Despite being massive, the room was pretty much empty. Twilight looked around. She and five other ponies sat at a large round table. But that was about it. No other furnishing were in the room, not even some pictures or a weapons rack. It was odd, considering this was the palace. What kind of room wouldn't have any furnishings? A torture chamber? But the Empress had wanted to talk to them about something of great importance. Not torture them.
She looked at the five ponies sitting with her. She instantly recognized Applejack. She was kind of hard to miss. There was pink earth pony, wearing a a pilot's outfit, so Twilight assumed she was a pilot. A cyan colored pegasus, with a rainbow mane, dressed like some sort of explorer. A white unicorn, dressed like some high class citizen. Twilight guessed she was either dressmaking or some sort of diplomat. Or something like that. And lastly, a yellow pegasus., a little dirty looking, dressed in something that looked slightly formal. Her hair had spots of... oil? Was that what it was?
They were looking at each other as well. Seemed like nopony knew anypony here. At least, well.
“So, how is Old Drifter doing?”
Twilight looked at the pink mare, who was looking at the yellow one. The yellow pegasus shrugged. “He'll be done in about a day or two. Then you can fly him.”
Twilight took some mental notes. The pink one was a pilot. The yellow one was a mechanic of sorts, it seemed. And they both seemed to know each other. She did a quick check of each mare in here, trying to guess their ages. While she couldn't really guess their exact ages, she did generalize who was older. It seemed to go, Applejack, the cyan pegasus, then the yellow mare, the unicorn, and finally, the pink pony seemed the youngest.
Twilight couldn't stand the silence anymore. “Okay, so.”
Everypony looked at her. She gulped, not expecting this kind of stage fright. Of course, it could hardly be called stage fright, she was just nervous.
“How about you?” She pointed at Applejack, just because she was the only one Twilight even vaguely knew. “What's your name? What do you do? Something special about you?”
It took a minute for everypony to understand what was going on. Applejack seemed very reluctant to tell anyone anything. “Well, ma name's Applejack. Ah'm a bounty hunter, though now for only small time criminals. And somethin' special? Well, Ah suppose you could say Ah'm pretty good at fighting with ma shotgun.”
Now all the events she had seen the previous day made sense. Twilight was kind of surprised Applejack had spoken at all. At least since she had spoken, other might as well. Twilight looked towards the unicorn.
With a nod of her head, the unicorn began. “Well, my name is, Rarity. I am an archeologist, majoring in studies of Griffionian and Unicornian history. Something special, well, I suppose you could say I have a way with the higher-ups.”
Twilight took that in. She was an archaeologist? She didn't see that one coming. Not with the way she was dressed. Oh well. Next up was the yellow one.
“Well... my name is Fluttershy. I'm a mechanic, majoring in air ship mechanics. Um... a special thing about me? Well... I'm really good at what I do? Does that count?”
Twilight nodded her head. Yep, just as she thought. She was pretty good at reading people, if she did say so herself. She pointed at the cyan pegasus.
“Me? Well, I'm an amazing adventurer! I've explored caves and ruins and all that for fortune and glory! My name's Rainbow Dash, and I'm REALLY fast.”
Twilight smiled. So at least there were a couple of people who seemed to know how to fight. If they were all here for the same reason, then Twilight would need people who could fight, like herself. Last up was the pink mare.
“Oh! My name's Pinkie Pie! Oh wait, I didn't say what I do yet! Whoops! I'm a pilot! I fly my airship, Old Drifter! Isn't that a great name? I picked it myself. Special talent? Oh! I'm a good pilot? No that won't work. How about... oh! I'm good at dog fighting in my airship! Yessiree! I've gotten into more than one hairy situation before!”
Twilight just stared at the mare. Okay, so Pinkie was kind of... eccentric? No, hyperactive. Yeah, that was it. And she seemed to be one of those, glass-is-always-half-full types. Okay. Good. They might need that. Of course, assuming they were all here for the same reasons.
Applejack pointed at Twilight. “So what about you?”
Twilight stared at the mare. “What?”
“We all talked, now it's your turn. So, talk.”
Twilight was kind of taken aback by her attitude, as were the others, judging from the heads turning her way. She noticed this and slumped down into her seat. “Just sayin'...” she mumbled, looking down.
Twilight cleared her throat. “Well, my names Twilight Sparkle. I'm an alchemist, best one around for many, many miles. And well... I guess you could say I'm very good at judging another's character without even knowing them.”
Pinkie Pie bounced up “Oh! So you knew all about me before I even spoke?”
“Well,” shook her head. “Not ALL about you. But I did guess you were a pilot, and I kind of figured you'd be the always-happy type.”
Pinkie gasped. “Whoa! That is so cool!”
Twilight nodded. “Sure, I guess.”
An awkward silence settled on the room. Twilight was about to speak up when two massive doors on one side of the room opened up, revealing the Empress. Everypony got up and bowed, save Applejack. Twilight added 'stubborn' to her list of things to remember about Applejack.
Once everypony was seated again, the Empress spoke. “Welcome, my subjects. As you all know, I have a matter of grave importance with which to discuss.” She looked around the room. Everypony was listening to some degree. She continued. “Something has been stolen, an object not know to even exist by most, yet still the most important to ever exist.”
Twilight thought this over. What could it possibly be? She racked her brain, but she wasn't really educated in the history of.. anything, really.
Rairty poke up. “It couldn't be the fabled Harp of Peace, could it?”
The Empress looked a little stunned, then answered. “Yes, it is.”
Rarity nodded in understanding, obviously knowing something Twilight didn't. That almost made her mad.
“It is gone, taken by the griffons. They have taken it back to their homeland. We have only one goal, and that is to take it back, lest the land fall into chaos.”
Applejack spoke up. “Uh... if it's so important, how did they manage to get their claws on it?”
Empress Celestia gave Applejack a stern look. “It does not matter. All that matters is you manage to get it back.”
Pinkie bounced up again. “So where is it?”
“It is in the griffon's capital, of course.” She pointed to a massive map that hung on the wall. Wait, that wasn't there a minute ago, right? “I have a personal small army for you to lead into the enemy territory, so you won't be going alone.” The map disappeared. “But you six, alone, are the only ones who can ultimately save the relic, and the world.”
Rainbow Dash shrugged. “So, what's so important about this relic anyway?”
“It is what keeps the whole world at peace. Not without fighting, but with just general peace. So neighbors won't attack each other, and friendships don't dissolve.”
“Oh.” Rainbow Dash obviously still didn't understand, but oh well.
Twilight raised her hoof. “So, why us?”
“I believe you six are the most qualified. You will need to fly into enemy territory. You'll need to keep your equipment functional. You'll need to know where you are, you'll need to fight, to explore, and you'll need to be able to handle any situation with anything you have.”
Twilight nodded in understanding. That included all six of them. This was going to be... interesting. This was going to be fun.
The Empress left without another word. Not knowing what else to do, they all got up and left. As soon as they got outside, they were met by a gray pegasus mare. Her eyes were kind of... off. Twilight just ignored them. “Yes?”
“I'm Captain Derpy. My crews and I are going to fly with you into the griffon land.” She gestured for them all to look behind her. Twilight's mouth fell open. At least fifty different airships floated in the sky or were landed on the ground. Some were the same, others weren't. What really caught her eye was the airship floating in the center of all the others. It was at least the size of four palaces. It was massive. It seemed to decked out with cannons on both sides, and even some chainguns mounted underneath and above it. Looks like stealth wasn't an option.
Twilight heard Pinkie Pie mumble, “Wow. Old Drifter isn't near the size of most of those ships.”