The Fate Of Equestria Book 2: Elementery Quest

The briefing room wasn't anything too special. Just a large circular room with an equally large circular table that had a series of chairs stationed around it. The walls were adorned with a few sparse motivational posters that depicted wartime scenarios. Hanging above the circular table, hung a chandelier that didn't provide a whole lot of light, but it was just enough to see in the room. At the head of the table, where Luna sat, was a holographic display of a map of Equestria. At various spots on the map, there were small red dots that were flashing ominously.

Seated around the table were all the members of Luna's royal cabinet. There was the head of Research, Sunblast, who had bandages on both his chest and various spot of his face as well as one arm in a sling. The captain of the royal guard and the royal vizier, Rainbow Dash and Jet Stream respectively. Newly appointed head of interdimensional security, Discord. Even the lead archeologist and artifact specialist, Daring Do, was present this time. There was also a pony that Redheart didn't recognize, she was a dirt brown unicorn with a shaggy grey mane. Her face was splotched with what appeared to be actual dirt and oil stains.

Redheart took her seat at the end of the table, between Discord and Sunblast. When she arrived, the room was already bustling with the commotion of everyone talking. Redheart, being the last to join the group, entered into an already heated debate over something. She did her best to try and catch up, but felt lost regardless.

"... with all due respect, princess, we need to act now. There's no telling what sort of nonsense came through that portal." Discord stated loudly.

"I understand that Discord, but with no knowledge whatsoever on what we're dealing with, we could likely be walking into a trap by checking in on any of these energy signatures." Luna retorted sternly.

"So we're just going to risk the safety of our neighboring nations?" Rainbow chimed in.

"It is not about the safety of our neighboring nations. It is about the safety and well-being of our own people. We cannot just rush into an unknown fight willy nilly. We risk far more than just a single nation by doing that. It could turn into another Sombra situation all over again, and we do not have the man power to fight that fight again." Luna responded, groaning loudly.

"Princess Luna, you can't seriously be considering leaving our allies hanging in their time of need!" Daring Do shouted.

"You mean like they did to us?!" Luna replied, suddenly becoming obviously irritated.

The room went deathly silent for a long moment. Jet couldn't be completely sure, but he swear he saw a glimpse of Nightmare Moon when Luna blew up just now. He brushed it off as a visual illusion from the poor lighting combined with his encounter a short while ago.

"Maybe we don't have to charge into battle blind…" Jet finally piped up, having been sitting in his seat silently up to this point.

"What did you have in mind, Jet?" Luna asked, turning to look at him.

"I was thinking… What if we did send a squadron to investigate these energy signatures? Just a handful of us here in this room. We go in by airship, check out the situation, gather some Intel, and only if necessary do we intervene." Jet suggested calmly.

"Hm, that is not a bad plan actually. Though, where would we aquire the airship?" Luna asked, scratching her chin thoughtfully.

"Well, it just so happens that I've been working with Gadget over here to restore one of the one's that Sombra used to pollute the air." Jet replied with a smirk.

"Without my authority?" Luna said jokingly, looking between Jet and the brown unicorn who was only barely paying attention.

"Yep." The unicorn, Gadget, chimed in absentmindedly as she doodled on a piece of paper sat in front of her.

"I admire your foresight, Jet. You continue to surprise me." Luna said with a smile.

"Thank you, Princess Luna. That truly means a lot coming from you." Jet replied, returning her smile.

"Now then, seeing how it was your idea, I will leave the preparations to you. You may take anybody you think will be of aid on this mission." Luna stated in a proper authoritative tone.

"Very well. I'll get started as soon as possible, princess." Jet replied with a nod.

"Excellent. I shall leave you to it then. I need some aspirin after this headache of an event. Stop by my chambers before you leave, Jet. There is something we should discuss, in private." Luna said with a huff before standing up to leave.

She gave a proper farewell to the group as she passed by them and through the door at the opposite end of the room. This left Jet alone with the others to determine who will accompany him on this new task. Once Luna had left the room, everyone turned towards Jet in anticipation.

"Alright then, I guess we should figure out who's coming with me on this journey." Jet said, casually looking around the room.

"Well, I think it's obvious I should go." Rainbow stated.

"Actually it's probably best if you stay here. We need someone with combat skill to stay behind in case something happens while I'm gone." Jet replied, furrowing his brow.

"Aww man, but I'm getting stir crazy with no action anymore." Rainbow complained in response.

"I know the feeling, but it's our safest bet for contingency in case this is a trap of some sort." Jet retorted with a frown.

