An investigation into the origin of pony kind turns out to be a fruitful one.
Twilight Sparkle is investigating some old catacombs when a letter arrives from Princess Luna. It depicts a memory she had forgotten and research into it revealed that 'The Ancients' had made it to the moon without the use of magic. Luna was putting a team together to go and excavate the ruins she'd seen during her thousand year exile. What they find there may be more than they hoped for.
Alarms blared throughout the corridors of the moonbase. Anthropomorphised animals in white lab coats rushed to the designated escape shuttles. Two men had yet to leave their stations.
“Come on, Igneel it’s useless. The sun’s already on its way and there’s no time to activate the shield system. Earth is done.” one of them said.
“I’m not giving up just yet. If I can put up part of the shield perhaps something will survive.” Igneel was furiously punching buttons on the holographic console. The screen shut down before him and a computerised voice sounded in a Germanic dialect.
“Warnung! Warnung! Sonneneruption unmittelbar bevor! Sofort verlassen (Warning! Warning! Solaf eruption imminent Evacuate immediately).” Igneel smashed his hands against the console.
“Come on! You gave it your best, we have to leave. Saving a species isn’t going to do us any good if we can’t access them for the next hundred million years.” the first man said.
“No! Just go, I’ll catch up when I’m done.” Igneel replied, crouching down to open the console’s circuit board.
“There’s nothing left to do. Right now, you’re more valuable than we are, only you and your team can get the Nebuchadnezzar working to sustain us for the journey.” the first one said. Igneel growled at him.
“Look, it doesn’t take a genius to work that thing. All you need to do is connect the main power conduits to the turbines and activate the air filters on the bridge and you’re golden. Now get going! I’ll catch up.” Igneel threw his comrade out of the room and locked it behind him, denying him access to try and stop the wolf from doing what needed to be done.
“We brought this on ourselves. Hopefully, the universe will be kinder to the next generation of evolution.” Igneel removed his jacket, revealing two mechanically augmented right limbs. He reached towards his arm and pulled out a device from a storage unit within. Connecting the device to the wiring on the room’s console, he began work, using a holographic interface surrounding his arm. With lightning speed, he’d broken through all the firewalls and was activating the shield.
“Schutz aktiv in: Amerika, Australien, Deutschland, Afrika, Antarktis. Sonneneruption Auswirkungen in 30 Sekunden (Shield activated in: America, Australia, Germany, Africa, Antarctica. Solar flare impact in 30 seconds).” The computer designated some of the major countries to be safe from the solar flare.
“Thirty seconds… That gives me a whole minute. I’m not gonna make it. I figured it would come to this.” Igneel shut down all the systems except those necessary for the shield. With a sigh, he walked over to one of the walls and snapped his metallic fingers. The wall opened up to reveal a stasis chamber inside. Igneel casually approached it. He turned around and lay on the gel cushion. A glass cylinder engulfed him and within seconds, he was frozen as the temperature dropped to a negative degree.
“Stasis aktiv. Reawakening Folge Set für– (Stasis active. Reawakening sequence set for–).” the solar flare hit. The room shook around and the computer went crazy for an instant before resetting the awakening time. Needless to say, Igneel would not wake for a very long time.
Three hundred and fifty billion years later…
“Twilight, this is getting annoying now. The dust in this place makes me sneeze every ten sec- ah, ah, achoo!” The familiar voice of the now teenage dragon, Spike echoed in the hollowed out catacombs.
“Don’t worry spike. There’s nothing in the dust that will cause you internal injury. Just ride it out while I find what I came here for.” the purple maned unicorn replied. Spike sighed and sneezed once more.
“But perhaps you should wait outside; anything louder than that one and we’ll be buried alive down here.” the green dragon sighed a deep sigh, flames eating away at the dust before him.
“You could just teleport back to the camp.” he muttered as he escaped the dusty torture that was the catacombs. As Twilight began to return to her examinations, she heard a loud and deep burp from where Spike had been.
“No way.” she said as she abandoned her task to check up on him. As she thought, Spike held a little rolled up parchment with the royal insignia waxed on the end.
“A message from Celestia?” she asked, noting her presence to Spike who jumped in surprise.
“Figures nothing short of that would pry you from this place.” Twilight ignored his statement and opened the parchment to read it.
“It’s from Luna.” Twilight’s surprise escaped her. Never had Princess Luna written Twilight a message of any kind, even after the Nightmare Night party where she promised to do so.
“What’s it say?” Spike asked, peeking over his carer’s shoulder.
"Dear Twilight Sparkle…
First of all, you may be pleased to know that I have learned to drop the royal ‘we’ that has seemed to go out of fashion for the past several hundred years and am now referring to myself on a first-person basis. But I did not write to you simply for that. On a side note, I’d like to add that I am sorry for not writing as I said I would, only royal duties have caught up to me and it may surprise you, but night time duties are hardly less tasking than Daytime duties. Nevertheless, I have dropped those duties for a reason I believe will be of particular interest to you.
During my millennia on the moon, I recalled coming across strange objects that seemed out of place. I hadn’t remembered them until just recently and I thought it best to check up on some of the tomes from the Ancient Library. Had I any suspicions on the matter, they would have been correct. What I found made me begin to believe that my banishment may not have been as… cruel as I thought. Using what best translating skills I possessed, I concluded that the Ancients managed to travel and thrive on the surface of the moon, just as we have, without the use of magic…”
Twilight paused for a moment.
“Is that even possible?” Spike asked as he quickly reread the last few lines.
“You have to understand, Spike; the Ancients were an advanced race that thrived without magic. They relied solely on technology. Starswirl the bearded read one of the ancient tomes and managed to translate a good deal of it. He said it was a journal. One of the ancients erected a barrier around most of the world before the sun could destroy it. This indicated that the sun hadn’t been tamed before Celestia. But they managed to stave it off without magic, which is why they’re so respected.” Twilight was giddy to say the least, though she kept her composure until she finished reading the letter.
“Needless to say, this find made me proud to be the Princess of the Moon. I’ve asked Celestia to take over my duties as I put together an archaeological team to join me on the moon. When considering my options, I believed that you were the best choice. Your friends are invited also, as I believe that the Elements of Harmony will be a necessity for defending the team. I say this because I’m not sure what we will find, if we find anything at all. I trust your judgement greatly, Twilight, which is why I’ve also sent to you, along with this letter, several profiles relating to those I believe are best suited for this task. It was a cursory reading as I was too excited to remain still. I’m sure you can understand. Let me know what you think by returning the profiles of those that you believe we can hire, including a reply on the other side of this letter.
