity groaned.

"But, they didn't have a spare power crystal! I checked the camp!" Rook insisted.

"Unless they took the one from the smaller gondola," Sapper groaned in realisation.

"Would that work?" Rarity asked.

"It wouldn't get them very far," The tinkerer said, tilting her head to the side as she did the calculations, "Ten gallops at most."

"Far enough to reach the trade road and the caravans of industrial crystals being shipped from the mountain?" Rarity asked with a strained squeak to her voice.

"Yes," Indigo nodded.

"What are we going to do?" Sapper snapped, "They're going to hurt so many ponies."

"Well... we've got the gondola and a pre-Equestrian military grade power crystal," Indigo observed, "I'm pretty sure we can catch them."

"But how will we stop them?" Rarity frowned. "None of us can take down an airship!"

"We'll worry about that while we're in the air," Rook declared. "They've already got a head start!"

The four ponies started to run back toward the camp, certain that it was a bad idea, but all determined to try anyway.

"Oh!" Rarity gasped, skidding to a halt and looking around for one of the more conscious bandits around the clearing, "Your friends are currently being dragged to the mouthes of Venomous Vine plants. If you move quickly, you should be able to rescue them before they're swallowed whole. Good luck, darlings." with a flick of her currently tangled tail, the designer turned to chase after her comrades, leaving the beaten bandits to resolve their own problems.

Rarity had bigger issues. Somehow she needed to stop a weapon of war.

9 The Chase

The four ponies galloped through the jungle with Rook in the lead, guiding them between the patches of Venomous Vines.

Rarity and Indigo glanced at Sapper as the teenager's burns seemed more raw and vivid than ever. The left side of her face was the worst, but patches of acid touched fur and flesh were splattered across the front of her body. They couldn't imagine that charging through the jungle and crashing through leaves and branches was doing her any good, but they didn't feel it was their place to tell the younger pony to stop. Not when that would mean leaving her behind.

They just had to hope whatever concoction the chemist had made for herself was helping her heal and numbing the pain.

"We just took out half the bandits," Rook called back to the others, "but we've no idea how many are left in the camp and how many took off on the airship. So stick together."

"Right," Rarity nodded, turning her attention ahead as they emerged from the jungle to see the bandit stronghold ahead of them.

No guards stood at the gates or patrolling the crude, wooden wall and there was no sign of movement as they entered the camp. Cautious of an ambush, they moved slowly toward the piles of junk where the smaller airship gondola was waiting.

With no sign of bandits, the camp felt different to Indigo. Without eyes constantly watching her and the threat of death lingering over her head, she felt like her heart had suddenly cooled after hours of burning. The thought of chasing down a warship and knocking it out of the air seemed like a relatively minor danger compared to what she'd already been through.

"I'll need a little time to prepare the ship," the tinkerer said, examining the gondola and the sleek balloon above it.

"We shall keep watch while you do whatever it is you need to do with the power crystal," Rarity said, giving Indigo an encouraging smile.

"I need to grab some of my stuff," Sapper’s voice was slow as she forced her half-numbed mouth to move, "We'll need my grenades to take down that battleship."

"I'll go with her," Rook's cape shimmered before she turned to follow the teenager toward a cluster of tents.

"Can we really stop an armoured, pre-equestrian airship with those bombs of hers?" Rarity whispered to Indigo.

"Our repairs weren't perfect, there are holes in its armour," the tinkerer explained, not looking up from where she was forcing the ancient, military-grade crystal to work with a cheap, modern flying machine engine. "The biggest challenge will be getting close enough to hit those holes without being blasted out of the sky."

"Wonderful, darling," Rarity groaned. "I was rather hoping that rescuing you would be the end of the matter."

"I imagine it would be difficult to predict bandits with a functional flying battleship intending to start a global conflict," Indigo nodded. "Almost as difficult to predict as the tourist looking for me to repair a pocket watch risking her life to rescue me."

"I do strive to be bold, avant-garde and unpredictable," Rarity nodded before pouting, "But I'm surprised so many ponies find it hard to believe that I'd try to help when somepony is in trouble."

