"Darkstinian?" Flynn raised his head as his natural eye blinked at Rainbow Dash. "What's that?"
Rainbow, Ariel, Wildcard, and the rest of the Herald were gathered in a tight huddled beside the metal wreckage. Seraphimus and her sled were parked several yards away so her rambling voice wouldn't interfere with the dimly-lit conversation.
"It's not a what," Rainbow Dash said, gesturing at the rusted sphere-halves in Flynn's grip. "It's a who."
"Well... who, then?" Flynn aimed his mechanical eye at the material yet again, the lenses whirring as he attempted to analyze the material inside out. "It's not any sort of tech that I've heard of... or recognize."
Rainbow Dash took a breath and explained, "Darkstine is a country sandwiched between Emeraldine and Silvadel. On the Light Side."
"Rainbow Dash..." Logan leaned over, brow furrowed. "How in the heck could Light Side technology be suddenly here on the Dark Side?"
"Maybe..." Ariel looked at the others. "...it was ferried over by Onyxxus' expeditions? Rainbow did say that Darkstine was situated right next to Emeraldine."
Wildcard nodded thoughtfully.
"It just... doesn't make any sense," Flynn muttered, turning the rusted material over and about. "The logistics, I mean. From what the Mother Matron taught me, the nature of Darkreach was kept very sacred... and secret. They didn't want word spreading throughout the continents or else the lunar exodus might try finding the expedition and pillaging it."
Logan looked at Rainbow. "Any evidence that Emeraldine and Darkstine might have worked together?"
"Well..." Rainbow Dash stood up straight, sighing. Her eyes searched the darkness in front of them. "...when I visited Darkstine, they were on the verge of a civil war. What's more—they kept themselves very much closed off from the rest of the world... both physically and culturally." She swallowed. "But... th-that wasn't always the case."
"Oh?" Ariel blinked.
"Right. I... I'm trying to remember..." Rainbow Dash rubbed her head in deep thought. "Cuz... like... I-I met a few descendants of proto-Darkstinians who had been holed up in Silvadel when Axan took over. I'm talking entire generations of displaced unicorns who still believed in an age-old political entity. What was the friggin' name? Circle... Cycle... Cylinder..."
"Cylindrrimane," Kepler pronounced.
Everypony looked at him.
"I know of these ponies," the wyvern said with a stately nod.
"Well, spit it out, Tusky!" Logan remarked with a smile.
Kepler adjusted his spectacles and said, "Morrtuana spoke often of the easterrn neighborr of Emerraldine. But it did not bearr the name of 'Darrkstine.' And Rrainbow Dash's mention of a civil warr is quite irronic, forr even in days gone by the kingdom of Cylindrrimane was sufferring frrom intense culturral dichotomy."
"Hey!" Rainbow perked up, pointing with her hoof. "That's right! I remember one of the Silvadelian Darkstinians mentioning something like that! Like... 'Darkstine' was the name of some mad general or something."
"Wow..." Ariel's muzzle hung agape. "You remember that?"
"Pffft. Sure. It was one of the Zetta's." Rainbow blinked hard. "...I think."
Kepler cleared his throat and continued: "Howeverr, Cylindrrimane—as a functioning political entity—was firrmly allied with the Council of Verrdestone. There was a cabal of unicorrns who were sworrn to prrotect the alicorrn sorrorrity of Emerraldine. Forr this rreason, Morrtuana called upon the wisest scientists of herr time to assist in rroyal endeavorrs."
"Doessssss this include the Darkreach expedition?" Ariel asked.
Kepler gestured at the sphere halves with his claws. "I do believe we arre bearring witness to such evidence rright now."
"But... that's so friggin' crazy," Rainbow Dash muttered.
"How so?" Ariel asked.
"Just... that I would run into Darkstinian stuff waaaaaaay out here," Rainbow explained. Her fuzzy ears twitched. "If I didn't have you guys here to explain it to me, I'd fear I was hallucinating."
"A little homesick, are we?" Logan remarked.