Hope to read your reply soon,
Princess Luna, Second Princess of the Royal Equestrian Family.”
Twilight was speechless as the profiles floated around her. Ancient ruins. The thought raced through her mind in circles, making her feel light-headed.
“Wow, a journey to the moon? That sounds awesome. I always wanted to go there. There’s a rumour that the moon is made out of cheese, and Princess Luna has yet to verify or deny that claim.” Spike began to look at the profiles himself and smiled.
“These look good, hire them.” Spike shoved the documents in Twilight’s face, distracting her from her looping train of thought. She eyed all the profiles and looked at the ones Spike had discarded.
“Spike, these are all mares.”
“No need to be sexist, Twilight.”Spike raised his hands in defense. The documents of the remaining three choices were pulled out of his talons by the violet aura that was Twilight’s magic. She quickly scanned over each profile and chose two stallions and two mares.
“These four will do nicely. The remaining three, though experienced in digging and archaeology, don’t know that much about translating Ancient text. Having gone through Starswirl’s journals numerous times, I may be able to translate something there. These four are also good translators and may be able to help me. Take a note, please.” she said. Spike looked at the remaining two mares’ profile pictures with a sad look.
“Spike.” Twilight called again. The purple dragon sighed in defeat and pulled some parchment and a quill from his backpack.
“Dear Princess Luna,
First of all, I understand your royal duties may have impeded your availability to write back to me, and that’s fine…”
Secondly, I accept your request to allow me and my friends to join you on this expedition. I know Spike is excited to discover the mystery of the cheesy moon."
There was a slight splatter of ink afterward.
“Furthermore, I have done as you asked and quickly returned the profiles of those I believe to be the best suited for this journey. I doubt my friends will be as excited about the historical value of the trip, though I believe the location may be a great equaliser. I will tell my friends tonight and hopefully, we will be at Canterlot by this time tomorrow. I will inform you of any changes to this plan.
Your best friend,
Twilight Sparkle, faithful student to Princess Celestia."
Luna finished reading the letter in her bedchambers and a nervous blush entered her features.
“Oh dear. I forgot all about Spike. I’ll have to fix that. Guard, please tell the organiser to prepare for a young dragon on the expedition. I hear that dragons like to eat gems.” A dark coloured guard with bat wings nodded, confirming his Princesses order and left the room immediately, leaving his companion to watch over the princess alone.
“Is that Spike, as in Miss Sparkle’s assistant, Princess?” The remaining guard asked. Luna turned her head and smiled.
“It sure is. Why do you ask?” The guard chuckled nervously.
“No reason. I just remember bumping into him. He had a pile of jewels in his hands. I went to help him and realised that he was running away with a haul. The owner of the gems caught me helping him and thought I was his accomplice. We both ran for the hills, so to speak.” Luna found the story both apt and amusing, sharing a chuckle with the guard.
“Well then, perhaps I’ll take you with me. You can see your little accomplice again. We may need those fleet hooves of yours to escape with whatever we find in the ruins.” The guard gave her a nervous chuckle again, abandoning composure to rub the back of his head.
“As you wish, your majesty.” he said with a goofy grin.
Canterlot was bustling with the news about the expedition. Many of the stores had delved into their trademarks and produced their best quality creations to aid the team in their journey. Bakers had given them all sorts of cakes, half of which had been “taste tested” by Pinkie Pie. The Elements of Harmony, along with their good friend, Spike had arrived earlier that day and were eager to get going. The Guard who had managed to talk his way into the expedition, met up with Spike and they reminisced about that jewel thieving incident. His name was Lucky Charm. Without his armour, a four leaf clover cutie mark was visible on his flank. His mane was a bright sky blue colour with a white streak through it, reminding one of toothpaste. His light grey pelt made him look like quite an odd duck amongst the other ponies.
Twilight had been very eager to get the expedition started. She took the time to converse with her mentor, Princess Celestia. She mentioned her excitement to no end and Celestia listened intently, always patient with her favourite pony’s subject matters, always interested in what she had to say, no matter the subject. Despite her joy at listening to her student ramble on about her supposed predictions regarding what they would find, Luna herself liberated Celestia from the onslaught of conversation.
“Sister, sorry to interrupt, but it’s time to leave.” Twilight squealed with glee at that statement and hugged her mentor rather unprofessionally, quickly jumbling her farewells as she flew past Luna and headed for the meeting place where they would depart for the moon. Luna chuckled at this and went to leave as well.
“Luna, a moment?” Celestia chimed in. Luna paused her stride and turned to look back at her elder sibling.
“Tia?” she made no attempt to hide her slight concern at the abrupt halt. Celestia looked up to the sky, seemingly looking through the roof.
“Twilight is very dear to me. More so than most other of our subjects.” the white mare began. Luna said nothing as she waited for her sister to continue. “Should you find anything that could… potentially endanger her and her friends, I ask that you do your best to get them to safety, Twilight especially. I find myself worrying for her as much as I worry for you. She’s become like a second sister to me, as I’m sure you would agree.” Luna nodded, concurring with her older sister’s interpretation of Twilight’s place in each of their hearts.
“If you wish, sister… I could have her and her friends remain here.” Celestia huffed, slightly amused.
“No. I couldn’t do that to her. She’s already too psyched up. I imagine she would go without your aid if that happened. No, she needs to go. Just make sure she stays safe. Make sure you both do.” Celestia rose from her throne and approached her sister, brushing her neck along Luna’s. Luna reciprocated and closed her eyes, enjoying the loving embrace that was offered her.
“I will, Tia.”
Twilight joined her friends in the middle of the City square. The fountain had been decorated with the symbols for the Elements of Harmony, and the water was a rainbow of colours, each signifying the different elements, in which case were the colours of their coats.
“There you are. We were beginning to think that you’d gotten cold hooves.” Rainbow Dash said, zooming over to her friend. The lavender mare shrugged and joined the tight circle that was being cheered by every pony in the city.
“I got caught up telling Princess Celestia how much I was looking forward to this.” The others shared confident smiles, indicating they shared the same excitement.
“This is going to be awesome. I’ll be the fastest pony on the moon.” Rainbow Dash concluded, giving out a sly chuckle afterward.
“Just don’t go too far. Princess Luna says there isn’t any air on the moon so she’s going to be erecting a barrier that will allow us to breathe. It should span about ten miles, so fly in a circle, Speedy Hooves.” Rainbow Dash rubbed her head sheepishly.