"I guess because most ponies don't?" Indigo suggested with another shrug, "The community I grew up in wouldn't. And the ponies of Green Lake wouldn't."

"Rook said the same thing," Rarity nodded, glancing toward the tents where the thief was either helping or watching Sapper, "I thought Equestrians prided themselves on being morally good, but I never realised how... reluctant to help some of us can be."

"Well, danger is off-putting," The tinkerer said, standing up and patting the engine at the back of the gondola. "This thing is ready to fly. You sure you want to do this? I'm responsible for these monsters having a war machine. Not you. You don't have to take this risk."

"You are not responsible for what those kidnappers made you do, darling," Rarity replied firmly, turning to look Indigo in the eyes. Or in the tinted goggles at least. "The bandits made this happen. They're the ones to blame for any consequences."

"That is something easy to say and difficult to feel," Indigo said, climbing onto the pilot's platform above the engine and activating the miniature-airship's power. "But, either way, I'm going to stop that warship, no matter the risk."

"Likewise. And in all honesty, I'd rather risk my life with you than trot all the way back through that filthy jungle on hoof!" Rarity hissed, trying not to think about her appearance as she climbed into the gondola, taking a position near the back, close to where the tinkerer was standing. Looking around at the empty bandit camp, she saw no sign of Rook or Sapper, "Excuse me, Rook, darling?" Rarity called, "We are in a hurry."

"We're coming," the thief replied, reappearing from one of the tents with Sapper close behind her.

Both ponies had donned saddlebags so stuffed with various items that they were at risk of overflowing.

"I see you've packed everything in the camp," Rarity observed before feeling a twinge of guilt when she remembered her own tendency to overpack.

"You never know what you'll need," Sapper shrugged.

"And I've swiped anything that wasn't nailed down," Rook added, leaping into the gondola and unbuckling her saddlebags.

"I should pilot," Sapper said, approaching Indigo, "Speed is off the essence and I'm the fastest flyer here."

"You're also the most... um... blind-in-one-eye flyer here," Indigo said, her artificial voice tinted with sympathy.

"I'm fine," Sapper insisted, "Just... one of you warn me if we're about to crash into something on my left. Besides, can you actually pilot?"

"I... know the theory," Indigo admitted before reluctantly hopping down from the pilot's platform, "The controls are yours."

Rook snorted with laughter before turning to Rarity, "And you thought our last plan was reckless!"

Sapper ignored the thief as she pulled the ignition lever and the engine roared to life. The whole gondola rumbled and the balloon above them vibrated as magical power surged through the gravity distortion devices throughout the hull and canopy.

"What in Equestria?" Rarity yelped, motionless as she was torn between leaping out of the trembling vehicle or gripping the sides until her hooves dug into the wood.

"Its fine," indigo reassured her, leaning around the back of the ship to examine the engine, "I crammed an ancient, military grade power crystal into this tiny airship, so a little rumbling is to be expected."

"And its safe?" Rarity snapped.

"Well... We're going to fly like a lightning dragon… fast and erratic, assuming the whole thing doesn't shake itself apart... which it might."

"Enough talking!" Sapper declared, grabbing the main controls and guiding the trembling airship up over the junk and tents before turning toward the retreating warship. "Let's go!"

Rarity yelped and desperately clung to the gondola as they accelerated with a burst of speed.

Wind whipped at them, trees rushed below and the whole airship juddered and trembled like it was being shaken apart by an angry god.

"By Celestia!" Rarity shrieked as the side of the gondola she was clinging to snapped in half with splinters of wood falling away, "We're going to fall apart long before we catch up with those bandits!"

"I agree with your assessment," Indigo nodded, prodding a section of the ship with her forehoof as her goggles twisted to zoom closer to the crude fastenings.

"We can't afford to stop," Sapper called from the pilot's platform, her gaze focused on the distant ship ahead of them.

"I'll reinforce as best I can," Indigo grabbed some scraps of metal from her bags and started welding them into place with her magic.

