It had been almost a couple of hours since Lilith and the others originally arrived in Equestria and met up with Gaige and Tiny Tina, but it had only been about half an hour since they just originally entered Twilight’s Castle. Of course though, since she was called to visit the Crystal Empire with Starlight and Spike, nobody was exactly home at the time. Good thing as well since Mordecai thought that the castle in itself was a huge seizure warning waiting to happen with how bright it was on the outside.
However, for Gaige, she had a different question in mind to ask. “So… should one of us at least go find Axton? The longer he’s left alone out there, the more likely he’s going to cause unnecessary havoc.”
“Oh come on, it’s just a forest. How bad can it be?” Lilith asked.
“Well there’s Timberwolves, Manticores, the possibility of a cockatrice every once in awhile, Hydra’s that if you try cutting off their heads, two more grow back…” Scootaloo responded before getting a glare from her friends. “What? She asked.”
“Hmm… save for the Hydra, I think he can handle himself. I mean that sounds like a normal day on Pandora.” Brick responded.
“Don’t forget the mean dragon on smoky mountain,” Scootaloo remembered, before another glare from her friends. “Oh come on, we don’t get enough action around these parts anyways! The only real time we had trouble was when that Centaur broke out of Tartarus, stole everyone’s magic and blew up Twilight’s old home. Other then the Bumblebear that came during that one week, everythings been… peaceful.”
“Bumblebear? Seriously?” Gaige asked. “Why does it sound like one of those Skrakk Abominations Dr. Zed would make?”
“Shrakk?” Lilith asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Body of a Skag, wings of a Rakk and the insanity of both. Trust me on the last one. Dealing with them drove Axton batsh*t crazy…” The Mechromancer explained. “No pun intended of course.”
“Well said.” Lilith sighed, rolling her eyes. “You know, maybe we should keep the bands off for right now. It might be a while before this Twilight gets back and it may give us some time to adjust to our… new forms.”
“Seriously?” Mordecai questioned. “I don’t even think I would want to know what would happen if I take this off, Lil.” However, before he could actually continue with what he was saying, he felt Brick lightly held one his arm and pulled it off himself. A bright flash went off and shortly afterwards, everyone saw Mordecai again…
This time, as a pegasus.
“Um… ok what? This was not what I was expecting to see.” Brick commented as he saw Mordecai’s pony form.
“Please tell me that I’m somehow drunk and seeing things. It’s the only reason that could explain something like this.” Mordecai grumbled.
“Want me to make sure you aren’t drunk?” Brick commented with a smirk as he held up a fist.
“Brick, I don’t think punching Mordecai would help here… He just needs a bit of time to adjust-.” Gaige said, but Brick ignored her and still punched Mordecai anyways.
“Oww! What the fu-!?” Mordecai said, before looking at himself and seeing that he was still a pegasus. “Okay, still a pony. Definitely not drunk.”
“And I still think the punch was unnecessary…” Gaige sighed.
“And I think it was totally necessary!” He shot back before taking off his own bracelet to turn into a pony. The Mechromancer sighed, taking hers off a few minutes later while both sirens and Salvador also removed their bands. Ironically, their timing was perfect because not long after did they take off their bands did Rainbow Dash soon come in through one of the open windows.
“Hello? Anypony home-?” She asked, before seeing Gaige and the others along with Scootaloo and her friends. To her though, she was surprised at seeing Brick, Mordecai and Lilith. “Oh hey Gaige… Where’s Axton?”
“He’s… blowing off some steam,” The Mechromancer replied with a sigh. “Why, what’s up?”
“Well, I was sort of expecting him to come back with you guys since everypony else is with the rest of the girls while Twilight, Starlight and Spike are in the crystal empire,” She replied. “Other then that, who are the new guys?”
“Names Brick. These two are Lilith and Mordecai.” He said while pointing to the two. “Who are you?”
“Rainbow Dash, fastest flyer in all of Equestria!” She boasted proudly. “So… should it be safe to say that you three know Gaige, Maya and the others?”
“What makes you say that?” Lilith asked her, surprised that the Pegasus figured out that detail rather quickly.
“You have tattoos on your left foreleg like Maya would.” The Pegasus pointed out.
“Yeah that is pretty obvious, so what now then?” Brick just commented.
“Well, one of us should go look for Axton. He’s bound to cause trouble if we leave him out there on his own-.” Gaige’s comment was cut off the second they heard an explosion go off in the background. “And that was his Norfleet… Okay, what the hell did he get himself involved in now!?”
“Let’s hurry before we found out the hard way!” Rainbow yelled. “Gaige, Big guy! Follow me!!” She said before dashing off and leaving behind a trail of color for both Gaige and Brick to follow.
“Uh… Rainbow, he has a name-.”
“Who cares!! Hurry up!” She shouted back.