“Yeah, okay. Hey, how long can we last outside the barrier?” Twilight shook her head, ignoring the question.
“Twi, not that I ain’t excited or nuttin’ but what do you expect to find on the moon? I mean, what if they didn’t actually make it and whatever they used to try and get there just… crashed?” Applejack shifted her Stetson as she asked.
“They definitely made it,” Luna piped in as she approached the small group. “The Ancients were masters of bending nature to their will. They used natural elements to shift and shape metal, which I’m sure you all know is difficult to do, especially without magic. Sadly, most of their methods were lost long before Celestia or I ruled.”
“So what happened to what wasn’t lost?” Rarity asked. Luna looked at the fountain and smiled.
“You live in it, you read from it, you eat it. Everything you do is with the aid of what we recovered long ago. Construction of houses, books, cakes and sweets. All of it, everything we do aside from weather control and magic is derived from Ancient methodology.”
“So if we already know all the basics, then why search for more?” Rainbow Dash hovered, waiting for an answer.
“Because compared to the Ancients, we know next to nothing. Consider the mailing system. We still have ponies that deliver them to your front door. Supposedly, it was believed that the Ancients didn’t do that. I don’t know the specifics, but I believe it was something akin to teleportation in an alternate reality.” Twilight gasped.
“They conquered dimensions?” Luna nodded, confirming Twilight’s suspicion.
“Supposedly, yes. But that’s what we’re here to find out. Now, is everypony ready?” Luna, the Elements of Harmony, Spike, Lucky Charms, the archaeologists and an elite team of Guards, carrying camping equipment and what remained of the food that was offered to them, all nodded their confirmations.
“Very well. Let us be off.” The sun set a minute after and as Luna began to raise the moon in all its splendour, Twilight began her teleportation spell. She focused all her concentration on teleporting everypony involved in the expedition to the right place. She looked at the moon, using the large grey spot as a medium for the teleportation. Her horn glowed an almost white light, the outline still as violet as her coat. With a loud bang and a bright flash of light that overshadowed Discord’s, the team was gone. Canterlot’s ponies looked to the moon and some of them swore they saw a tiny glint on the surface where the grey image of Nightmare Moon resided.
Twilight and the others emerged unscathed. The archaeologists’ manes were slightly ruffled, but they seemed fine all the same. Luna erected the barrier immediately, the chill of space almost reaching the ponies as quickly as they reached the moon.
“Fortunately, a thousand years on this rock have allowed me to hone this specific spell to near perfection. The barrier should encompass the moon entirely. It may glow brighter than usual tonight.” Rainbow Dash jumped up with joy, but quickly started squirming as she tried to swim back down to the ground.
“What the?” she exclaimed, holding onto Twilight’s leg for dear life. Twilight experimented with the gravity using her remaining legs.
“It’s so relaxing up here. I feel as light as a feather.” she exclaimed. Pinkie Pie began floating across the area upside down.
“WE COME IN PEACE!!!” she squealed happily.
“I admit, it wasn’t fatigue that had me sprawled on the ground when you six liberated me from my rage, that night. It was the gravity. Equestria was so heavy, I wasn’t used to it. It took me months to learn how to fly again.” Rainbow Dash released Twilight and began to force here wings to propel her forward. But she couldn’t move.
“Aw man!” the blue pegassus crossed her hooves and floated where she was. Luna chuckled and allowed her horn to flash once more. A slight breeze picked up and Rainbow Dash found herself moving of her own accord.
“Try it now, my friend.” Luna called. With a sly smirk, Rainbow Dash was gone in an instant. A full minute later, she was back, but she emerged from the other side.
“Woah, I can’t stop!” she exclaimed, flapping her wings all over the place. Twilight sighed with both amusement and irritation. Dash was caught in her aura and brought to a quick halt.
“Right, now for Pinkie Pie.” The pink pony was flailing happily in the air, performing slow motion ballet movements as she rose and fell with the light gravity.
“This is so super awesome. Twilight, you’ve got to try and jump as high as you can. It’s so much fun.” the pink pony waggled her hooves around all over the place, making it difficult for Twilight to get a good grip on her friend.
“Pinkie… hold still.”
After a minute of troubled and pointless calming, Twilight managed to settle Pinkie down enough for a landing. Luna waited patiently, though her face let escape a look of disappointment at the display.
“We’ll set up camp here.” she ordered. While the soldiers obeyed without question, one of the archaeologists spoke up.
“But, Princess, we’ve not even begun to search for any ruins. We just got here.” he was a caramel coloured Unicorn stallion with a short and straight beard. His safari hat faltered over his horn as he expressed his concern with the princess’ choice.
“I am aware of that, however, some of our team are a little bit too overexcited.” Luna drew her gaze to the Elements of Harmony. Pinkie was oblivious to this, while Rainbow Dash rubbed her head sheepishly and Twilight frowned at her. Luna caught her gaze and softened her own.
“I know you’re eager to begin, Twilight. And I’m exactly the same. However, I have to think of the safety of the team. And if one pony is over enthused, then that could put us all in danger.” The stallion calmed down and retreated back to the small group of archaeologists that had secluded themselves from the rest.
“Huh, not the sociable type, are they?” Lucky Charms asked as he walked up to Spike who was taste-testing the surface of the moon. The young dragon dropped what he was doing and brushed himself off.
“Yeah, it’s like they’re here only for the findings.” he replied.
“Which makes me think that they’re tomb raiders.” Lucky Charms flashed a glance over at the one who had spoken out of turn.
“Aren’t all archaeologists tomb raiders?” Spike let out a chuckle and received a smack from Twilight as she floated one of her jotting pads over at him.
“No, tomb raiders collect artefacts and sell them for bits. Archaeologists collect them for their historical value. Sometimes they don’t collect, but just discover them.”
“Just as we’ll have to do on this expedition.” every pony turned to Luna as she proceeded to set up her sleeping area.
“The Ancients were advanced, this is true, but we can’t assume their nature was similar to our own. For all we know, they could have been monstrous beings and we’re expediting a death trap.” The ponies remained silent, taking the time to reflect on her words.
“Yeah, but surely nothing could still work in those ruins?” Spike piped in. Luna creased her brow in thought.
“I’m afraid I still don’t remember much of what I saw when I travelled the moon, but I do remember the metal. It was all so shiny, as if it were brand new.”
