Whurrrrrrrrrrrr! Chtung!
The hatch to the top of the mesa slid open, revealing stars and twilight.
Kepler calmly shuffled towards the entrance. He dragged a chair with him in one talon while balancing the briefcase atop his curled scorpion tail.
The wyvern hummed calmly to himself as he sat down, facing the starlight. He balanced the briefcase on his lap, stuck a triangular crystal in, and cranked the recorder to life.
Bzzzzt!
Fluctuating lights.
Managlow.
Then...
"Brzzzzzzzttt—Achievement unlocked: access to expedition logs. This is the voice of he who would be Chief Engineer Ranort."
"Hmmmmmm..." Kepler took a calm sip from his canteen and smiled into the twilight as he listened. "Speak to me, ancient brrotherr."
"Expository statistic: It has been thirty blanketed solar rotations since we who would be the Verdestonian Expedition first settled here in the caves carved by he who would be Onyxxus. While alicorn magic has run out, the spiritual cogworks of Ring City have made themselves manifest to fill in the industrial gap. Emotional aside: I who would be called Ranort am satisfied so far with the work of my fellow brethren. Whether or not it will be enough to sustain us remains to be seen, for a candle must burn at full fuel to make even smallest spark in this forsaken wasteland."
Wildcard sat on the edge of his cot in the common room. He held his left limb out—or at least what remained of it.
Flynn, in the meantime, sat on an overturned bucket facing the griffin. With careful magical ministrations of his telekinesis, he attached numerous experimental metal bits and rings to the end of the Desperado's stub. The unicorn licked his lips, concentrating hard on his work as he sized up one structural piece after another. His mechanical lense went into overtime, rotating in and out as he attempted to concoct a mental blueprint of the new prosthetic-to-be.
Meanwhile, Logan marched up a nearby stairwell, hauling a metal crate full of rusted axes, spears, and hammers. He slapped the box down onto a table and pulled up a chair. With use of multiple sharpening stones, he inspected each weapon—one after another—and prepared to salvage what he could from the allotment. His deadpan gaze scoured the rest of the room until finally falling on the pipework opposite of the Verdestone mosaic.
Seraphimus sat calmly, munching on bleakweed as she looked at a series of parchments that had been laid on the floor before her mat. With her talons bound, she had to use her lion's tail like a prehensile limb, turning maps and ancient documents over so she could better ascertain the contents written therein.
Logan huffed and returned to his work with somber dedication.
"Labored observations: those who would be our scouts have found nothing remaining of the abandoned lunar colonies on Omega Side. It has been seven blanketed solar rotations since the last encounter with those who would be called Bloodwings.
"Prevailing theory: something of dire importance has made it more beneficial for those who would be called Bloodwings to relocate themselves elsewhere rather than perform counter-reconnaissance on that which would be the Verdestonian Expedition. Those who would be scouts believe the evidence discovered at abandoned sites suggest a swift migration Far Side.
"Personal observation: Nevertheless, she who would be Commander Gwen has taken it upon herself to issue her next few commands with more than a modicum of caution.
"Declarative statement: The latest briefing indicates that she who would be Commander Gwen has decided to send he who would be Lieutenant Warhol towards the Alpha Side to seek out more information on they who would be called the Spindlers."
Rainbow rubbed her pendant.
A ruby glow illuminated the old, rustling sheet of paper in Ariel's grasp.
Both mares hovered in place, studying the yellow'd map between them. They rotated it until the 'Omega' symbol was positioned in front of them.
Then, with calm breaths, they peered up from the parchment.
Below them stretched a sloping valley bathed in starlight. The cold earth was peppered with organic material: hundreds of thousands of overturned structures.
Rainbow looked to her side.
Fluttershy and the rest of the ghostly mares levitated nearby. The dainty pegasus looked back at Rainbow and gave a gentle nod.
Rainbow whistled, gestured to Ariel, and dove swiftly towards the ruined landscape. Ariel flew closely behind.
Soon, the two were within spitting distance of the earth. What they saw took their breaths away. The landscape was littered with the husks of tree trunks. The inner dense wood had been carved away with miraculous precision. All that remained was the bark, some of them still preserved in cylindrical fashion. Most of the husks had collapsed with time and age... and a thick sea of wood chips and mulch covered the stone floor beneath the ancient ruined forest.
Rainbow took a look at Twilight.
Twilight nodded back, confirming the sign of magical intervention from a time far-gone. Fluttershy—in the meantime—kept peering about for a hint of life that was still living.
Rarity gasped and gestured at Rainbow.
Rainbow jerked to look at her. Following the unicorn's motions, Rainbow flew over a mound of crumpled tree trunks... until she came upon the hints of a wooden shack.
Ariel's muzzle dropped. She looked on with intense fascination.
Rainbow was far calmer. With cautious steps, she approached the crooked one-story structure. Her pendant illuminated a doorframe bent under the weight of time. Peering in, she caught crates full of charred black stones. It didn't take long for Rainbow to figure out that they were ancient lunar rocks—their runes spent countless ages ago.
She pivoted about, her light illuminating a tattered velvet banner hanging from a wall above a set of rusted tools. She raised a hoof, lifting a torn length of the tapestry. Her pendant revealed the crest of Nightmare Moon, faded with time.
It was around this point that Fluttershy squeaked in a sound that was more curious than alarmed. Rainbow turned around, and her ruby eyes reflected something cold, blue, and glowing. Intrigued, she held a hoof directly over the lightning bolt of her pendant, blocking out the ruby light.
Indeed, there was a cluster of luminescent material situated in the very corner of the shack. While Rainbow looked on, Ariel crept closer. The pegasus reached a hoof out and tapped the bio-luminescent structures... which turned out to be nothing less than mushrooms. Toadstools. Concentration of fungae. The material dotting the mushrooms was alarmingly bright, and Ariel could see the sheen of her own mane in the glow. She turned to smile victoriously at Rainbow.
Rainbow exhaled warmly.
The first sign of life on the Dark Side.
It wasn't long before Ariel opened her saddlebag and began stuffing samples of the fungus into the pockets.