Rarity frowned at the jungle around her before realising that the faint red glow seeping through the dense foliage was the sunrise, not an imminent danger or hallucination. The pale light made it easier for her to move through the undergrowth without tumbling or stubbing her hooves against the rocks and rock-like tree roots. But it also illuminated her frazzled mane and dirt-stained fur.
"I was booked into a luxury spa," the designer muttered, longing for a couch to faint upon, "now look at me..."
Rook turned her head from where she was still leading their small rescue party, purple eyes finding Rarity in the morning light.
"No, don't look at me!" Rarity snapped, holding her right forehoof dramatically to her forehead while closing both eyes. “I look hideous!”
"Anypony ever tell you that you're a little overly dramatic?" Rook asked.
"Overly dramatic?" Rarity scoffed, "I am perfectly dramatic, thank you, darling."
"Of course," Rook gave a snort of laughter, "And you look fine, love. Very pretty."
"Love?"
"You say daring, I say love," Rook shrugged.
"Fair enough. And you think I'm pretty? I didn't realise you were a connoisseur of the feminine form?" Rarity replied with the faintest flutter of her extended eyelashes.
"Well, I don't find any ponies physically attractive, if that's what you mean," Rook tilted her head to the side as she thought, "But I know what's considered desirable and you certainly fall within that category. Despite the messy mane and the layer of sweat... or perhaps more so... depending on personal taste, love."
"Well, thank you, darling," Rarity's lips curled into a subtle smile, "And you don't find any ponies attractive? No preferences at all?"
"Nope. Never have, probably never will," Rook shrugged again, "They're just not my cup of tea."
"You're ace? Or do you like any... other creatures?" Rarity asked hesitantly, unsure if it was an impolite question.
"No other creatures, not physically," Rook shook her head, "Do you have any preferences?"
"I am attracted to ponies," the designer pouted as she mulled the idea in her mind, "Although I've spent very little time around other creatures, so who knows? Maybe I'll cross paths with a rich, eligible griffin someday and fall hopelessly in love. But even with ponies, I've never made the leap from having a crush on somepony to actually dating them. The curse of having high standards, I guess."
"Sounds like you're open minded, but with very exacting tastes."
"That describes me perfectly in every aspect of my life," Rarity nodded before frowning, "You know, we've been traveling together for hours and I still know nothing about you. Just that you're possibly ace and come from one of those islands around Trottingham. Probably Cartshire, if I had to guess."
"You know I'm from Cartshire?"
"I have a good ear for accents, darling," Rarity smiled as her ears flicked forward for emphasis. "And before you say anything, I'm aware that my own accent isn't normal. Or, to be precise, it is several centuries extinct."
"So, that's not how most ponies talk in your hometown?" Rook smiled, "There must be a story behind that."
"I am unique in Ponyville. Perhaps unique in all of Equestria," The white unicorn gestured theatrically to herself. "But there's not much to the story. I'm just a filly chasing a dream. I tried to reinvent myself at fashion design camp when I was younger. I doubled down on the voice when I moved away to make it in the big city, only to return home with my tail between my legs. And the accent has remained now I'm working hard to start my own fashion label from my hometown."
“So you design fashion and have a side job as part of the emergency response volunteers and town militia?" Rook asked.
"An unpaid, unofficial extra job, yes," Rarity sighed, "How about you, Rook, why are you so far from Cartshire?"
"It's fairly simple," Rook’s sigh echoed the designer’s. Removing her hat, she brushed back a wave of mauve coloured mane, "I had a falling out with my family, so I left."
"A falling out?"
"They wanted me to work in the family business and I didn't. The situation escalated," Rook gave a sad shrug. "Such is life."
"I'm sorry, darling," Rarity quickened her pace so she could put a forehoof on the lawpony's shoulder, "There was some stress and confusion when I first told my parents I wasn't going to be following in their hoofsteps, but thankfully we were able to work through it. I'm so sorry to hear that you weren't so fortunate."