"Fine… But you owe me something fun when you get back." Rainbow replied, crossing her arms.

"I'll make sure of it. Now then, we'll need our engineer and medic. Just in case something happens with the airship or one of us get injured. Redheart and Gadget, you with me?" Jet asked, looking between the two.

"I suppose so, better get some use out of this PhD." Redheart replied with a shrug.

"Sure, whatever." Gadget said, not even looking up from her sketching.

"Good. Sunblast, I think you should stay behind as well. You need time to recuparate from that explosion." Jet said, giving his friend a nod.

"Fine by me, I need to get the lab back in working order anyway." Sunblast replied, returning the nod.

"Right. Now, let's see… Discord and Daring, we may need your help with containing whatever we find." Jet stated, scratching his chin in thought.

"I'd be happy to join this expedition. Been a while since I got to explore some shit." Daring said excitedly.

"O Captain my captain!" Discord stated loudly, standing up on the table and giving an old fashioned salute.

"Uh, right… Anyway, I think we'll need one more for this expedition. I can grab him on the way to talk with Luna though. Gadget, Daring, I'm putting you two in charge of loading the airship with enough supplies for our journey." Jet said thoughtfully.

"We'll get right on it!" Daring shouted excitedly.

"Yep." Gadget replied absentmindedly.

"Redheart, stock up on any medical supplies we may need." Jet instructed, giving her a nod as well.

"You got it." Redheart replied with a smile.

"And Discord… Try to take this seriously, please…" Jet said with a sigh as he looked over to see the draconiquis had dressed himself in a ship captains attire.

"Serious Discord, got it!" Dicrord exclaimed, snapping his fingers and returning to normal.

"Thank you. Now, we all have our respective tasks. Get them finished and meet in the engineering bay in o-three hundred." Jet said with his sternest tone.

Everyone stood from their seats to adjourn and get to completing their assigned tasks. They all left one by one, chatting amongst themselves about the upcoming expedition as they went. Redheart headed back to the infirmary to gather her equipment and supplies. The halls were much livelier this time, with various guards running around to attend to their own daily tasks. When she finally reached the infirmary, she headed over to her cabinet of medical supplies that sat behind her desk.

Opening the small white steel cabinet, she pulled out a traditional doctor's bag and began loading it up. Bandages, tourniquets, sutures, needles, various medications, scalpels, and syringes. She was going to make damn sure she had everything necessary to do her work should it be required. She latched the bag shut and turned back to her desk, getting the necessary paperwork together for when she did have to do her work on somebody. As she was getting the papers in order and neatly put away on the bag, she heard the encroaching footsteps of somebody as they came down the hall towards the infirmary. Looking up to see who it was, she was met with the bandaged face of Sunblast. He leaned against the door frame, doing his best to cross his arms casually.

"Didn't expect to see you again so soon, Sunblast. What's up?" Redheart asked as she packed up a small suitcase with various street clothing and nurse's attire.

"I actually wanted to ask you about something." Sunblast said, furrowing his brow in thought.

"Oh? What is it? I'll do my best to answer." She replied.

"What's your thoughts on the whole Jet situation? Any idea what's going on?" He asked curiously.

"Well, it goes against my hypocratic oath to discuss patient information. But, off the record… I have no fucking clue. I ran every test I could thing of. Blood, urine, brain scan, physical exam." She admitted with a groan.

"Nothing abnormal with his physical exams or brain scans? Anything at all?" He continued to ask.

"Physically, he's… Fine, absolutely fine…" She said with a slight blush gracing her cheeks.

"Gross... And how about his brain scan?" He asked again, rolling his eyes.

"His brain scan was relatively normal. There was a slight anomaly, but it only showed up in one of the five scans I performed." She replied thoughtfully.

"I know it's against your oath, but may I take a look at that scan?" He asked, standing up from the door frame and moving over.

"I suppose so. You've pretty much seen all of his medical records from when he was in that stasis thing before." She responded with a shrug.