“I TOLD YOU MY NAME IS BRICK, RAINBOW PRIDE!! AND I HOPE HE LEFT SOME FOR US TO PLAY WITH!” He yelled as the two of them took off after her. Following her into the forest as they noticed some fallen beasts of the everfree and soon noticed a broken down castle.
“Woah… what the hell happened here-?” Gaige asked, only for the pegasus they were following to see Axton stretch out an arm towards the crystalline tree that was glowing. And before he could even touch it, she tackled him into the ground and sent him skidding into the wall.
“Don’t… even… THINK ABOUT IT!!!”
“Ok first: F*ck you. Second: Look at the symbol on the tree and tell me that isn’t a little suspicious.” He said, pointing at what he was looking at. First, they saw Twilight’s cutie mark as well as her friends… but soon saw them merged into something that caught them off guard.
A vault symbol.
“Woah, did I just see a vault symbol?” Gaige questioned, asking Brick and Axton to see if they saw the same thing.
“Woah.” Was all Brick was able to say.
“Yeah I know, I found this here after a three headed lizard tried to have me for lunch. I found it odd that a vault symbol was on this tree, the I looked behind the tree and noticed something else as well. A door that doesn’t open for anything, I mean Hell I even tried using the Norfleet to open it and all it did was F*ck all.” Pointing to the wall with a purple scorch mark on it. Gaige turned around to look at it, only for her to see what he was talking about. But that was not the weirdest thing.
The weirdest part was when Gaige’s body slowly began to feel warm as she saw a white glow come off of her and had a bit of a headache go through her mind. “Rrgh. W-what the hell-?”
“Uh, Gaige, are you okay-?” Rainbow Dash asked, extending her hoof, only to have a pulse of white energy launch her back into Brick. “Oww! What the buck-!?!”
“Huh, that actually tickled.” Brick commented before looking at Gaige. “You feeling alright there, Gaige?”
“D-do I LOOK alright!?”
“That looks a little familiar though.” Axton soon said as he rubbed his chin. “But from where?” It was then that what Axton described began to glow too for a few minutes before what was inscribed on it turned to mist and flew to Gaige, becoming part of the energy around the Mechromancer before the light died down and Gaige’s head was clearing up.
“Ugh… I… don’t know what just happened… but I think it’s a clue for us finding that vault…” Gaige said as she tried to rub her eyes.
“So, what exactly was with the light show anyway, any idea?” Brick just asked, clueless as to what went on. However the door opened up that Axton was talking about and it showed something very familiar to the vault hunters. But to Gaige, it meant something more.
It was a piece of a vault key. “Six pieces… Six elements……” Gaige said to herself, catching Rainbow’s attention.
“Care to repeat that?” She asked.
“I… heard something before the door opened… Six pieces… Six elements,” Gaige repeated, looking back at Axton. “Did we hear something about elements before? Like from Twilight or somepony?”
“Not that I remember, or do mean like some sort of Elemental damage type?” That was when someone else figured it out. Not Brick… but the pegasus that was with them.
“Oh horseapples… She means the elements of harmony!”
“Elements of what now?” Gaige asked, looking back at her with a bit of confusion on her face.
“Well, it’s a lot to explain, but the simple version is that they’re a collection of powerful artifacts used by my friends and I to kick some serious bad guy flank. There’s six of them in total and they all represent different virtues.” The pegasus told them in response to the Mechromancer’s question.
“One question, Can you punch them to death with it?” Brick simply asked.
“They’re magic based artifacts… but I’m the one who normally does the punching.” She retorted.
“I repeat… To. The. Death?”
“Brick, enough about that. So what are these ‘Virtues’ anyway?” Axton soon asked.
“Honesty, which Applejack represents. Laughter, which Pinkie represents. Kindness, which represents Fluttershy. Generosity, which Rarity represents. Magic, which is basically Twilight in a nutshell and Loyalty, represented by yours truly.” Rainbow said, while pulling off a dramatic pose to boost her already present ego.
“Are you sure it isn’t ego you represent.” Brick joked with a smirk on his face.
“Hey, I’m loyal to my friends! I wouldn’t turn my back on them for any reason at all!” Rainbow retorted. “Still though, if what Gaige said was true, then we should tell the others. It could be a clue to solving the ‘finding a vault’ puzzle Discord brought you guys here for.”
“Yeah sounds like a good idea.”
“I’m one for that… and some rest.” Gaige spoke up, looking back at the others. “Still, how long would it be until Twilight comes back?”
“If the practically detailed itenerary schedule she had been drafting for the past two days means anything, then she’s probably going to come back tomorrow morning at 9am,” That had everyone looking in Rainbow’s direction as the mare looked back at all three of them. “What? She had been droaning about it to Spike during the whole time that you guys were blowing up those Loader… thingy’s yesterday and I was bored. How else was I suppose to kill time?”
“Maybe try punching one of them? Always works for me.” Brick said casually.
“That… was a rhetorical question.” Rainbow deadpanned, pointing it out to him.
“And I gave you a rhetorical answer.”