"Well, this wasn't the kind of disagreement that could be worked through," Rook sighed, "But thank you. After leaving the... after leaving home, I traveled the world to experience new things and find where I belonged. It wasn't until very recently that I ended up in Green Lake."
"And how recently did you become the deputy? Because I assume it was during the brief minutes between my first walking into the Sheriff's office and you finding me in the market square," Rarity raised a dainty eyebrow.
"Pardon me?" Rook stammered, coming to a stop as she turned to look at Rarity.
"I know you're not really the deputy," Rarity smiled, "I've suspected for a while and I don't think perpetuating the charade benefits us, darling."
Rook groaned, "What gave me away?"
"Lots of little details. But most recently it was your hat, Rook. It is identical to the one the Sheriff was wearing and it is too big for you. And when you removed it just now, I noticed silver mane hairs inside. So, either you really are a deputy, but you share a chapeau with the Sheriff… or you're a criminal who escaped and stole the sheriff's hat," she rolled her eyes at the other pony's open mouth, "I told you, darling, I'm good with details."
"Fine, I'm not really the deputy," Rook admitted, taking off the sheriff's hat and dropping it in the mud, "I'm an escaped thief. So, where does that leave us?"
"Exactly where we were before," Rarity shrugged, "You're the only pony from town who volunteered to help rescue Indigo. As long as you uphold your end of the bargain, I'm not too concerned whether you're a thief or a deputy."
"That is very... pragmatic of you," Rook tilted her head to the side, studying the designer.
"You'd be surprised by the number of ponies who don't realise how practical I can be," Rarity smiled again, "Besides, if my judgement is wrong and you turn out to be a bandit who's lured me out into the jungle for nefarious reasons... Well, I will absolutely make you suffer for such a betrayal of trust."
Rook swallowed hard, her purple eyes never leaving Rarity's steely blue glare, "I believe you."
"As well you should, darling," Rarity nodded, "Now, if we could get moving again? We have a pony to rescue and time is off the essence."
Indigo's mechanical voice hissed in complaint as the rising sun finally peeked over the tents and junk to hit her directly. Scrambling back from the holes in the airship wall, she waited for her goggles to adjust to the brightness before grabbing a box of fabric scraps and wrapping them around the damaged sections of her overalls.
Once every strand of the fur beneath had been covered, she took a deep breath and stepped back into the daylight.
"Should've asked for more overalls," the tinkerer muttered to herself as she bent down to reassemble the cables and rods that should've connected the main engine to the rest of the ship.
Working through the night, she'd removed most of what couldn't be salvaged and made some sense of what was left. But there was still a huge amount of work to be done before the airship would fly.
More work than one pony could manage before the deadline.
Tilting her head to the side, she debated replacing the central power converter with a more modern equivalent. Or modifying what was already there to interact with modern forms of magical energy storage. Neither choice was guaranteed to work and risked ruining the remaining pre-equestrian technology across the rest of the ship. But she needed to start cutting corners somewhere.
Indigo was still in thought when she heard the sound of an approaching airship.
Peering through one of the holes in the wall, Indigo watched as Sapper returned, skimming over the treetops, the gondola almost overflowing with parts and components. The tinkerer didn't want to think about how the bandit had acquired her haul of technology, but it looked like she'd got almost everything that'd been requested.
"I've returned, bearing gifts!" Sapper called down as the small airship passed over Red's tent in the centre of the camp to land among the piles of junk.
The bandits that'd been standing guard remained where they were when the gondola touched the ground. Nopony seemed interested in helping unload the supplies.
"I couldn't get the compressors or power couplings that you wanted," Sapper called before hopping down from the pilot's platform, "So, I hope you've thought of a way around those problems while I've been gone."
"Yeah," Indigo whispered with a brief nod as she headed out the airship to inspect the delivery. Most of what she saw was old, battered machinery that'd probably been taken from abandoned logging camps, mines and river boats. But it was better than what she'd started with, "I can work with this."