She stopped packing up her suitcase and moved over to the dark grey filing cabinet that sat beside her desk. Bending down to open the top drawer, she rifled through the papers contained within. It took her a moment, but she eventually stood back up, a manilla file folder in hand. She sat the file down on her desk and flipped it open. Inside were the standard medical information forms. Jet's name, eye color, hair color, height, weight, blood type. But that wasn't Sunblast's concern, his eyes were drawn to the X-ray sheets that were paperclipped to the opposite side of the folder. Redheart unclipped the sheets and passed them over to Sunblast. He took them and gave her a nod of thanks. Leading through the sheets in his hands, he examined each one closely. As she had said, they all showed a perfectly normal brain scan, save for one. The scan in question showed the same X-ray as before, except seemingly wrapped around the frontal lobe was an eerie black mass. It had no discernable shape and could easily be mistaken for just a shadow or an error on the X-ray lense. But, Sunblast knew better. Whatever this black mass was, it was responsible for Jet's problem.

"You're right, this is highly abnormal. Any ideas what it could be?" Sunblast asked, handing the X-ray sheets back to Redheart.

"I haven't the foggiest idea. Kind of hoped you'd have something after seeing it." Redheart replied, sighing lightly as she stuffed the x-rays back into the folder.

"I may have a theory, but I'll need some time to do some more research." Sunblast stated, scratching his head lightly.

"Well, if you find anything, don't hesitate to let me know." She replied, shoving the folder back into the filing cabinet.

"Of course. Be careful out there and try to keep that idiot in one piece." He said jokingly.

"I'll do my best. No promises though." She responded with a smile.

"That's really all any of us can be expected to do, right?" He said, returning the smile.

"True. Anyway, I should probably finish up here. Hopefully we won't be gone more than a couple days, I'm almost out of clean lab coats." She said, politely hinting at him to leave her be.

"Oh, right. I'll leave you to it then and let you know if I find anything when you get back. See you later, Redheart." He replied, picking up on the subtle hint.

"Just remember to get some rest and don't over do it." She stated, referring to his injuries.

"Yes, yes I'll get plenty of rest. You keep safe out there too." He said before turning towards the door.

"I will, and thanks Sunblast." She replied, giving him another warm smile as he disappeared through the door and down the hallway.

Redheart checked the clock hanging on the wall behind her desk. She had about fifteen minutes until the designated meet up time in the engineering bay. She took a few minutes to sit down in her desk chair, heaving a deep sigh at the thought of what was to come. After taking time to briefly compose herself, she stood back up and double checked her various pieces of luggage. She had packed enough clothes to last a good couple of weeks, in addition to the medical supplies she packed, she felt that she was ready for this voyage across the world. Having both mentally and physically prepared herself, she headed for the door then down the hallway towards the engineering bay, which was located in one of the old cellars of the castle.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Jet walked at a brisk pace through the corridors, back to his and Rainbows room. He had no idea what awaited them at the destinations picked out on the map, but he had every intention of stopping it sooner rather than later. He barged into the room with haste and headed over to the dresser, pulling out a couple changes of clothes and setting them on the bed behind him. He then headed to the closet in search of his duffle bag. Rustling around in the closet, he didn't hear the footsteps come down the hallway behind him.

"Looking for something?" Rainbow's voice called, causing Jet to jump in surprise.

He turned to see her standing in the doorway, his army green duffle bag swinging from her outstretched hand.

"As a matter of fact, I am. Where did I leave it this time?" He asked with a small laugh.

"The training grounds. You left it behind after we sparred yesterday." She replied, tossing him the bag.

"Yeah, sounds like typical me. Thanks." He said with a smirk.

He caught and laid it on the bed unzipping it to pack up. Starting to pack them up, along with his armor unit, and field journal. Zipping the bag back up, he slung it over his shoulder. He took a moment to look around the room, just to make sure he didn't forget anything.

"You got everything?" Rainbow asked, watching Jet amusedly.

"Hm… Almost. Just gotta grab one more thing before I leave." He replied, readjusting his duffle bag.

Before she react, Jet had turned around and stepped over to her. Just as quick as he had moved over to her, he planted a kiss on her unexpecting lips. This elicited a sudden gasp and blush from Rainbow.

"H-Hey, I've told you about the sneak attack kisses…" She said, voice clearly flustered.

"Couldn't help myself, had to get one for the road." He retorted with a cheeky grin.

"Whatever, just be careful on this trip. I expect you back in relatively one piece." She teased with a giggle.

"I promise, I'll come back in one piece. You just make sure to kick any ass that tried anything while we're all gone." He said, brushing a strand of her hair from her face.

"I'm holding you to that, and don't sweat it. I got this covered while you're away." She replied, giving him a playful shove.

He chuckled and gave her another quick kiss. Pulling away and beginning to turn to head down the hallway, but stopping mid turn.

"Seriously, be careful while I'm gone. I have this bad feeling in my gut about this whole thing." He said in an ominous tone.