“Ooh, was it a metal house? A metal oven, wall, carriage?” Pinkie began bouncing up and down, the light gravity taking no effect on her as she bounced excitedly on the spot. The group just looked at her in wonder.
“And this, archaeologists, is the eighth wonder of Equestria. Pinkamina Diane Pie.” Twilight said sarcastically as she prepared to set her sleeping area.
The Camp was divided into three sections. One section was devoted to Luna and the Elements of Harmony, with the addition of Spike and Lucky Charms. Another was centred around the four archaeologists who kept between themselves, and the third was for the guards who began singing and dancing around their camp fire like merry foals and fillies.
“Twilight, darling. Perhaps this is a circumstance in which Ancient songs would best suit. You wouldn’t happen to know any per chance?” Rarity batted her eyelashes at Twilight who began considering her historical memory.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t know anything. Princess?” Twilight looked to Luna who tried her best to recollect anything song worthy within the archives.
“I’m sorry, my little ponies. But songs weren’t among the things we recovered. Perhaps we’ll find something at the site.” Rarity sighed with resigned disappointment, but said nothing else on the matter. The camps were silent save for the guards enjoying the moon’s light gravity as they jumped and howled like timber wolves up at the sky.
“Oh, wow.” One of them let out, drawing every pony’s attention to her. She was staring straight up. Following her gaze, the others saw the beauty that captivated her and forced her to halt her wild merrymaking.
“Is that… home?” Fluttershy asked, bringing herself closer to Princess Luna. Luna smiled and nodded.
“I’d forgotten how beautiful the world looks from here. My anger prevented me from truly admiring it during my millennia here. I could see myself riding the moon at night just to watch this, now that I’m free.” The Elements of Harmony gathered around Princess Luna and brought her into a big group hug.
“You won’t be alone. We’ll watch it with you and sleep among the stars.” Luna smiled with a new kind of warmth in her heart as she watched the world turn around slowly through the reflected gleams in her friends’ eyes.
It had taken half the day for the team to find the ruins of which Luna spoke. While the colossal object looked destroyed beyond repair, the metal had been cleaned regularly. One panel even reflected the shine of the sun as the moon rotated them from the edge of its dark side. Some strange symbols were written on the surface of the object.
“What is it?” Spike asked, eyeing the ruin as if it had come to life and revealed itself to be a dragon made of metal.
“Given the shape and structure of what remains, it appears to be some form of ship designed to travel amongst the stars.” said one of the archaeologists. Pinkie and the others except for Twilight and Luna seemed fascinated by the description. Applejack caught this and addressed Twilight on it.
“Somethin’ wrong sugarcube? Ya’ll don’t seem to agree with the doctor.” she said. The others went quiet, waiting for Twilight’s response.
“Of course she wouldn’t. Younger minds are often too excited to see what’s clearly in front of them.” the doctor argued.
“No, I agree with you, only I think you’re half right.” Twilight replied.
“What do you mean?” the pony asked. Twilight took another moment to examine the ruin. She spotted another line of symbols, some of them different, others the same, but placed in different locations.
“I mean, it looks like the ship you described may have crashed on a stationary construct built on the moon.” she replied.
“Or in it.” Luna added, looking to the others who had confused looks all over. “Look at the rounded area there, see how it looks as if it’s moulded into the ground? I think what we’re looking at is a space ship which has crashed into the entrance of an underground Ancient facility.” There was some slight murmuring as everypony discussed how to proceed with the information given to them.
"Do you think the ship could belong to a race other than the Ancients?" Pinkie asked excitedly.
"No, the constructs look similar, and some of the symbols on the ship match the ones on the station." Twilight noted.
"Well, we're not gonna learn anything by standing outside. Come on!" Dash urged, flying ahead. With caution, the team followed Dash's lead and approached the ruins.
Within the ruins, the ponies found themselves overwhelmed by what they saw and felt. An artificial atmosphere rendered Luna's spell redundant. Symbols covered the walls like art in a museum. Images of the Ancients revealed to the ponies that they were indeed right about their assumptions.
"It's true then; the Ancients were bipedal animals of all kinds. Look, there's a Zebra, and a cow... and a dog." Twilight pointed out.
"That ain't like any dog I've ever seen." Applejack commented. The dog in question looked more ferocious, despite it's body.
"Maybe that's the direct ancestor of the Timberwolves?" Rarity pointed out, noticing the elongated snout. Everypony looked at the Ancient picture in awe.
"So that's a Timberwolf Ancient? Amazing, they had fur like us." one of the archaeologists commented.
"Makes you wonder what our Ancients looked like." said another.
As the party ventured on, Luna mistakenly walked past a red light. It flashed once and a sound began to blare from all corners of the corridor.
*bzzt, bzzt, bzzt, bzzt! Achtung! Achtung! Unbekannte Arten in Hauptkorridor erkannt. Stufe fünf defensive Maßnahmen umgesetzt werden (Warning! Warning! Unidentified species detected in main corridor. Level five defensive measures will be implemented).
Unfamiliar words were spoken by an unknown source. Everypony panicked, including the Princess. This was new terrain, even for her. The ponies scattered, not thinking to stay together. Amongst the alarming sounds and the voice from within the walls, another kind of sound could be heard. It was whirring. Something in the Ruins was moving, using mechanics more advanced than the locomotive. Luna found herself running alongside Twilight. At least she could still fulfil her promise to her sister.
"Princess, what's happening?" Twilight called over the noise.
"I'm unsure! I think we've alerted the guards!" she called back.
"What guards, everything should be long dead!"
"Perhaps, but I wasn't talking about living guards!"
Those words chilled Twilight like nothing she'd ever felt before. Did the Princess mean non-living as in undead, or were the guards constructs like the facility they found themselves in.
Rainbow Dash flew alongside Applejack who ducked and weaved through obstacles that barred her path.
"This is crazy! Ah'd prefer to be runnin' through Ghastly Gorge instead of this nightmare." the cowpony commented. Rainbow Dash spiralled through a hole in the wall, just managing to fit through.
"I know what you mean. Even I'm scared right now... Don't tell anypony I said that!" the cerulean pegasus replied, landing beside her friend to run with her.
"Where d'you think the others are at?" asked Applejack.
"I dunno. We never set a meeting point for this kind of situation. If we can get to a map, we can find out where the best meeting place would be. We'd have to think like Twilight to make sure we got the right place." she said.
"It'd have to be the safest place possible. After all, Twilight's got Luna to think about. She'd wanna take her out of harm's way." the cowpony said.