"Great," Sapper grinned, proudly patting her haul of junk, ”Let me know if you need an extra set of hooves."
Indigo hesitated.
The bandits were terrifying. Individually, they were just ponies, but they carried weapons and seemed to have no problem hurting or even killing to get what they wanted. And she didn't have good memories of working with others even before being kidnapped.
But she couldn't fix the airship alone. Not before the time ran out.
"I... could use an extra set of hooves. Please," She said, her voice straining.
"Sure," Sapper shrugged, following the tinkerer back inside the larger airship, "But I'll warn you, all this mechanical and magical stuff is beyond me."
"Where do you think you're going?" Zap barked, his armoured forehooves sparking as he stepped away from where he was standing guard, stomping at the ground. "That's against the rules!"
Indigo stopped moving. Her legs trembled as she lowered her head and hoped the shouting would stop.
"Rules?" Sapper scoffed, standing tall and frowning at the other bandit,"Since when do we have rules?"
"The engineer has to fix the ship by herself!" Zap growled defiantly.
"That's ridiculous" Sapper's frown deepened as she shuffled so the grenades slung over her shoulders were easier to grasp. "Who cares how much help she gets, so long as the airship gets fixed?"
Indigo's goggles cycled shut so she couldn't see. Although the last thing she saw was Sapper taking a step in front of her to stand between the tinkerer and Zap.
"It's more fun to watch her squirm alone," Zap insisted. "That's part of the game."
"Don't you want the airship completed?" Sapper shook her head, "Isn't that the whole point of us being here?"
Zap took another step toward Sapper, his electrified hoof-armour crackling constantly.
"Enough!" A deep voice boomed as Red stepped out of his tent to glare at the arguing bandits, "As much as I enjoy making ponies squirm, Sapper has a point. Fixing the airship is more important than toying with our engineer. Fixing the airship is everything. understood?"
"But, you said-"
"Let Sapper help. Is that understood?" Red repeated with a stomp of his hoof and a scarlet spark of magic from his horn.
"Understood," Zap nodded reluctantly.
"Good," The bandit leader turned to stare at everypony present before trotting back into his tent.
"Let's get to work," Sapper said with a shrug, heading back up the ramp into the airship, "No idea what that drama was all about."
Indigo followed the bandit, being careful not to look back toward the others. She had a feeling that she knew what the drama was about. Zap cared more about the torture and killing than the airship.
Stepping through the open doorway, the tinkerer hoped her legs would stop shaking soon. Because she really needed to finish her work.
"And you're certain we're heading in the right direction?" Rarity asked, forcing her way through the endless rows of branches and thick leaves that felt as heavy as lead.
"Yes," Rook nodded, "We're going the right way, but I can't tell how much further it'll be. My tracking sense doesn't work like that."
"Hopefully we'll find Indigo before night falls again," Rarity sighed, "The thought of that poor filly surrounded by beastly bandits for a whole day..." the designer shuddered.
"From what you said, it sounds like these kidnappers need her to repair or build something," Rook said with forced reassurance, "She'll be safe until they don't need her help any more. That should give us time to reach them."
"It should," Rarity nodded, "But it's not guaranteed."
"Well, we've reached the trade road at least," Rook announced, pushing aside more undergrowth to reveal a dirt track cut through the jungle.
The road wasn't perfectly straight, it weaved around the bigger trees and less stable ground, but it was lined with warding stones and seemed to be in fairly regular use. It was the first sign of civilisation in hours and at the very least, Rarity appreciated being able to see the sky instead of the endless canopy of green.
"Any sign of an inn or passing trade caravan?" Rarity asked, trotting onto the road and taking a moment to catch her breath.
“I’ll check," Rook replied as she trotted over to the nearest ward stone, "If the symbols engraved on this marker are to be believed, we're another three hours trot from the nearest inn."
“We cant waste that much time,” Rarity shook her head before closing her eyes and allowing her horn to glow softly.
"What are you doing?"