"I will, I promise. Just go and save the world… Again." She replied, her tone just as serious.

They exchanged a nod before Jet fully turned and headed off down the hall. He still had a couple stops to make before he met with the others in the hangar. The first of these stops was a visit to Luna, as she had requested. He walked at a moderate pace this time, not in too much of a rush, but still eager to get this over with. Luckily for him, having been Celestia's room previously, Luna's room was just in the next hallway over from his own. Situated nearly in the middle of the hallway itself, he approached the large silver and black oak door. Unsure of what she wanted to talk about, he took a breath and knocked. There was a brief rustling from the other side before Luna's voice spoke up from within.

"You may enter." Luna called in her usual relaxed tone.

Jet grabbed the ornate door handle and gave it a twist. The door gave a soft click and gave way to his light push as it swung open. Stepping inside, he was greeted to Luna standing near her balcony door with a smile on her face.

"Ah, Jet. I was expecting you." She said sweetly.

"Well, you did request I come see you before I leave." He said, shutting the door behind him.

"Yes, there is something we should discuss. Please, take a seat while I grab something." She replied, stepping away from the door.

He nodded and walked over to her bed, sitting down on the foot of it and setting his bag behind him. He watched as she headed into a smaller room that was attached to her bedroom. From what Jet could see from his seat on the bed, it looked to be a study of sorts. He could make out a seemingly messing desk and chair, a couple of bookshelves, and a telescope near the window.

He heard Luna rustling around in the study for a short while, before going silent. Shortly after, she returned with a rather thick book in her hands. She walked over and took a seat next to him on the bed. Flipping the book open to what seemed like a random page, she slid it over to Jet. He looked down at the page, confused at first, but then he realized why she was showing him this. On the page in front of his face, was the seal he had seen in his head after his encounter with the mysterious mare.

"Wha… Luna, how did…" He stuttered in confusion.

"When we were in the infirmary, your mention of a seal and releasing darkness rang in my head during the entire meeting. It was not until I returned to my room that I recalled something from Starswirl's studies." She explained, leaning down to look closer at the page.

"The Seal of Binding. A unique alchemic seal that can entrap causes of mental illness, such as traumatic memories, or dark entities capable of possessing a host." Jet read aloud.

"Keep going, Jet. If my theory is correct, then Celestia used this on your mind to prevent your corruption from spreading." Luna said calmly, placing a gentle hand on one of his shoulders.

"Held together by three runes, each respresenting a separate trait of a living being, encircling a larger rune. The first rune, the rune of destruction, is also the weakest of the three. It is able to be broken by an extreme and deliberate magical force from outside of the seal. The second rune, the rune of trauma, luckily can be tricky to break. The only way of breaking this rune is by causing, or bringing up existing, extreme mental trauma being to the one the seal was cast on. The third rune, the rune of will, is easily he strongest of the three. It can only be broken willingly by the one who hosts the seal." Jet continued to read.

"Does any of this look or sound familiar?" Luna asked hesitantly.

"It… It does… I've seen this seal in my nightmares…" He replied, voice strangely steady.

"I feared as much. If what you said remains true, then the first rune has already been broken. Whatever happens, you must remain strong from here on. We cannot risk the final two seals being broken." She warned, trying not to sound like she was scolding him.

"I understand, Luna. I'll do my best. But, there's gotta be a contingency or something. It's Starswirl, he always had a backup or contingency for his spells and stuff." He replied with a nervous chuckle.

He began reading the rest of the page to himself and even flipping to the next. The only other thing written in the journal was a large read inked warning that read, 'SHORT TERM USE ONLY. THE SEAL INADVERTANTLY STRENGTHENS ANY ENTITY SEALED BEHIND IT FOR LONG PERIODS'. Luna read the warning at the same time Jet did.

"Well, that is certainly not reassuring." She remarked, a chill going down her spine.

"The seal strengthens it over time… But that would mean…" He stammered, his head reeling with this new information.

"Jet, try to remain calm. We cannot risk the second rune being broken now." Luna said, lightly squeezing his shoulder.

He winced a little as she squeezed, almost forgetting she was there for a moment. With a few deep breaths and reassuring thoughts, he managed to steady his nerves once again. Once calm, he gave a slow nod to Luna.

"Th-Thank you, Luna. I appreciate the insight. Hopefully I can avoid any more… Emergences of my other half…" He stated, standing and grabbing his duffle bag once more.