"You're a unicorn?" Rarity frowned, forgetting their situation for a moment before another shudder and crack snapped her back to reality. "Rook, do you have any rope?"

"Yes, love," the thief nodded, retrieving a coil of rope from inside her cloak. "What're you planning?" she asked as the designer snatched the coil with her own magical field.

"I'm going to hold this airship together with a rope net!"

"Do you know how to make a rope net?" Rook asked as Rarity's blue magic guided the first strand around the outside of the gondola.

"I will figure it out!” Rarity insisted, half biting her tongue in concentration as she looped the first knot.

Pieces of wood and metal broke apart around them, falling away as they soared through the air with the engines roaring. Rarity tried to brace herself against the most solid sections of the gondola as she looped and wove the rope around them while Indigo darted around the tiny space, reenforcing the metal sections as best she could.

Moving to the centre of the gondola, Rook wrapped her right foreleg around Rarity's waist while hooking the other forehoof in the tinkerer's belt, trying to prevent both mares from going overboard as they worked.

Rarity shrieked as she saw the jungle rushing past them through a hole in the floor. Tying off the last section of rope, she realised that there were more holes than floor now, the gondola was being held together by her netting and Indigo's repairs. She shuddered to think how much longer it would last before the whole thing crumbled and they dropped out of the sky.

Dragging her attention away from the ground, the designer looked ahead to find the bandit warship still some distance away. The heavily armed craft was a dot on the horizon. A larger dot than it had been when Sapper had first started accelerating toward it, but still a dot.

"How long before we catch them?" Rarity called over the roar of the engine and the rattle of their barely held together gondola.

"Well-" Indigo's response was interrupted by a burst of flame in the distance.

All four ponies in the airship fell silent as they watched the explosion before the burst of sound washed over them.

“They've reached the trade roads," Rook groaned, her jaw tight as she pull the hood over her head, hiding her face in shadows.

"Not... not to sound callous," Sapper called from the pilot's platform, "But we're gaining on them while they're busy raiding that caravan."

"How could you work with these monsters?" Rarity asked, her voice cracking.

"I didn't know," Sapper insisted, "The only robbery I witnessed was non-violent. They stopped the train, shouted some threats and trotted off with their stollen goods. I didn't think they ever followed through on the threats."

"Why in Equestria would you-" Rarity's hissed question was interrupted by Indigo's hoof on her shoulder.

"She's just a kid," The tinkerer whispered.

Rarity frowned, but remained silent as she turned her gaze to the muscular Earth Pony mare. Her attention was drawn to the burns decorating the side of Sapper's face and the swollen shut left eye. But looking away from the injuries, she saw a smoothness and shine to the former bandit's fur that suggested she was younger than she looked. Maybe just a few years older than Sweetie Belle.

Shaking her head, the designer focused on the warship ahead of them. The pre-Equestrian craft was still a long way ahead of them, but she could see more details as the ship grew larger. The armoured balloon above the ship was misshapen and there was blue, sparkling smoke coming from some of the propulsion and gravity-distorting devices. Rarity was no engineer, beyond the maintenance and repair needed for sewing machines, but it looked like the bandit airship was struggling.

"Any chance that thing will just fall out of the sky on its own?" Rarity asked, still straining to keep the ropes tight around the gondola.

"Maybe," Indigo replied, "Running the engine without the main power cell hasn't helped them. But now they've got more crystals, they'll probably recover."

"I didn't think we would get that lucky," the designer sighed.

Rook watched in silence as the airship ahead lowered to the ground. She couldn't see what was happening as it disappeared behind the trees, but she could imagine bandits rushing out to haul as many industrial gemstones out of the attacked caravan as possible.

The thief tried not to think about the driver and guards that had probably been traveling with the crystals. She hoped they'd fled and got to a safe distance when they saw a heavily armed warship approaching. But there was every chance they'd stood their ground to try and protect the cargo.

"I didn't know," Rook muttered, glancing back at the pre-Equestrian power crystal she'd so recently stolen from the bandits, "I didn't know."