Rainbow just looked at Brick with a bewildered look on her face as she looked back at him. “Dear Celestia, I traded Bulk Biceps for this…”
Back at the Castle…
“Wait… let me see if I get this right…” Lilith spoke up once the group came back to the castle. “You went into a broken down castle… in the middle of a forest…”
“Yes…” the Mechromancer replied.
“Where there was a crystalline tree?”
“Hai.” Gaige replied again.
“And on this tree was a freaking vault symbol…”
“Yes, like we haven’t tried explaining it to you three times already!” The teen groaned as she looked back at the siren. “Axton, Brick and Rainbow were there too when it happened. They saw what I did… but that was not all that we found.”
“What do you mean by that?” Lilith then asked as a few of Rainbow’s friends trotted into the room.
“Axton, why don’t you show Lilith what we uncovered. You’re still holding onto the piece?” Gaige asked him as Rainbow trotted over to where both Applejack and Rarity were on the other side of the room.
“Yep, got it right here.” Axton said as he pulled it out. What he had surprised both Lilith… and Maya at the same time.
“Holy shit… is that-?”
“A piece of a vault key? Yeah, that’s it all right,” Gaige replied back. “Discord told us there were six pieces… and a clue we found at the castle might help us out a bit more.” It was then she noticed Rainbow talking to Applejack and the others, even though Twilight wasn’t present, and was pointing at what Axton was holding. “According to Rainbow, her and her friends bestow artifacts called The Elements of Harmony and there’s six of them in total.”
“So wait…” Maya then interjected. “There’s supposedly a link between those… elements and the six pieces we need to form the key?”
“It’s a possibility, but right now, it’s all we got at this rate.” The mechromancer replied. “We’re going to have to keep this safe though. Any suggestions guys?”
“Hmm, maybe try asking Celestia. I don’t exactly trust this Discord with something like this anyway.”
“Well, if you plan on talking to her, we’ll need to wait til Twilight gets back in the morning. She can easily send a letter to the princess in a split second. Hell, despite me learning magic, I have no idea how to do that.” Gaige sighed. “It is getting a bit late after all. Plus, some of us might need some rest… and Mordecai’s already doing it.” With a hoof, she pointed towards the pegasus as he was sleeping on the floor with Talon perched on top of his head like it was a lookout.
“Heh… I… kind of expected that…” Lilith replied, only to watch Tiny Tina soon fall asleep next to him and use him like a pillow. “But definitely not that…”
“When it comes to Tina, you can’t really expect anything.”
“I second that motion…” Gaige agreed. Just then, she took a glance at her ECHO device, raising an eyebrow for a moment before looking back at the others. “Hey, could you excuse me for a moment? I need to check something real fast.”
“Something important I guess?” Axton asked.
“I’m… not sure.” She said, taking the chance to step outside before anyone else could ask her. But it was then that Rainbow and the others notice Gaige walk outside on them and the pegasus got confused.
“What… was that about?” Rainbow soon asked everyone else, unsure about why the mechromancer just ran out of the room.
“Not sure yet, but I hope we will find out when she gets back.” Axton just told her.
Meanwhile for Gaige, her reasons for walking out was… rather strange. In the moment that she agreed with what Maya said, she had received a very strange message on her ECHO device. One that had brought back memories from when she was on Pandora a long time ago. For primarily two reasons… the first was because she couldn’t make out any names at all on the ECHO device.
The second though… was because of the message itself. Hello, friend.
To her… Gaige saw this as rather creepy. Almost as if someone was trying to stalk her and the others. In response, she composed a reply message to the unknown ECHO user. Who is this? And why are you able to reach my ECHO device?
Within seconds, a reply came back… A reply that triggered a memory. I’ll explain everything soon. But know this… I am here to help you.
“Hey Gaige, everything alright?” Axton asked as he walked out to check on Gaige. The Mechromancer took the moment to dismiss the message and put her ECHO device away before he could see it.
“Yeah, I think some other ECHO user got me as a wrong number. Nothing to worry about.” She said to him, hoping that he would believe it.
Axton just raised an eyebrow at that “Really? You sounded a little unsure of yourself when you left. So I kinda doubt it would be some random number.”
“Yeah, I originally thought it was my dad, but it turned out to be some dick who mistook my number for Moxxi’s.” Gaige then said, hoping that would cause the conversation to slam to a halt.
Axton just looked at her a little longer before shaking his head. “Whatever, this isn’t our biggest concern right now anyway. I just hope we aren’t sent on some goose chase for the rest of these parts.”
“Well, maybe we should ask Twilight about it tomorrow morning. Something tells me that she might see something that we could’ve overlooked.” The teen replied back, looking back at the Commando as they walked back inside.
“Given what we were told about and from what i have seen from her, I wouldn’t be surprised if she did find something.” Axton shrugged. Yet, for Gaige… despite the smile on her face… the message from before still bothered her.
Who exactly was trying to help them… and why?