"Just be careful, there is no telling what you will encounter out there. Any number of things could happen on this journey." She said in a calm tone.

"I will, Luna. Thank you again." He said before heading for the door.

She waved him farewell as he left, the door clicking behind him. Jet's head was still filled with worry, but he couldn't let it get to him, he had a job to do. Bringing his focus away from his own situation, and back to the task at hand, he headed for his last stop before the hangar. That stop was by the servant's quarters. It was a decent ways away from Luna's room, but conveniently close to the hangar entrance. Taking a few turns through the hallways, and a few sparse conversations with some random guards, he finally made it to the servant's quarters. The only thing that distinguished it from any of the other wooden doors in the long hallways was the bronze plaque on the door that stated what room it was.

Pushing the door open, Jet peeked inside. It was a pretty standard sleeping quarters. A number of neatly pressed white sheeted bunk beds lined the walls on either side of the room. Each small sleep area had a double stacked dresser, nightstand, and set of lamps. At the far end of the room was a small lounge area that came complete with a pair of armchairs, a TV, a radio, and a mini fridge. There was also a door off to one side of the lounge area, which judging by the toilet emblazoned on the door, it led to their own bathroom.

There weren't many ponies inside, likely due to it still being relatively early. There were a couple napping peacefully in their bunks, one was seated in an armchair focused on a show playing on the TV, and another seated in the second armchair reading a magazine of some kind. Out of the few that were there, Jet spotted who he was looking for. He was the one currently focused on the TV. Jet stepped inside and made his way over to the lounger area, sneaking up behind the armchair that seated his target.

"Hey, Thorax!" Jet yelled out right behind the changeling.

He yelped loudly, quickly changing form to that of a grizzly bear. He turned, massive paw raised to attack. As he was about to swipe, he laid eyes on Jet. Lowering his paw, he got down on all fours. Once at face level with Jet, he let out a very loud roar. The force and volume of the roar started the napping ponies awake and directly into the floor. Jet however, didn't even flinch. He just stood there with a smirk on his face, waiting for Thorax to finish his dramatics.

"Jet?! I've asked you not to do that!" Thorax cried out, shifting back to his normal form.

"I know, but at least you went on the offensive this time. You've come a long way since Sombra." Jet congratulated.

"Still… I don't like being caught off guard…" Thorax replied with a huff.

"Hey, you won't always be given a heads-up when somebody actually attacks. It's good to practice, just in case you do really get sneak attacked." Jet explained casually.

"I guess so… Why are you here anyway? Shouldn't you be doing royal vizier stuff?" Thorax asked, a little confused.

"I'm here because I need your help with something. Something big." Jet replied, crossing his arms.

"Oh, what is it?" Thorax asked hesitantly.

"I'm leading an expedition to investigate some strange activity across Equestria, and I could really use your shape shifting abilities to at least try and blend in." Jet stated.

"Y-You actually need me for something? But I'm…" Thorax began.

"An incredibly capable fighter, a master level spy, and a kind hearted friend." Jet said, cutting him off before he could demean himself.

"You really think that?" Thorax asked, voice sort of mimicking Fluttershy's in pitch.

"Of course. I saw the way you were tearing through Sombra's forces during the battle. Plus, how long were you hiding amongst our ranks, and we were completely oblivious to it?" Jet asked rhetorically.

"Well, when you put it like that… Alright, I'm in." Thorax replied, becoming a little excited from the praise he was receiving.

"Great! Pack up what you think you'll need and meet the rest of us in the hangar shortly. I'll explain more once we're all there." Jet said happily before turning to leave.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Daring Do was so thrilled to be going out and doing something again that she was practically running to her office to pack up. With her speed, it took almost no time at all for her to arrive at the aforementioned door. It was a basic wooden office door with a small fogged glass window. Across the window, in the standard font, wasa her name followed by 'Archeologist and Artifact Specialist'. She wasn't much for official titles, but she made an exception with this one. Knowing that it was the princess herself that gave her the title, it was enough to make her overlook her feelings about official titles. She grasped the brass door knob and turned it, it clicked softly before the door glided open. She stepped inside and flicked on the light switch, which was situated just inside the doorway. The lights hummed to life, illuminating the room within. It was a fairly moderately sized office space that included a slender closet on one side. She had enough room inside for a desk of her own, a chair, a shelf of notes and books on the various artifacts of Equestria, as well as a couple wall mounted displays for some of the artifacts she had found previously.