They were still some distance from the bandit airship when it lifted into the air and accelerated away from them. By the time the four pursuers were approaching the road it was clear that they were still slowly gaining on the bandits, but nowhere near as quickly as they'd like.

Rook looked down, her eyes scanning the road as they passed over the remains of a cargo caravan. Her heart pounded and she felt tears down her cheeks as she spotted three ponies trotting out of the jungle to examine the wreckage. It looked like the caravan crew had taken cover when the bandits attacked.

"Thank Celestia," The thief sighed, turning to stare at the caravan as the pursuit continued.

"Have they changed course?" Rarity asked, her talent for design telling her that their line had slowly drifted a few degrees.

"Yeah, they're heading straight for Green Lake," Rook confirmed, her superior night vision picking out landmarks that the others struggled to see.

"Why would they be heading there?" Sapper frowned as much as her injured face would allow, "The Equestrian border is on the other side of the mountains, this is a detour."

"If I had to guess," Rarity groaned, "They're going to attack the town you came from, Indigo.”

"But. I'm not from Green Lake,” the engineer shook her head, “And even if I was, why would they destroy the place when heading straight for the boarder is the most sensible option?"

"They're doing it out of spite," Rarity said, looking over to Indigo then Rook, "You escaped the gang and you stole the power crystal. You made Red look like a fool and now he's lashing out."

"Even if going straight for the boarder is the better option, Zap and the other bandits will want to show off their new toy," Sapper said through gritted teeth, "They were all obsessed with the airship. Not because of how much it was worth or what an incredible piece of technology it was, but because it could cause so much damage. I see that now. There's no way they'll hand the warship over to an army without getting to use it first."

"Well, there's good news and bad news," Indigo said. "The good news is that I've rigged the airship's weapons to overheat and explode after repeated use."

"Wait! You were going to kill us all?" Sapper gasped.

"The explosion and crash wasn't guaranteed to kill everypony," Indigo tilted her head to the side as she thought, "Although it was a possibility. I needed to minimise the damage Red and his bandits could do and I had very limited options."

"I guess they were going to kill you first," Sapper said with a dark laugh.

"Well, I wasn't expecting Red to hand the airship over to an enemy army who would likely discover the sabotage in their attempts to recreate my work" Indigo explained, "If they attack Green Lake first then there's a good chance the bandits will destroy their own warship before they get a chance to deliver it. But whether they survive or not, the town is going to be burned to the ground."

"I'm not fond of Green Lake," Rook shrugged, "But I don't think they deserve to be buried under a wave of magical fire."

"The townsponies have never been particularly kind to me," The tinkerer nodded, "But I can't just leave them to die."

"So, we need to catch the warship before it kills an entire town and before it destroys itself?" Sapper asked and when Indigo nodded again the former bandit sighed, "Well, hold on tight, I'm going to push our engine to it's limits!"

"I thought you already were!" Rarity gasped, tightening her grip on the rope.

"I've been holding back," Sapper shook her head, "let's see what this thing can really do!"

"And hope we're not the ones who explode!" Rook yelped as the gondola lurched forward with a sudden burst of speed.

Rarity watched as the airship ahead of them grew closer and closer. Beyond the bandits, she spotted the lights of the town in the distance and the lake beyond it, reflecting moonlight and the first hints of sunrise. The journey that had taken her an entire day on hoof was almost over in a matter of minutes. She didn't want to think about how fast they were traveling, how bad it would be if they crashed or how the entire gondola was being held together by rope and improvised welding.

The hole-filled floor beneath them juddered and the engine screamed, but everything seemed to be holding together as they raced through the air with cold night wind whipping at their manes.

"Are the grenades ready?" Sapper called over the straining engine.

"I've got six that should take the airship down, assuming we can find a gap in the armour," Indigo nodded, looking away from her current repair job to grab the saddlebag and attach something to her right forehoof. "And I've rigged up a crossbow to launch them, it should give us enough range."

"When did you build that?" Rook asked. frowning at the weapon held up by Indigo.

"While we were flying," The tinkerer shrugged, "From junk I grabbed before we left.”

Rarity blinked.