"Quiet, darling," Rarity waved a dismissive hoof as she turned her head from side to side, "I'm concentrating."
Rook frowned, but remained silent as Rarity continued to sway back and forth, the glowing horn leaving a faint trail through the air.
"There, found something," Rarity opened her eyes and smiled as she pointed along the track, "There's a trader in this direction. They're not that far and they're heading toward us, so the detour won't be too big if we meet them halfway. And as much as I hate delaying our journey at all, we're not going to be much of a rescue party if we're starving and dehydrated."
"How..." Rook's frown deepened, "Do you have the bloodhound trait?"
"Just an affinity for finding gemstones," Rarity explained before glancing back at her cutiemark, "It's my special talent. And as it happens, the trader is hauling gems."
"Gems? You can sense gems?" Rook's frown twisted into a broad grin, "You would make such an awesome thief."
"I would never dream of such a thing," Rarity gasped, "My talent makes me a somewhat successful prospector. And it's rather useful as I incorporate gemstones in my fashion design... although, I'm afraid to say that at the moment I make more bits selling unwanted stones than from dress-making," the designer sighed.
"At least you've got some money coming in," Rook said as Rarity began to lead the way down the trail, "There were times when I was literally starving and penniless. Having the ability to uncover gems would've been useful."
"I don't mean to sound ungrateful, darling," Rarity replied hastily. "I'm very fond of my special talent. But digging in the dirt isn't what I dreamed when I first set out to become a fashion designer."
"I can see how those two situations would seem diametrically opposed," Rook nodded.
"You have a curiously sophisticated lexicon for a thief," Rarity observed.
"I'm multifaceted," Rook grinned before falling back into a comfortable silence as they traveled.
Rarity shook her head and was about to respond when they spotted the trader around the curve of the road. First they noticed the faint trail of smoke from a magical engine, followed by a steam engine dragging two metal carriages.
Three ponies sat upon the engine, one driver and two guards. The driver frowned, hitting a pair of levers to slow the vehicle as they approached the two mares trotting toward them. The earth pony guard reached for a spear which hooked onto her armoured foreleg while the unicorn guard ignited his horn.
Rarity quickly hid her frown, turning it into a warm smile while her mind raced. She'd never seen armed guards with a trade caravan before. Not around Ponyville. But she'd never seen bandits around Ponyville either, so the designer guessed it made sense that travellers would need more protection in the jungle.
She wished she'd known that before booking her vacation.
"Good morning," Rarity called, waving a forehoof, "We're short of food, water and wake-up juice and were hoping you'd be willing to trade?"
The three ponies exchanged confused looks and whispered hurriedly among themselves before the earth pony guard turned her pink eyes toward the pair of disheveled travellers.
"You're in the middle of the jungle, without food?" The guard called as the distance between the groups slowly diminished.
"We charged off to rescue a kidnapped pony and didn't think about our supplies until we were already traveling," Rarity explained as the traders finally came to a halt a few body-lengths away from them.
"I thought about it. I just assumed you had food and water with you," Rook frowned.
"You're not helping, darling," Rarity shook her head before looking back to the trio, "So, do you have spare provisions? We're more than happy to pay."
"A kidnapped pony?" The driver asked as the guards studied them cautiously.
"Indigo, a tinkerer from the town of Green Lake has been kidnapped by bandits," Rarity explained, failing to keep the fear from her voice.
The earth pony guard lowered her weapon as the unicorn's horn went dark. The trio shared a sad, knowing look before the driver started rummaging through a storage compartment beside them.
"I keep telling the Rangers that this region needs more protection," The unicorn guard sighed, "We didn't used to have two armed ponies traveling with every trade caravan, but these days it's essential if you want to reach the coast without being robbed."
"Brigands and thieves are a constant problem," Rarity agreed as Rook stifled an indignant snort, “And I am sorry to be rude, but if you could spare some supplies, we do need to keep moving."