"Yeah."
"Come on Fluttershy, stay with me, don't freeze up or you'll never make it." Rarity said, trying to scare her friend into moving. It was working. Fluttershy was moving faster than ever before.
"Do you think the others will be okay?" Fluttershy cried over the alarm.
"I'm sure they'll be fine, darling. Right now, we have to worry about us. Where's Pinkie, I thought she came with us?" The two of them looked around as they ran.
"Over here, girls! I found a safe place!" Pinkie said excitedly, waving her hoof to help the others point out where she was. The two mares, too scared to think, took refuge in the room that Pinkie had found. As they entered, Pinkie pulled the large door closed and locked it in place with the rotary.
"Thank you, Darling. How did you find this place?" Rarity asked, letting Fluttershy cling to her and shake with fear.
"I read the map." she replied.
"But Pinkie, the map's in Ancient. You can't read Ancient. So how do you know this is actually a safe place?" asked Fluttershy.
"The map was colour coded. Well, it really only had one colour in certain areas, the rest was black and white, and when you've got a map like that, the coloured areas are always safe zones. I learned that a long time ago in school. Didn't you?" replied the jumpy pony.
"But... darling, the Ancients might not think like we do. I mean, sure colouring areas on a map to designate safety zones is common sense for us, but it could have meant something completely different to them." Rarity argued.
"Are you saying the Ancients didn't use common sense?" Pinkie challenged. Rarity paused.
"No, not at all... I'm just saying that those coloured places could have been danger zones instead."
"I checked that. There were danger zones, but they had diagonal lines through them, so i chose one that didn't have diagonal lines, but was still marked with green." Pinkie replied.
"Wait, the zones were marked green? Oh, alright then. Sorry darling, I thought the maps were red."
"Over here, everypony!" shouted Lucky Charms. He'd managed to corral as many of the team as he could. Among them were Spike, the archaeologists and his soldiers. He'd chosen the most strategic area to take cover and found the medical ward. Everypony, including Spike managed to get in before Lucky closed the door and locked it. As soon as the door was locked, the alarm stopped. This frightened everypony even more. Lucky looked through the porthole and saw that the corridor they'd run down was still flashing red. Before anything could see him, he moved away from the door and joined the group huddled up together.
"What happened to the Princess?" one of the guards said.
"I saw her run in the opposite direction with Miss Sparkle. She'll be safe with her, I'm sure of it." said another.
"As long as we all live, we'll be able to find her and defend her. The initial shock should vanish soon and we'll be more prepared to take on whatever comes our way. said Lucky, sitting beside Spike who was close to petrified.
Luna and Twilight leaned against the closest wall along the corridor. Peeking around the corner, the two spotted something that confirmed Twilight's worst fear. A mechanised guard emerged from the wall. It was a spidery thing with its main body being the weapon. It had an eye that acted as a laser sight for the weapon.
"Those are the guards?" Twilight asked.
"At least one type of guard. The Ancients wouldn't have settled for something so small." replied the princess. She looked around for a way to get past the drone and spotted a doorway. She pointed Twilight to it and the little unicorn nodded.
"Why do you think the noise stopped?" Twilight whispered.
"I'm not sure. Perhaps whatever was making the noise lost sight of everypony." she replied.
"Oh, I hope they're okay."
As the drone turned away from the two, Luna and Twilight took the opportunity to try the door. With a little effort, it opened. The pair stepped through as quietly as possible.
"Wait for us!" cried the familiar voice of Rainbow Dash. The drone heard her and turned back around as quickly as possible. It spotted the two mares running across the corridor into the room Twilight and Luna were in. It aimed carefully and took a shot. The laser collided with Rainbow Dash's leg, disabling her.
"Rainbow Dash!" the others cried. Twilight used her magic to erect a shield around the pegasus while Applejack pulled her the rest of the way inside.
"Don't. you. go. dying. on. us. now!" Applejack said as she pulled and pulled. Once inside, Luna slammed the door shut just before the drone could get to it. She locked the door and turned to Rainbow Dash. Her cutie mark had been shot.
"Dash.." Twilight began to cry. Rainbow Dash regained consciousness with an agonised cry. Her leg was burning to the bone.
"Quick, get her on one of these benches!" Luna ordered. Applejack and Twilight carried Rainbow Dash onto a soft, cushioned, bed-like table, where she continued to cry out in agony.
"Oh my gosh, Twilight, what happened?" asked another familiar voice from behind a wall Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy emerged after realising their friends were the intruders.
"Dash got shot before she got to the door." she replied.
"Stop explaining the situation and help me!" Dash cried out, her pain causing her great anxiety.
"Sorry, sorry." Twilight replied, trying to use her magic to soothe the pain. It worked slightly, but Dash was still in a lot of pain. "Rarity, Princess, can you help me out? The more magic we use, the less pain she'll feel." Twilight explained.
"A temporary solution at best. Perhaps the others could look for something to help while we're doing this?" Luna replied. The ponies nodded and began their search. Luna and Rarity poured their magic into Dash's wound, earning a sigh of relief from the pegasus.
"Thanks, guys. That felt like acid." she said.
"I wouldn't be surprised if that's what it was." Twilight said, observing the wound.
Pinkie looked aimlessly for anything that could help. She spotted a button on the wall next to Rainbow Dash's bed. Hoping it would help, she pressed it without considering the consequences.
"PINKIE!" everypony scolded. A panel opened up beside Pinkie and a table much like Dash's emerged, already containing something within. Unlike Dash's table, this one had a glass cylinder over the top.
"Ooh, maybe this can help!" she exclaimed. Suddenly, lights appeared above the table and more symbols scrolled down on one side while an image of some sorts moved slightly on the other.
Was wollen Sie wissen( What do you want to know)? a voice rang out within the room.
"What did it say?" Pinkie asked. Her voice was suddenly repeated throughout the room and then the first voice spoke again.
Language recognition verified; dominant language, English. What do you want to know? it said, speaking their language.
"Who are you?" Luna demanded.
Invalid question. I am not an individual entity, but a verbal index designed to answer all questions and provide suggestions in whatever area you require aid in.
"Our friend was shot, is there anything in this room that could help us repair her leg?" Twilight asked.
Negative. This room was not designed for medical purposes. The med-bay is on level two, section six. the voice replied. It then revealed a holographic representation of the station's layout, highlighting the Med-bay.
"That doesn't help us now. We can't leave here because your guards see us as hostile." Twilight argued.