"Alright, get ready for the first shot," Sapper called as they drew closer to the airship, "We may have six shots, but we'll only have one before the bandits realised we're after them."

"I can see the gaps in their armour," Indigo said as she adjusted her goggles and the crossbow, "But this isn't the best angle to attack."

"I can get alongside them, but they'll notice us before we can fire. Red was always strict about having lookouts," Sapper replied. "Is it worth the risk?"

"How quickly will they be able to return fire?" Rarity called, her glowing horn straining as she tried to keep the gondola together.

"The weapons take a few seconds to warm up," Indigo said as she slotted the first grenade into place, "And in theory they'll struggle to hit a moving target in the air. But I don't know how much of an advantage that'll give us in practice."

Rook and Rarity exchanged a look, the designer matching the thief's worried yet determined expression. They both turned to look ahead at the fast approaching lights of the town.

"Then we try to get alongside and make the first shot count," Rarity answered for both of them, "We're running out of time and they'll kill everypony if they get the chance."

Rook and Rarity tried to brace themselves on either side of Indigo, holding the tinkerer steady as she released her grip to focus on aiming. Sapper held them as steady as the overworked engine would allow as they crept up alongside the warship, trying to keep a dozen body-lengths away so they wouldn't been too easy for the bandits to hit.

They were almost in position when a pair of eyes looking out through a targeting window spotted them. The pursuers had a moment of pleasure, seeing the shock and surprise in the bandit's eyes before they recovered and turned to shout a warning to their comrades.

"Firing!" Indigo announced, releasing the crossbow and sending a red grenade at the larger airship.

The sphere struck a hoof-width away from a gap in the armour. Fiery smoke exploded across the hull, most of it curling away from the ship with only faint wisps getting inside.

As Indigo was loading another shot, two of the warship cannons moved toward the smaller gondola. Rarity's blue eyes focused on the weapons with all other thought wiped from her mind as she watched the barrels starting to glow with magical energy.

It was clear the bandits were struggling to manoeuvre their weapons while the airship was moving at full speed. The cannons juddered and tried to pull away from the hooves guiding them.

"Firing!" Indigo shouted as she released the second grenade.

The sphere hit armour again, missing the narrow gap that the bandits were aiming through as it burst in a cloud of familiar green smoke. The cloud twisted in the air as the ship rushed through it, but Rarity noted more wisps getting into the weapon room through holes in the armour. Probably not enough to knock out their attackers, but the designer knew how quickly even small amounts of the gas could affect concentration.

Rarity, Rook and Indigo yelped as the gondola lurched to the side at the same moment the two cannons fired. Balls of flaming, magical energy shot toward them, missing by a couple of body lengths before exploding in mid-air behind them. Heat and sparks of magic washed over the smaller airship as the three ponies in front ducked down and Sapper gritted her teeth, her already injured features becoming red raw again.

"We're falling apart!" Sapper shouted.

Rarity smelt the burning wood and fabric before she saw the singed ropes barely holding them together. The small airship weaved from side to side as Sapper struggled to control it with half the manoeuvring mechanisms broken.

Looking ahead, she saw the lights of the town were almost upon them, if they didn't stop the warship soon it'd either bomb the settlement or crash into it.

"Hold us steady!" Indigo called as she readied her foreleg-mounted crossbow.

Rarity's horn sparked, the blue-white glow flickering as she struggled to keep hold of the ropes around them. With one forehoof gripping the smouldering edge of the gondola, she wrapped the other around Indigo's shoulder, trying to prevent the tinkerer from being jolted out by their erratic movements.

"Firing!"

To Rarity it felt like everything happened simultaneously. The bandit cannons fired and the balls of magic barely missed them before exploding close by. Indigo fired and the grenade glanced off the underside of the warship before bursting harmlessly in the air. A wave of fire and lightning magic hit the smaller airship, shredding the balloon, tearing apart the gondola and sending Rarity plummeting over the side.

The designer was still overwhelmed by the pain in her shoulder from the magical impact and hadn't even registered the fact she was falling when a pair of forehooves wrapped around her torso from behind in mid-air.

