"Achievement unlocked: interior supplementation of core engineering units. We who would be the Cylindrimanian division of they who would be the Verdestonian Expedition have completed the addition of mechanical enhancements to the spaces afforded by alicorn excavation. Optimistic metaphor: the heart of Darkreach beats soundly, ready to support those who would sustain harmony on the Dark Side."
"Mmmmmmkay..." Flynn tongued the inside of his muzzle. He leaned back, gazing at the talking "briefacse." A breath, and he hummed: "Sooooooooo... should I be the one to ask first or will it be Keps?"
Rainbow Dash cleared her throat. "Right. So... the Darkstinians—"
"Cylindrrimanians?" Kepler suggested.
Rainbow rolled on through: "Same difference. They have this... uh... psychological need to detach themselves from their own egos—at least for show—in order to profess their undying love for technological progression or some such..."
"Wowie, Dashie!" Pinkie grinned. "You really made a smartie!"
"Eh... not really," Rainbow said, waving.
"Not really, what?" Flynn asked.
Rainbow stared at him. "Invisible friends, remember?"
"Oh, right, my bad."
"How verry fascinating," Kepler exhaled. "It is almost as if they have a rreligious impetus forr theirr scientific purrsuits!"
"It makes for really stiff dinner conversation," Rainbow said. "Not that... I-I've eaten much with Darkstinians."
"Still, it must have sustained theirr culturre quite well to have rresulted in a trraditional prractice that spanned hundrreds of yearrs!" Kepler said, adjusting his spectacles. "It would appearr that the Darrkstinians of the prresent and the Cylindrrimanians of the past have a grreat deal in common!"
"I wouldn't book too much on that," Rainbow said. "At least, I hope I wouldn't have to. The Darkstinians of today have been known to stoop to foal-murder."
"Yeesh..." Flynn grimaced slightly. He pointed at the ancient recorder. "Glad we're dealing with a completely different pony here."
"Sounds like a stallion," Rainbow Dash said. "What did he say his name was, again?"
"Chief Engineer Ranort!" Pinkie Pie said. She then stuck her tongue out. "Oop! My badsies! Ah-Ahem... 'He who would be Chief Engineer Ranort!' Heeheehee!"
Rainbow rolled her eyes with a small smile. "Thanks for listening, Pinks."
"You're welcome, Dinks!"
"Hmmmm... 'Chief Engineer,'" Kepler remarked. "Would it be safe to assume this Cylindrrimanian stallion is rresponsible for building the powerr corre and ventilation system of facility?"
"Seems like it," Rainbow said. "Also seems she was smart enough to write a journal about it. Erm... record a journal about it."
"Lucky us," Flynn droned.
"How glorriously exciting!" Kepler said, beaming. "I suspect we can only benefit frrom listening to these entrries in theirr entirrety!"
"Yeah, uh..." Rainbow looked at the dozens and dozens of triangular crystals lying around. "Just how long would that take?"
"Well, with all due respect," Flynn said. "If we want to get anywhere in one piece, we're probably going to have to stick around here for a while."
"Yeah, about that..." Rainbow paced about, breathing firmly. "I figure that we all gotta be on the same page about what's next on the menu."
"What did you have in mind?" Flynn asked.
"A pep talk," Rainbow said. "Or... maybe... a lecture." She glanced at Pinkie Pie. "I should probably wait until the egghead wakes up."
"Don't forget to tell them about the need to find food!" Twilight Sparkle said.
"Uh huh." Rainbow Dash nodded.
"Oh!" Twilight hovered closer, almost phasing through the pegasus. "And updating the maps of the mesa and its surrounding areas! That's important too—"
"I've got it, Twilight," Rainbow said, facing the lengths of the common room, filled with Heraldites.
"Oops! Eheh..." Twilight drifted back, hovering alongside the rest of the ghostly mares. "Go ahead, Rainbow!"
"Ahem." Rainbow stood before the group. "So, believe it or not, we're making progress."
Ariel, Flynn, and Kepler stood front and center. Wildcard sat up on his cot, watching with steady goggles.
"Ariel's uncovered a whole bunch of useful notes and documents," Rainbow Dash said. "And Keps and Flynn unlocked this sexy talking briefcase that's bound to give us some insight on the inner workings of ye olde Darkreache." She smiled slightly. "Believe it or not, the old settlers of this facility have done most of the gruntwork for us. Now it's our turn to capitalize on it all."
Logan stood in the corner, absent-mindedly sharpening his axe. He craned his neck to listen when he needed to. Across the way, Seraphimus sat—slumped—beside the pipework. A roll of mats had been positioned beneath her, and—curiously enough—she didn't refuse the meager comfort. The former Talon Commander listened in on the briefing in brooding silence.
"Here's what we know so far..." Rainbow Dash stretched one wing out and "counted off" feathertips. "There was a ruined forest 'North' of Darkreach—a direction that the Emeraldinians called 'Omega.' Somewhere vaguely in that same area are... or were a 'colony' of things called 'Bloodwings.'"
"Who may have been in possession of lunarr rrocks," Kepler added. "So I think we all know what that means—"
"Let her do the boss thing, Keps," Flynn droned.
"Ahem..." Kepler smiled bashfully. "A thousand parrdons."
Rainbow merely smiled at him and continued: "Somewhere towards the curved end of the Plane is what was once illustrated to be a... city of sorts."
Logan looked up. Seraphimus narrowed her eyes.
"But that's taking the discovered documents purely at face-value," Rainbow said. "There's also another name floating around... something called 'Spindlers.'" She took a breath. "I would very much like to know more about this stuff before we set out from Darkreach for good. So..."