"Of course," The driver said, lifting a bag out of the box beside them and holding it toward Rarity who grabbed it in her magical field, “Food, water and some wake-up juice. We'll update the Rangers when we reach the next town, but even if we abandoned the caravan and started galloping, we're a long way from the next Ranger Station."
"And we can't abandon the caravan," the earth pony guard added.
"We understand," Rarity gave the trio a thin smile as she pulled a coin purse from her saddlebag, "How much do we owe you?"
“It’s free," the driver replied quickly, "They're emergency rations and this is an emergency."
"Well then," Rarity's smile grew warmer as she put her coins away, "Your generosity is appreciated. Thank you for the help, but we really do need to get moving again."
"Yeah, thanks," Rook gave the trio a brief wave before turning to lead the way into the jungle again.
As they disappeared into the undergrowth, Rarity removed a thick biscuit from the supplies and took a bite.
"I like to think I have a refined pallet, but food never tastes so sweet as when you really need it," the designer said before taking another mouthful.
"Ain't that the truth," Rook nodded.
"Would you like some?"
"I'm not hungry yet," the thief shook her head, "I ate before we left and it was a rather substantial meal. So… does your talent let you know how many gems were in those carriages?"
"Yes," Rarity nodded, "Both carriages were stuffed full. Although they're all industrial and academic grade stones. The kind used to store magical power and enchantments. Not the sort of rocks I'm interested in. Why, were you planning on robbing them?"
"Of course not. That's way too many stones for me to fit inside my cloak," Rook shook her head, "I specialise in taking prized artefacts from rich idiots who love their possessions more than they love other ponies. It's more satisfying that way."
"So, you rob ponies to teach them a moral lesson about avarice? That seems somewhat... contradictory, darling."
"I never said it was a great philosophy," Rook shrugged, "It's just how I operate, love."
Indigo glanced up as she lay on the uneven floor, her goggles focusing on Sapper as the bandit held a heavy piece of machinery in place as the tinkerer worked beneath it. The earth pony's muscles were tight and her fur glistened with sweat, but she held the engine-part perfectly still between her hooves.
"You're staring," Sapper observed with none of the aggression or bravado that her voice usually held.
"Do you need to rest?" the tinkerer asked, "Pony bodies are fragile machines. I don't want you hurting yourself. Or dropping that on me."
"Trust me. I’m good with metal," The bandit grinned, "and I'm not even close to my limits."
Indigo nodded before sliding deeper under the heavy machinery to realign a series of crystals inside the device. If Sapper dropped the metal block while she was beneath, it could easily split the tinkerer's skull. But if metal was part of the bandit's special talent, then Indigo had to trust she knew what she was doing.
Not that she was in a position to stop working, no matter how dangerous it was.
"Tilt to your right," Indigo's mechanical voice instructed, "I need to restore one of the engraved crystals."
"No problem," Sapper replied, rotating the machinery to the side as the tinkerer twisted to look deeper inside the ancient technology.
Sparks flashed from under the machinery followed by the distinctive scent of crystals being engraved. The bandit held the metal block steady while leaning forward to peer through the gaps in the framework. After a few twists, she spotted a row of engraved gemstones near the centre and watched as the ancient runes became distorted with new energy.
"How do you work on the stones?" Sapper asked, her eyes narrowing as she tried to follow the faint changes in the glowing crystals. "That's all unicorn magic. The best I could do was replace damaged stones with already enchanted ones and hope the spells were compatible. And most of the time they'd just explode"
"I am a unicorn."
Indigo's goggles twisted into what Sapper now recognised as a frown before the tinkerer finished what she was doing and slid out from under the device.
"You can lower it now, but I want to test the mechanism before you bolt it into place," Indigo explained.
Sapper grunted as she placed the metal block on the airship deck before wiping sweat from her brow and finally turning to the tinkerer.
"You're a unicorn?" the bandit raised an eyebrow, "I'm not an expert, but you seem to be lacking the defining unicorn trait."