You are not designated as hostile, you do not have clearance to be in this facility.
"I am Princess Luna of Equestria." the Princess spoke up.
Irrelevant. Your name was not recorded in this facility's database, therefore you do not have clearance. the voice replied.
"Who's in this tube?" Pinkie asked. The other ponies looked at her with annoyance.
General Bardock Igneel said the voice, showing what the ponies assumed was information on this Bardock igneel.
"How do we get clearance for this facility?" Twilight asked.
Only a Senior Officer aboard the facility can allow access to unidentified entities.
"Could the General give us access?" Pinkie asked.
Affirmative.
"How do we wake him up? We can't exactly read your language." Twilight asked.
You may give a verbal command, alternatively; press the green button at the foot of the stasis chamber. Pinkie chose the latter option. The button lit up and sounds began to emerge from beneath the table. The tube opened up and retracted back into the bedding, revealing the being within. It was one of the Timberwolf Ancients. It had black fur with a patch of white in the centre of its forehead. Its right limbs were made of metal, much like the metal the drones were made from. Everypony, except for Rainbow Dash gathered around it.
"It's an Ancient... We found a real live... ANCIENT!!!" she cried excitedly. A bang against the door alerted the ponies to the guard outside. The dent came from something much bigger than the drone.
"That's not good." Dash said as she tried to sit upright without agitating her leg.
"Come on, wake up, wake up, wake up." Twilight began to pat the Ancient on the shoulder, harder and harder every second he wouldn't move.
"Twilight, that's a Timberwolf Ancient! How do you know he won't eat us instead of help us?" Rarity argued.
"Which would you prefer, Rarity? Would you rather get eaten, or burned to an agonising crisp and then eaten?" Twilight growled, smacking the Timber wolf even harder. Something caught her hoof. She looked back, as did everypony to see that the Timberwolf had caught her hoof in its real paw. It opened its eyes slowly, revealing one of them to be green, and the other red. The red one glowed, indicating it was artificial like the right limbs. The fake eye glowed red in the shadows.
"Wie lange habe ich schon hier?" he asked. The ponies found this to be yet another problem altogether. Before anything else could be said, the drones banging on the door managed to break through. One of them was revealed to be like a small metal golem with a single red eye on the head. It stepped through, with the spidery drones crawling between its legs out towards the ponies.
Everypony began to scream, Luna grabbing onto the black Timberwolf for dear life.
"HIER IST GENERAL IGNEEL. HÖREN STUFE FÜNF ABWEHRMASSNAHMEN SOFORT (THIS IS GENERAL IGNEEL. CEASE LEVEL FIVE DEFENSIVE MEASURES IMMEDIATELY)!" the wolf barked at the drones. As if by magic, the drones ceased all activity and just stood where they were.
"Thank you! We thought we were gonna die for a moment." said Luna.
"Oh, you speak English? Thank god, I was getting sick of German." the wolf said, stretching his arms. The ponies were somewhat shocked to hear him speak like them almost instantly.
"How did you do that?" Applejack asked.
"Do what?" he replied.
"Learn our language." she said.
"This is my primary Language. All others are secondary to me." he replied. The wolf hopped off the stasis table and set foot on the ground for the first time since he'd gone to sleep. "Ooh, that feels good. Granted, I'd much prefer carpet, but I get more grip on metal surfaces... with one leg at least." he said, patting his mechanical leg. Luna noticed that unlike his real leg, the mechanical one had an inverted knee.
"Name's Ingeel by the way." he said, walking across the room. He spotted Rainbow Dash and walked over. He then began to inspect her leg.
"I'm... Princess Luna, this is Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rarity. There are others, but they're probably running from your drones like we were when we found you." said Luna, pointing each pony out.
"Uhuh... that's nice. Why hasn't anyone treated this girl's leg?" he demanded, looking around the other ponies.
"The help thing said there wasn't anything we could do to treat her." Pinkie replied. Igneel looked up at the roof.
"Did she now? Naughty girl." he muttered, walking over to a wall and lightly smacking it. He then touched another part of the wall and a hologram emerged. He tapped his fingers against it and the hologram responded. A compartment in the wall opened up revealing an Ancient First Aid kit. "There's always an emergency kit near the entrance. I'm afraid the Computer's developed a bit of a mind set during my absence." he said, placing the kit on the table near Rainbow Dash.
Opening the kit, Igneel pulled out a wooden stick. "You're going to need that soon." he said, sticking it in her mouth. Dash gagged on it.
"Ack! What for?" she asked?
"To stop you from biting your tongue when I do this." He adjusted the stick in her mouth before taking the needle in the box and stabbing her in the centre of the wound. Dash bit down on the wood, digging into it as she screamed. The experience was less than pleasant. After a few seconds, a cool feeling began to reach her burning wound and she soon felt nothing. She let the wood and her tongue fall out of her mouth in a massive sigh.
"There you go. Numbed the pain, increased the healing rate, and made you as high as a kite all in one go. Boy, I'm glad that worked. I didn't even get the chance to test this stuff on my own kind, let alone genetic descendants from other species." he said.
"Wait, what?! You just tested an experimental drug on one of my ponies, from a medical box in the wall?!" Luna fumed.
"Yeah. I was hoping to test on my co-workers, but you work with what you're given, right? Don't worry, the drug became the standard on this station. I'm rarely wrong and so everyone kicked normal medical procedure because they trusted me. Though, usually,I'd test this stuff on myself before administering it." he said. Luna was speechless.
"Relax! She's perfectly-." Dash began foaming at the mouth. "That'll go away after a while. Just give her some mouthwash and she'll be right as rain." he concluded, throwing the needle away.
"You're not what I expected an Ancient to act like." Twilight said.
"Expectations are often wrong when involving people. For example, i wasn't expecting your kind to evolve into unicorns, Pegasi and a hybridisation of the two, yet I am pleasantly surprised." he replied, grabbing a bandage from the first aid kit. He then began to wrap the bandage around Rainbow Dash's leg, taking care not to touch her inappropriately.
"So you're a Timberwolf?" Dash asked.
"Well, I'm a Wolf. I originated from Europe, but grew up in America." he replied.
"I've never heard of those places." said Dash.
"Well it makes sense that their names would have changed since then. But given your accents.. I'd say you were all American. Even the fancy talking one. I always hated when Americans tried to sound sophisticated." he said. Rarity gasped.
"I'll have you know that I am sophisticated. I'm a fashion designer." she argued.