She paced before the Herald while her ghostly friends look on.
"...I think the best thing to do is scouting expeditions," Rainbow said. "I'm talking short, day-long or half-day flights into the Dark—both Alpha and Omega directions—to catch our bearings and see if any of the stuff sketched about are still there."
"Whoah..." Logan stood up straight. "Who are we talking about?"
"Well..." Rainbow gestured at the bandaged Desperado. "Wildcard's out of the game for now. Plus, he needs his arm." He looked at the wyvern. "Kepler, I love ya, but you're more a glider than a sky-piercer."
"Ha-hah!" Kepler smiled through his tusks. "No offense taken, Rrainbow One. The only thing I desirre to pierrce is books."
"Mmmm..." Twilight bit her lip, cheeks rosy.
Rarity and Fluttershy exchanged glances.
"Hmmmm..." Pinkie Pie tapped her fuzzy chin. "'Twikeps... Keplight...'" A brown stetson smacked the back of her ghostly skull. "Fappo!"
"Ahem..." Applejack placed her hat back on and looked at Rainbow. "Go ahead, sugarcube."
"The choice is simple," Rainbow said. "Ariel and I are the fastest souls here. So... it'll be up to us to survey the landscape." She looked over at the pegasus. "I'm thinking six hour flights at first... then maybe scale up to twelve once we begin to discover things... if we discover things."
"Hell..." Ariel shrugged with a smile. "I'm game!"
Flynn muttered aside to Kepler. "She's game-and-a-half."
"Ach!"
"Just hold on a second," Logan grunted, raising a hoof. "Rainbow, you're the most valuable piece of this entire friggin' mission."
"Jee, thanks, Big Show," Ariel exhaled.
"Shush, pixie. This is important." Logan's eyes narrowed. "Where's the damn logic in sending you out into the great dark unknown?"
"Listen, I'm not some priceless golden egg that the Job Squad has to keep on a lone, hidden pedestal!" Rainbow Dash said. "I've got weight to throw around too, y'know! Besides..." She folded her forelimbs. "If I'm headed to the Midnight Armory—the very frickin' heart of the Trinary War—then I can't afford to go soft, ya dig?"
"She has a point, Logan," Flynn said. "You wanna file it down to a dull edge?"
Logan's nostrils flared. "I still think it's hella stupid. But..." He slumped back with a sigh. "Guess there's no point in arguing with her."
"You think I'm gonna do stupid stuff while on these scouting missions?" Rainbow asked.
"Yes."
Rainbow raised a hoof and opened her muzzle. Nothing came out. She leaned back, caught her breath, and finally said: "Well... we'll be okay. These are only fact-finding flights. Let's not forget, I've been doing this adventure stuff for a long time, now. Plus... I'll have Ariel with me."
"Uh huh..." Logan nodded, returning to sharpening his axe. "Guess the wasteland surrounding the mesa won't remain dry for long."
Ariel gulped.
"In the meantime," Rainbow began—
"In the meantime..." Logan looked up, brow furrowed. "I'll be salvaging all I can from this dump to make a mobile arsenal." He glanced at the others. "If that one single changeling is any indication, we're gonna need some real good skull-crackers on this journey."
"Coolie crispies, Big Show," Rainbow said with a nod. "You get on that." She looked at Flynn. "Flynn? You've already got this place purring like an electromana kitten. Think you can throw your back into getting Wildcard a new arm?"
"Absolutely!"
"Good. And while Wildcard recovers..." She looked at Kepler. "You've got some homework to do."
"Indeed I do!" Kepler stood up straight, smirking. "Endeavorring to unlock all of the knowledge from the Crystalline Auditory Informational Neural Emitter!"
"Gawd..." Logan grimaced. "Did the Emeraldinians really name shit like that?"
"Not the Emerraldinians," Kepler said. "They who would be ancient Cylindrrimanians, my frriend."
"Buh?"
"I'll explain later, dude," Rainbow said.
"Hehehe..." Pinkie smiled at the other girls. "The bigger they are, the harder their muzzles scrunch!"
"And what of the metamorphic threat?" a calm, cold voice said.
Rainbow and the Herald turned about, blinking.
"... ... ..." Seraphimus stared back at them.
Rainbow glanced at Ariel, then back at the former Talon Commander. "We... uh..." She cleared her throat. "...we take turns holding sentry posts at the large storage entrance to Darrkeach. Keep our eyes to the sky and search for incoming intruders."
Seraphimus' eyes narrowed. "Has the beast not proven to avoid ordinary mortal senses?" Her bound talons twisted in their manacles. "This facility possesses the technology to send out mana-poweres spheres that act as sentries. Undoubtedly they can be employed to patrol the perimeter and alert the HQ about encroaching threats—regardless of form or element."
Silence.
"Is..." Rainbow slowly turned about to look at Flynn. "...is that—like—a thing?"
"I... could definitely look into commandeering the Cylindrimanian tech," Flynn said, rubbing his bald head. "I can't promise it'll work... but it wouldn't hurt to try."
Seraphimus nodded, exhaled, and rested against the pipework once again.
More silence.
"Great!" Rainbow smiled awkwardly. "Uhhh..." A wave of the hoof. "What she said!"
"Uhm..." Fluttershy leaned into Rarity. "What's happening here?"
"I don't know," Rarity said, shaking her head. "But I suspect it can only be a good thing."
"Alright, my little partners!" Rainbow saluted, then briskly trotted off with purpose. "Let's get to work!"
"Woohoo!" Pinkie pumped a hoof. "Montage time!"
Twilight blinked at her. "Huh?"
"Heehee! Just watch!"