Smiling to herself, she moved past her desk and over to the closet. Flinging the door open out of excitement, she glanced over the interior and contents. The inside of the closet was a simple three shelf setup with a slightly larger open space under them. She didn't really use the closet for much, given it's small size, but she did keep some of her more important items inside. Out of the four shelves inside the slim space, she really only made use of one. Reaching up onto the shelf, she pulled down her old messenger bag and moved back over to her desk. Flipping the bag open, she was greeted to the familiar sight of her pith helmet, her khaki adventurer's button up shirt, and her khaki cargo shorts. Running her hands across the fabric of the clothes, she was reminded of the last time she had gotten to wear her adventuring attire. It was just before Sombra had attacked, she was off in the deserts surrounding Appleoosa looking for yet another lost artifact. Just as she was beginning to feel that spark of happiness, her thoughts immediately shifted to what little she remembered of being imprisoned in that mine.

Shaking her head free of the traumatic intrusive thoughts, she gave herself a stern nod and quickly changed into the khaki shirt shorts. The polyester fabric was a bit rough against her skin, but she never minded before, why start now. Giving herself a look in the reflection from one of her glass cases, her smile returned. Grabbing the pith helmet from her desk, she plopped it onto her head with a little flare of dramatic excitement before turning back to the closet. She pulled her tan hiking boots from the bottom of the closet and slipped them on as well. After pushing the closet shut again, she turned her attention to the shelf of books and tomes behind her desk.

Her gray eyes danced over the spines of the books as she tried to decide which folklore books, research notes, and artifact guides she should pack up. Scratching her head in though for a moment, she finally decided on a handful of books and tomes. Among them were 'Ancient Equestrian Magic: An Intermediate Guide', 'Relics of Lost Civilizations', 'Equestrian Folklore and Myths', and 'Predictions and Prophecies'. She stuffed them inside her bag, along with a notebook of her own notes from her various adventures.

After fastening the buckle on her bag, and doing a quick check around her office for anything she may need, she flicked the light off and closed the door behind her. She was far more than excited to be going on an adventure again and practically ran through the halls and down into the hangar bay.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Gadget was lazily making her way back down to her workspace of the hangar bay. Winding through the decorated hallways and out into the central courtyard of the castle. Heading across the courtyard, she headed through an oddly out of place looking steel door. Having been a new addition to the castle during renovation, upon Jet's orders, they had built in this new wing. Regardless of their best efforts, the newly metal door stuck out against the rest of the brick exterior of the castle. Gadget pulled the door open with a loud metallic groan, leaving it open since she knew others were coming down this way soon. On the other side of the door was a short set of steel steps that led down to a moderately sized freight elevator. It wasn't huge, but it was large enough to fit a carriage and a couple ponies inside it. It was comprised of a long steel shaft that led down into the darkness of the hangar bay below. The elevator itself was a simple large metal box with an equally large solid door and a gate that accordioned open and closed.

With a soft click, she hit the call button on the side of the wall. The elevator rumbled for a short moment before dinging as the main doors slid open. She grabbed the handle for the gate covering and gave it a hard tug. The gate rattled across and bunched up to one side, revealing the actual elevator within. With all the recent activity, even though it was still brand new, it didn't keep the elevator from looking grimey and ancient at this point. Gadget stepped onto it and pressed one of the four buttons on the wall panel, one for up, one for down and two buttons for holding the doors open and closed respectively. Just as her finger clicked the button in, she heard the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching the door. She looked up from the panel to see Daring Do full on sprinting towards her. Daring had gotten rid of her casual clothes in favor of her iconic adventurer gear. She had a huge smile across her face and lifted her arm in a wave.

"Hey! Hold that door!" Daring yelled, still halfway across the courtyard for now.

Gadget groaned and begrudgingly held her finger down on the 'door open' button. After a long moment, Daring burst through the open metal door and hopped onto the elevator with Gadget.

"Phew, thanks a bunch." Daring said once she got on and leaned against the back of the steel box.

"Mhm." Gadget replied halfheartedly.

After another seemingly long moment, the doors rattled shut again. Once shut, the elevator sprang to life and began to descend towards the hangar bay. The ride was mostly silent, save for the occasional metallic groan from the shaft as they went down. Daring hummed to herself, which slightly irritated Gadget. Gadget, unlike most ponies, didn't find joy in the company of others. She much preferred the company of her machines and tools. This whole thing of being forced to work alongside others was already getting on her nerves. She rolled her eyes and kept her thoughts to herself so as to not come off as cruel or rude. It was an awkward silence to say the least.