"I got you," Rook called, her head pressed against Rarity's shoulder.

Looking up, the designer watched as Rook's cape extended and hardened, becoming like a glider as their decent slowed. The grip around her tightened as they both realised that they were still moving too fast, rushing toward the trees and solid ground below.

"I've never tried this with two ponies," Rook gasped, "it's not enough. I have to change. Please don't panic!"

"Too late for that, darling," Rarity called before a flash of bright green light forced her eyes shut.

Rarity felt their fall slowing again before she shook her head and opened her eyes. The first thing she noticed were the forelegs wrapped around her torso. A pair of jet black, chitin covered limbs, decorated with holes had replaced the purple-furred pony legs that'd been there moments earlier. Looking up, she found an insectoid face staring back at her and a pair of large, gossamer wings flapping desperately as they tried to stop their fall.

The designer shrieked. It wasn't a pleasant sound and it was an act she would regret for years to come. But instinct took over and being grabbed by a giant, insect-like creature provoked a response.

"I said don't panic, love!" Rook hissed, her voice edged with echoes and clicks as she struggled to keep hold of the designer, "I don't want to drop you."

Taking deep breaths, Rarity nodded slowly, forcing herself to look down as they approached the ground.

Rook's wings flapped and their fall finally turned into a glide moments before they reached the top of the trees. Weaving around the larger branches, they crashed through the rest before finally hitting the jungle floor and rolling to a stop.

Groaning, Rarity opened her eyes again to find herself on her side in the dirt, staring at Rook, curled up beside her. The other creature was smaller than she'd first appeared, her body a strange mix of pony and insect elements. But the grimace of pain she wore was instantly recognisable.

"Rook?" Rarity asked, reaching toward the unknown.

"The ship!" Rook gasped, her eyes snapping open, revealing shining, iridescent orbs that darted from side to side before looking upward.

The designer turned to follow the insect's gaze and spotted the remains of the smaller airship dropping from the sky. Most of the balloon was gone, the engine was on fire and Sapper clung to the pilot's platform with Indigo holding onto the former bandit.

Their fall was slowed by what little buoyancy remained in the balloon, allowing them to crash through the jungle and impact a short distance from Rook and Rarity.

"They made it!" The designer grinned, staggering to her feet and ignoring the pain and layer of dirt.

"Give me a moment," Rook groaned, curling tighter into a ball, wings wrapped around her.

As Rarity watched, the thief's outer shell glowed green before a flash of magical fire rushed over the surface. When the fire vanished, Rook had the appearance of a pony again and her wings had become the shimmering cloak that slowly settled around her as she got to her hooves.

"You're..." Rarity frowned, not knowing what she'd seen.

"We're called Changelings," Rook said, turning toward the crashed gondola, "I'll explain. I promise. But we don't have time now."

The designer hesitated before nodding. "Let's go," she said, gesturing for the thief to lead the way through the jungle.

They hadn't trotted far before they reached the flaming remains of the smaller airship. Indigo and Sapper were both on their hooves, hurriedly exploring the crash site in the light from the burning wreck. Fresh blood decorated the side of Sapper's face, but she ignored it, focusing on her search.

"Good, you made it!" Indigo said, her artificial voice cracking as she looked up to see Rook and Rarity enter the clearing. “We've lost the grenades and crossbow."

"And the warship is circling around to finish us off!" Sapper added, pointing up where the airship could be seen through the trees.

"I found a grenade," Rook said, heading over to a dark red sphere hidden in the shadows.

"And I've found the crossbow," Rarity added, trotting to the splintered remains of the weapon, "Or what's left of it at least."

Sapper's head darted from side to side, blood-matted mane swaying as she stared at the crossbow and then the approaching warship.

"What are we going to do?" the teenager asked.

"Even with the crossbow there's no way we could hit them from the ground," Indigo shook her head.

"Great," Sapper gasped, "The warship is circling around and we're sitting ducks for those cannons?"

"That sums it up," Indigo nodded, watching the airship heading toward them again, "So, does anypony have a plan?"