"Mrmmfff..." Rainbow rubbed one forelimb with another. "Believe me. I don't miss Darkstine very much."
"Do you... uhhhh..." Ariel rubbed her head as she struggled to produce the question. "Do you remember when the place changed names? From 'Cylindrimane' to 'Darkstine?'"
"Not really," Rainbow Dash said. "It had to have been sometime before Axan brutally wrecked Silvadel and trapped thousands of ponies underground in the nation's capitol. She was a super bad dragon, once." A beat. Rainbow rolled her eyes and sneered aside: "Oh hush, Pinkie."
Logan looked at Kepler. "About how long ago did the expedition to Darkreach begin?"
"To be honest, frriend, Morrtuana was neverr too terrribly clearr on that," Kepler said.
"Really?"
"I suspect it's because the expedition was starrted by alicorrns... so it likely began beforre the Mountain Matrron was of the apprroprriate age to lend a hoof to herr fatherr Onyxxus." Kepler smiled gently beneath his tusks. "Howeverr... the morrtals of Emerraldine—and Cylindrrimane, it would seem—werre not heavily employed until about fourr orr five centurries ago."
Ariel looked at Rainbow. "You think that's a realistic window? Four hundred years ago?"
"For proto-Darkstinians to have followed the Darkreach Expedition?" Rainbow shrugged. "I dunno. I guess. If it happened any later, I've no friggin' clue how they would have passed by Axan's brood in Silvadel without mishap. But... then again... I've no idea how they managed to get thorugh the Grand Choke." Rainbow raspberried out the side of her muzzle. "Alicorns are broken."
"Soooooo... back to the junk at hoof..." Logan pointed at the metal entrails. "The Cylindrimaniacs must have gifted the Emeraldinians with their tech."
"Obviously," Rainbow droned.
"After all these years—it somehow resembles the stuff you saw back in Darkstine, Rainbow?" Ariel asked.
"Look, all I remember is a buncha floating spheres." Rainbow pointed at the stuff in Flynn's hooves. "And—well—there you have it."
"What was the point of this rusted crud anyways?" Logan asked.
"I serriously doubt it was always rrusted, my frriend," Flynn stated. "And—if you ask me—it was likely a means of rreconaissance."
"Soooooo..." Logan rubbed his head. "This was a patrol thingy?"
"Most assurredly."
"That explains why we saw one of them by the lookout posts," Ariel declared. "These little thingies must have zipped back and forth between Darkreach and the outlying towers."
Kepler nodded. "Seems like a most efficient way of coverring lots of darrk grround."
"Certainly more ground than we've been able to cover," Logan muttered.
"Gotta admire the Darkreach Expedition." Rainbow managed a smile. "Seems like they had their stuff together."
"Uhhhhhhhhh... guys?" Flynn suddenly murmured.
"What is it, baldy?" Logan looked over. "Figured out how this crap must have worked?"
"Mmmm-hmmm..." Flynn nodded, his mechanical eye still locked on the insides of the contraption. "More to the point... I think I can get it working again."
Wildcard's goggles rattled at that.
"You're shittin' me," Logan exhaled through an agape mouth.
"No joke." Flynn's horn glowed as he rearranged some of the loose wires and crystal shards. "The leylines aren't completely frayed. This can actually... totally be reenchanted again."
Wildcard looked at Ariel.
"Uhhhhhhh..." The mare blinked. "Do we really wanna do that?"
Wildcard looked at Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow took a deep breath. "If this thing can be restored to its original programming, then it just might continue its old rounds."
"Meaning..." Logan leaned forward.
Kepler beamed. "It can lead us dirrectly to the frront gates of Darrkrreach! Ha-Hah!"
"Hmmmf..." Logan leaned back with a casual smirk. "I knew that."
"Well, Rainbow?" Ariel looked from Flynn to their most important member. "How 'bout it?"
Rainbow winced from the distant exclamations of Seraphimus. "Pffft... shoot. What's the worst that could happen?"