The elevator finally reached the very bottom of the shaft, Daring looked around in awe. Having never been down here before, she was unaware of just how large and filled with mechanical bits the hangar bay really was. The main floor of the hangar was a wide open area, lit by several flood lights placed around the floor and walls, that had been carved out of the interior of the cliff side that Canterlot sat upon. Around the massive room sat a variety of toolboxes and mechanical devices with various dials and lights. There were also a few machines that looked to be half finished still. The floor was made up of a combination of textured metal plates and exposed stone that had been sanded down to a flat surface. Along the roughly hewn stone walls, strung up with huge metal rings, was a series of thick cables. The cables ran every which way around the hangar, leading to the various machines and flood lights scattered around. The area extended for a short while, but led further down via a set of metal stairs on the other end, opposite where the elevator let off.

Gadget was the first to get off, not giving even a glance back at Daring as they exited the elevator. The awkward silence continued as the pair walked through the hangar bay, their boots making soft metallic clanks as they went. Daring followed Gadget through the main area, towards the stairs at the back. Despite the silence between the two as they walked, it was far from quiet. The various machines they passed made random mechanical 'clunks' and 'bangs' as they ran. Daring was simply amazed by the variety of contraptions that Gadget appeared to be working on down here. They finally reached the staircase and began to descend it. The stairs seemed stable enough, but they still had a bit of sway to them.

After some back and forth between the sets of steps, they reached the bottom of the hangar. Once off the stairs, Gadget hit a hanging button and more floodlights flickered on around them. At the far end of this area was a huge metal shutter that seemed to lead outside. Sat in the center of this area, on a large metal dish-like structure, was a massive airship. It was splintered and beaten, but looked in surprisingly good condition given the fact it had crashed previously. The sails were stitched together panels of gold and white, the propellers looked recently renovated, and the wooden haul of the ship seemed to be refurbished wood. Daring was impressed with the ship, having seen plenty through her various adventures. She stepped over closer to it, it loomed over her almost menacingly. The ship itself, without the sails and propellers, was easily as tall as a two story house and roughly as long as three car train.

"Hey, pegasus, go kick down the gantry for me." Gadget said suddenly, snapping Daring back to reality.

"Huh? Oh, uh sure. And it's Daring Do, by the way." Daring said, flying up onto the deck and kicking the gantry platform down to the floor with a loud 'thud'.

"Didn't ask, don't care. Help me load these." Gadget replied, sliding open a nearby garage-like door and pulling out several large stacked chests.

"That was a bit rude, but fine." Daring replied, scrunching her nose in distaste.

The two loaded the chests of supplies onto the deck of the ship in silence. Rather than ask any more questions, Daring simply followed Gadget's silent lead. They stacked the chests onto a large square metal plate near the center of the deck. Once finished, Gadget hit a hidden button on the main mast of the ship. The sound of a mechanism springing to life could be heard, followed by the sight of the stacked chests slowly descending into the bowels of the ship. Gadget stepped onto the platform with the chest and began to ride it down. Daring took the hint and left her alone, which gave her time to look around the ship.

It was a fairly lengthy ship deck, even with the three huge propellers sticking up out of it, there was still plenty of room. The sides of the deck were adorned with metal railings to prevent anyone falling overboard. There was also an upper deck area with two sets of steps leading up to it, which held the steering wheel and navigation equipment. Under the helm, between the two staircases, was a large double door that led inside the ship itself. Seeing no other option, Daring headed for the door in search of the sleeping quarters to get first dibs on the rooms.

The door was very intricately decorated and was made of a darkly colored wood. The designs on it were that of a set of gryphons on their hind legs with their talons barred at each other. She pushed the door open with a soft 'creak' and stepped inside. The interior was a long hallway with a number of doors on each side. At the opposite end of the hallway was a ladder, which Daring assumed led to the cargo hold and underbelly of the ship. Checking the first door she came across, she was greeted with a room that was nearly overrun with machine parts and tools, there was a hammock hanging in it as well. Daring could only assume this was Gadgets room.

She shrugged and shut the door back, moving to the next door over. Opening this door, she was greeted by a much cleaner and practically new room with a hammock. Smiling to herself, she stepped in and sat down in the hammock. It was a very simple hammock made from thin and tightly woven strands of rope. The only other things in the room besides the hammock, was a small circular window sitting just above the hammock, and an equally as small side table. Daring set her bag on the side table and sat back in the hammock for a moment, relishing in the upcoming adventure. She was just getting comfortable when something caught her eye out the window. Sitting up to get a better look, she could just vaguely make out the shape of a few ponies descending the stairs to the ship. She got up and headed back onto the deck to greet them.