Glancing at the sunlight pouring in through the doorway, Indigo took a step toward the earth pony and tapped her own forehead just above the goggles.
Sapper listened to the distinctive thud before reaching up to cautiously touch the fabric mask covering Indigo's head.
"A broken horn?" her eyes opened wide, "snapped off at the base."
The tinkerer nodded as she crouched to test the device they'd been working on.
"Fragile horn, eyes and body covered from tip to hooves..." Sapper bit her lower lip as she struggled to remember, "You have Polledic syndrome?"
"I've never been diagnosed, but yes. I can still project my magical field to hold objects or work enchantments. My range is just incredibly limited," Indigo nodded to a large gear on the side of the machine, “Please turn this clockwise for me while I check the mechanism."
Placing her forehooves against the gear, Sapper started turning. "I learned about Polledic syndrome in history classed. I wasn't the best student, but I'm sure they found a treatment for that illness a century ago.”
“A potion. A simple potion taken during puberty. It’s not a cure, but it reduces the light sensitivity and horn brittleness to manageable levels.”
“Yeah, that sounds right,” Sapper nodded, “I've always been into potions, so I’m pretty sure this one was created by unicorns and zebras. Two completely different styles of potion making, working together to make something that neither could create on their own."
Indigo nodded along silently as she studied the machinery. After a moment she stood up again.
"You can fix this one in place. It functions well enough," The tinkerer explained, turning to the next repair job. Dismantling some of the moving parts, her magical field almost invisible apart from faint sparkles as she whispered, “I read about the treatment recently. My… community didn't believe in modern medicine or modern technology. They didn't get me diagnosed or treated."
"A century ago isn't modern," Sapper snorted as she bolted the machinery into place using a tool that hooked onto her hoof-armour.
“Its modern to my community," indigo's mechanical voice continued at a whisper. "They believe in their hearts, in their souls, that two centuries ago was the cut off point between the pure, natural, holy practices of the past and sinful, corrupting modern vulgarity."
"So, they were a weird cult?" Sapper shook her head, "The kind of monsters who knew you were suffering, but just ignored it?"
Indigo hesitated, her mechanical voice box buzzing as words caught in her throat. She hadn't talked about her past in years, not since she'd left it all behind. But talking was distracting her from the violent criminals outside the airship.
And the more they talked, the less she thought about Sapper being one of the bandits.
"No, they didn't just ignore it, they treated me as a freak, an abomination, as if I was unclean," The tinkerer's voice trembled and the device around her neck hissed as if the machine was sharing her pain, "I was weak and that weakness was a sign of my failure. And it only got worse after I took an interest in technology. You can imagine the technophobes weren't fond of that."
"That's rough," Sapper groaned before thumping a bolt into place with more force than it needed, "How did you even develop an interest in machinery when you were cut off from modern devices?"
"The older I got, the more I strayed away from the village. They punished me for disappearing, for spending time outside of the community. But I was being punished anyway, whether I'd broken the rules or not, so getting time away from everypony else was worth the consequences." Indigo sighed and her mechanical voice somehow conveyed the emotional struggle despite the limited range of the device. "One day I trotted further than I'd ever gone before, to the top of the highest hill in the region. In the valley beyond I saw a train track for the first time and a locomotive traveling along it. That moment changed everything for me. The sight of something so intricate, so powerful and so beyond anything my community had ever imagined. That's when I knew what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. And that's when the community moved from their previous discipline and neglect to more... forceful punishments."
"I'm so sorry to hear that," Sapper shuddered, "I thought I had a bad family, but that's unbelievable. At least you got away from them.”
"I'm not sure that being kidnapped by murderous bandits is much of an improvement," the tinkerer said, not looking up from the machinery she was working on.
"Murderous?" Sapper frowned.
“Enough talking,” Red’s voice barked as the bandit leader entered the airship, his gaze drifting across the dismantled machinery that covered almost every surface, “You’re halfway to the deadline, so I thought i’d check on your progress. See if I need to prepare for a celebration or a funeral.”