"That's no excuse. Mimicry of another accent would be considered racist unless you spent a great deal of time around those who grew up with the language." he stated. Rarity decided to shut up, lest she insult him further. "Anyway, I'm assuming since you recognise my race, or at least a subspecies of it, that wolves have evolved?" he asked, turning back to Rainbow Dash.
"They're wild animals to at hunt and kill us." she replied.
"Oh, that's a shame. I'll have to fix that when we get home." he replied.
"Yes, my sister would undoubtedly be as excited as I am to meet an Ancient, even if you did threaten the life of one of my ponies." Luna said.
"You're still on about that? She's stopped frothing at the mouth, I doubt she even remembers a thing." Ingeel whined.
"Wait, what?" asked Dash, looking confused beyond belief. Igneel finished binding Dash's leg, tying off the ends.
"There we are, good as n-." without warning, his mechanical limbs failed and broke into pieces. He fell back into Luna who caught him in time.
"Ah, crap! That's what happens when you don't have enough time to store mechanical limbs. They freeze up in cryo stasis and... well here we are. Nice catch by the way, thanks." he said. Everypony looked horrified.
"Are you alright? Didn't that hurt?" Luna asked.
"No, that didn't. Putting new ones in on the other hand... That's gonna hurt." he replied, hopping over to his stasis chamber.
"Alright, let's make new ones... Think I'll go for the Void core this time." he said. He snapped his fingers and a holographic display popped up in front of him. He typed a few things out and a 3D display of a new pair of limbs exactly like his old ones appeared, rotating in different directions.
"Computer, use the Adamantium casing with the Void core, and design the arm plates with Titanium instead of steel. The extra weight will help me get fit after so long in stasis." he said. The voice the ponies had heard before spoke up.
Warning: Titanium Augmentations require the limb bases to be made of Titanium also. Your current bases will have to be replaced.
"Damn... now that's gonna hurt." he said, lying down on the stasis chamber. He touched the holographic leg and began to inhale deeply through his nose and exhale through his mouth.
"You guys are gonna want to look away. This process can get pretty... sickening." he said. Fluttershy immediately looked away, as did Pinkie and Rarity. Luna, Twilight and Rainbow Dash remained where they were, watching him. "Oh and cover your ears. A screaming wolf is not for the faint of heart." he added.
"General on board!" a canine called out to the crew of the airship. Every animal there turned towards the only entrance and saluted, keeping straight postures and closed lips. A young black wolf with deep blue eyes stepped forward wearing a disinterested face.
"At ease." he said, ignoring everyone as he made his way to the Captain's seat. An amused white wolf followed.
"Jeez, General, you've been on this ship ten seconds and half of them have already pissed their pants. Lighten up, will ya?" the white wolf said, leaning against the back of the chair. The black wolf sat down and crossed one leg over the other.
"I'm not here to make friends. I want to get this war over with so I can get back to my life." he replied.
"One would think you'd be more grateful seeing as how you were given the rank of General right off the bat instead of working your way up the ranks like any other soldier."
"They asked for my help, this rank was one of the terms I negotiated with them. Among others." The black one said as he held out his hand for another canine who held a list of recruits.
"Oh? What were some of the other terms?" the white one asked.
"Well there was the formation of my own team, the right to lead them how I saw fit, level zero clearance, which is the same level a Field Marshal receives..." he began selecting the recruits he wanted. "And you." he replied, handing the pad back to the canine waiting for him. While the white wolf took a moment to feel somewhat appreciated. The candidates that the black one chose stepped onto the Bridge, single file.
"Excellent. My name is Bardock Igneel and I'm in charge of this operation. The ten of you have been chosen to work under me. I understand that some of you may feel upset at having to work under someone who hasn't risen up the ranks like you have. My only answer to that little problem is this: I don't give a damn. I am here because the higher-ups asked me to be; end of story, goodbye, the end. Any questions?" the black one asked. All ten canines of varying skill and profession remained silent. The only sounds were those of the consoles on the ship beeping, followed shortly afterwards by the muffled yelling of another soldier behind the entrance. Curiosity got the better of everyone and they looked over to the source of the yelling just in time to see a brown German-Shepard-Wolf cross stumble into the Bridge. Her uniform was a shambles; the top button on her leaf green vest was rolling on the floor, her pants were un-pressed and wrinkled, her hair was... not regulation and her tail even seemed out of joint. She stumbled into the other room, standing beside the furthest recruit to the left.
"Sorry I'm late, General!" she said, trying for a salute, but it was wasted given her appearance. The white wolf chuckled.
"This one's rather rough around the edges, huh?" he asked, looking to Igneel who had his eyes fixated on the hybrid.
"And you are?" Igneel asked the late-comer.
"Uh, Ensign Rio Leila, Sir. I applied to be a part of your team." she replied, holding her salute.
"That's funny, you weren't on the candidate roster." Igneel said, looking to the canine who had given it to him.
"WHAT?! That bitch! She told me I was enrolled!" Rio said, losing all sense of military presence.
"Kinda touchy, huh?" the white wolf whispered to Igneel.
"Yes John, she is. Commander, why wasn't Ensign Leila on the list?" Igneel replied, bringing up a list of Military Personnel.
"I'm afraid to say that Miss Leila did not meet the required standards for enrolment into your team."
"WHAT?!" Rio yelled, forgetting that she was speaking to a superior Officer. Igneel found Rio's profile and opened it up.
"I'll say," John began. "She has low statistics for Intelligence, Endurance and hand-to-hand combat."
"But her acrobatic and weapons skills are above average." Igneel continued.
"Bardock, every other recruit on the team has higher statistics than that, in every aspect."
"Statistics can be faked. Miss Leila, what's the square root of five-thousand-two-hundred-and-thirty-four?" Igneel asked.
"Uhh... thirty-six?" she replied.
"See, she's way off the mark." John argued.
"She's half right. What about twelve times twelve?
"Seventy-two?" Rio enquired.
"You're dividing the answers by two, aren't you?" Igneel asked, smiling for the first time that day.
"Bardock, what are you saying?"
"She knows as well as I that half of thirty-six is seventy-two. And seventy-two is the square root of five-thousand-two-hundred-and-thirty-four, sans the decimal places. She faked her own test scores." Igneel explained. Rio smiled back at him.
"Busted, huh?" she asked.
"Why fake her own test scores? To what end?" John asked, looking between them.
"You never know who works for who. Could be our profiles are stolen and taken to the enemy. I don't know about you, but I don't wanna stick out to them unless I'm on the battlefield at the time." she replied.