By the time she had made her way back out to the gantry, the others were already ascending it and making their way onto the deck. The first to board was Redheart, followed by Jet, then Discord, and then Thorax. Discord was wearing a tourist getup complete with sunglasses, a camera around his neck, a wide brimmed sun hat, and a rather ugly tropical themed shirt.

"What a lovely vessel. I do hope they have those tiny shrimp at the buffet." Discord said, feigning a stereotypical tourists voice.

"Discord… For the third time already… What did I say about taking this seriously…" Jet said, pinching the bridge of his nose in irritation.

"Oh, fine. You used to fun, you know that…" Discord retorted, snapping his fingers and causing his attire to vanish.

"I'm still fun, but when we have a mission to do, it's kinda not time for fun and games." Jet stated with a groan.

"If you say so." Discord replied, giving him an eye roll.

"Don't get snippy with me, you magical assh…" Jet was saying, but was cut off as he and Discord headed into the shops to find rooms.

Daring and Redheart couldn't help but giggle a little at their interaction.

"Uh… Will they be alright alone in there?" Thorax asked nervously.

"It's fine, sweetie. They've been like that ever since Discord reformed himself." Redheart said, still giggling a little.

"Weird, I thought they were friends." Thorax replied.

"Oh, they are." Daring said with a wave of her hand.

"Then why are they at each other's throats like that?" Thorax asked, scratching his head in confusion.

"I wish I had an answer for that. My best guess is that it's just a guy thing." Redheart answered with a shrug.

"I don't think I'll ever understand this whole friendship thing…" Thorax said, shaking his head as he walked off for the interior of the ship.

"You're probably onto something with that theory, Hope. Most guys I've seen are about that dumb with each other." Daring stated with another giggle.

"Just Redheart is fine. Unless you want me to use your real name?" Redheart said, giving Daring a cheeky smirk.

"You wouldn't dare!" Daring yelled in a huff.

"That's what I thought." Redheart retorted.

"You've always been spiteful, even in high school." Daring said with a smile, putting an arm around her old friend.

"Hey, sometimes you have to be to get by in this world." Redheart replied as the two of them walked into the ship now too.

After several minutes passed with everyone chit chatting and getting situated into their respective rooms, Jet brought everyone onto the upper deck area. Gadget was knelt at the steering wheel with tools in hand, her usual look of disinterest on her face. Once everyone was on deck, he gave them all a big smile.

"Thank you all for agreeing to accompany me on this voyage. I wish I could tell you what to expect out there or even when we'll be back, but honestly I have no idea. So, that is why we have opted into using this airship to investigate. We've adorned it with civilian ship colors to avoid drawing attention and we'll be heading into some areas that ponies aren't exactly welcome all the time. Which brings me to Thorax, he'll serve as our undercover guide to avoid drawing too much attention in the regions we'll be visiting. Now, before we ready for takeoff, does anybody have any questions?"

"Can we collect any relics we find?" Daring asked quickly.

"Hm, as long as they're not owned or culturally significant, then sure. I don't see why not." Jet replied after a moment of thought.

Discord raised his clawed hand high into the air.

"Discord, if you're asking about a buffet again, I swear to the Gods, I will skin you and turn you into a rug…" Jet said, not even looking his way this time.

He quickly put his claw back down. Nobody else said anything or raised their hands to pose a question.

"Alright, if we're all good, it's time to set off. Are we ready for takeoff, Gadget?" Jet asked, turning towards the brown earth pony.

"Juuuust one final adjustment to the stabilizers, aaaaaaand… We're good." She replied, bringing into question if she was answering Jet or just thinking aloud.

"Great! Then let's fire this baby up!" Jet yelled excitedly.

Gadget nodded and stood up, gripping the wheel with one hand and turning a key with the other. There was the sound of an engine sputtering loudly as the propellers tried to spin. This happened two or three times before the engine finally roared to life. Gadget slapped a button on the side of the steering column. A loud warning siren buzzed in the hangar as the huge steel doors opened up in front of them. The platform the ship sat on began to slowly spin, pointing the nose of the ship directly at the newly opened door. The propellers started to spin like crazy, gently lifting the ship into the air with a loud 'groan' as the wood settled into place. Sliding a lever forward, Gadget made the ship move forward through the door and into the air outside. Their journey had officially begun.