"And the uniform? What excuse did you have for such reckless preparation?" Igneel enquired.
"I just slept through my alarm and hurried here as fast as I could." she replied sheepishly. Everyone except Igneel fell to the ground. He would have too, had he not been sitting down.
A moment passed and the room was silent save the mechanical beeps of the equipment on the Bridge. It was interrupted again by the sound of chuckling coming from the General. The chuckling was followed by slow clapping, then laughter.
"Very good. Welcome to the team, Captain Rio Leila."
"CAPTAIN?!" the others blurted out, astonished by the sudden rise in Rank.
"Yes, she'll be your Captain throughout your term here. The rest of you have been promoted to Commander effective immediately. You will all have your own squadrons which you will control through her orders, more often than not relayed through myself or General John White. We'll be heading out on the Airship Tesseract in thirteen-hundred hours. Make sure you're ready and don't leave anything you can't be without behind, because we won't be coming back. Dismissed." Igneel said, waving them off. Despite his apparent standoffishness towards procedure, the new recruits saluted the General.
"Thank you, General. I won't let you down." Rio commented before following her new subordinates to their quarters.
"You knew her already, didn't you? An old friend from High School?" John asked, grinning from ear to ear at his friend.
"Not really. I we bumped into each other once out the front of the High School. She said two words to me and went on. Well, you can consider it one word, I guess." he replied, grinning in turn.
"What did she say?" John asked.
"Called me an asshole." he chuckled.
"And you made her a Captain based on that?" John laughed.
"She has the posture and personality of someone who's reckless. Reckless Captains will not let the death of their charges slow them down. That's who I'll need in my team. Its why I chose you." Igneel replied.
"And the fact that I married your childhood friend isn't a factor?" John asked.
"Actually, that was not one of the pros to your employment under my Command. I still hate that you got to her before I did." Igneel replied, dropping the grin instantly.
"Hey, calm down. She chose me. I can't help it if she saw you more as a brother than a potential boyfriend." John defended.
"Unfortunately. If I could blame you, then I'd have an excuse."
The Tesseract was a masterpiece of engineering, combining particle fusion with solar energy to make it both powerful and energy efficient. Bardock Igneel was the initial designer of the airship, which made him the best candidate to utilise it in the war as he knew every nook, cranny and surprise she had in store.
"General, air space is cleared for take-off. All systems green and we have the go-ahead from Central Control." said the Comm. Officer.
"Very good, take us out, Lieutenant." Igneel said. General White sat in the chair beside him, leaving a single chair to Igneel's right empty.
"So, is our new Captain even going to be here for the maiden voyage?" John asked. Igneel slid forward in his chair, resting his head on his closed fist.
"She's on the ship, that's all that matters." he replied with a bored tone to his voice.
"You've got something planned for her, haven't you?" john said, smiling slyly at his friend. Igneel made no move to confirm John's assumption but waited a moment before answering.
"In actuality, I have plans for the both of you. The other ten I recruited are just extensions of my reach towards the battlefield." Igneel replied.
"So you're going to play God of War, and the Captain and I are to be your right and left hand. How charming of you." John teased.
"I've got a task for the right hand. It involves two fingers pointing out in a backwards peace sign." Igneel replied, smiling slightly.
"The words 'Naff off' spring to mind." John chuckled.
"I truly do love the British. Their vocabulary leaves something to be desired in ours." Igneel heard the bridge doors open and Captain Rio sat in the seat to his right, dressed much better than he'd last seen her.
"Glad you could join us, Captain. John here was getting worried." Igneel said, teasing the white wolf.
"That's not true. Besides, I'm married." John argued.
"Strange, you don't seem like the type to let that stop you, General White." Rio replied, smirking at the now blushing general. There was a moment's silence between the three of them.
"Would you like some Aloe Vera for that burn, John?" Igneel asked, causing Rio to snicker.
"You know, Bardock; I just found a use for both my hands that only requires a single finger each." the white General replied.
"Leaving the Docking bay, General." the Pilot said.
"Rotate starboard propeller to the right thirty degrees. Our exit path is a little off." Igneel replied.
"Correcting angle."
"So, what kind of a name is Bardock anyway? And is Igneel a family name?" Rio asked, leaning towards the General with a curious look on her face.
"Yes, it's a family name. As for my first name, My parents were high as a kite during both my conception and birth, it's a miracle I managed to develop a single IQ point. My mother actually tried to name me Burdock, like the vegetable, but she slipped her tongue and the Doctor wrote the 'a' down instead.
"I heard about you from before the war too, you're like one of those beautiful mind genius guys." Rio commented.
"That's correct." Igneel replied.
"He's also an arrogant ass with an ego bigger than this ship." John said, leaning over Igneel to whisper loudly to her. Some of the other officers chuckled at this.
"You'll have to forgive my friend, John; he was never loved as a child... or as an adult." Igneel retorted, causing more chuckling from the surrounding crew.
"So how long have you guys been friends for?" Rio asked.
"Almost twelve years now. I met Igneel here through his childhood friend whom I began dating the day before." John replied.
"And when was the happiest time of your relationship?" Rio asked.
"Thirteen years ago." Igneel replied, smirking at the other General. John just huffed.
"You see, Igneel's pissed because he's in love with my wife who was the childhood friend I mentioned meeting him through. I was just fortunate enough to get to her first. See, Igneel's not the kind of guy to go for dating and that. He's devoted to his science inventions. Matters of the mind are what's most important to him. But Lindsay, my wife has always been that one exception. Needless to say it was a real surprise for me when I found out she'd accepted my proposal. I always thought there was some kind of connection that I could never get past." said General White.
"There is. Needless to say, John, if you ever do anything to hurt her."
"I know, you'll use me as one of your science experiments and turn me into a bitch when you're done with me. Trust me, that's enough incentive for any guy to stay leashed to his wife." John replied, crossing one leg over the other.
"So you guys are always like this?" Rio asked.
"More often than not, but it's great fun, huh Igneel?"
"Oh, yes. It's like living in Disney Land!" Igneel replied sarcastically.
"We're gonna win this war for sure." Rio commented.
"And what makes you think that, Captain?" Igneel asked.
"You're both so confident. I know that confidence should be something to be avoided, but when you're this laid back about the whole thing, you've gotta be good at this." she replied.
"I was asked to join for a reason. Clearly winning the war is that reason, and I intend to do it quickly and smoothly. Nothing will go wrong."
