"Sapper, go get breakfast, I'll keep an eye on the engineer while you're gone," Red instructed.
"Sure," The bandit mare shrugged before heading down the ramp and toward one of the tents inside the walled camp.
Indigo could smell the cooked food and hear the muffled sounds of chatter as the bandit gang ate their morning meal. Only Zap remained on guard, watching her from outside the main tent as Red picked his way through the interior of the airship.
The craft wasn't as big as some modern flying machines, it was no luxury cruise ship or an aristocrat's yacht. But the main storage room and gun deck could fit a dozen ponies when it wasn't filled with half-dismantled machinery and an assortment of random junk that Red had to carefully work around.
"So disorganised," the bandit leader shook his head as he examined a wrecked cannon in the pale, orange light of the newly raised sun.
Indigo shuffled anxiously on her grease-caked hooves. Her cutiemark helped her work tirelessly when building and repairing, but she was still feeling the effects of pulling an all-nighter while flooded with fear-induced adrenaline. Consequently, the tinkerer was struggling to stay upright as Red continued his inspection. She needed to get back to work or she'd collapse.
Leaning against a patchwork wall for support, Indigo tried to focus on the machinery around her, planning out the next stage of repairs as Red continued to make his way around the airship interior.
“Your time is half over. Are you still feeling confident?” Red asked, his expression disconcertingly cheerful as he stared down at the engineer from the steps up to the flight deck.
“Um, yes,” Indigo nodded, looking up but not meeting Red's gaze as the bandit leader stepped closer, “I’ll repair this airship within the day. And then you’ll let me live?” she asked hesitantly.
“Of course,” Red nodded but his fake smile remained unchanging, “I’ll honour my side of the deal, assuming you uphold yours.” His eyes scanned the engines and the rest of the trashed room in the soft morning light, “Although it doesn’t look like you’ve made much progress so far. If you've made the situation worse, I will take great pleasure in letting Zap do whatever he likes with you.”
Indigo's trembling head darted from side to side as she surveyed the half-dismantled airship around them. With her legs threatening to collapse beneath her, she trotted toward a glowing panel on the rear wall.
“Function is more important than appearances,” the tinkerer replied, reaching up to a crude lever and dragging it down with her covered hoof.
The machinery protested at first, clunking and groaning before finally growling into life as enchanted crystals vibrated beneath the metal surface. The lights above them flickered before glowing steadily, illuminating the airship interior as the sound settled down to a gentle hum.
“You fixed the engines?” Red gasped, unable to hide his pleasure.
The bandit leader rushed to the back of the ship and frowned when he saw the main engine silent and the crystals inside dark.
“I fixed the auxiliary power unit,” Indigo corrected, continuing hurriedly when Red turned to glare at her, “But I’ve almost got the engine working. After that I just need to fix the controls, navigation and... weapons. Like I said, I’ll have the airship working before the deadline,” she added in the desperate hope that the bandit leader would uphold his end of the deal.
"I believe you might actually manage it," Red nodded, still examining every piece of machinery around them. "I was skeptical when the archaeologists pointed us toward you, a random, unqualified tinkerer in an insignificant little town. But they were right, you do know your way around pre-Equestrian technology."
Indigo felt her racing heart turn cold at the thought that she'd developed a good reputation with the academics at the various dig sites. And that reputation was what got her in trouble.
It seemed that problems found her no matter how much she hid or displayed her talent.
The bandit leader couldn't see her pained expression beneath the mask she wore. And he wouldn't have cared even if he could
“Keep up the good work, engineer,” Red said, his genuine smile returning to its usual, fake, twisted grin, "Your success will be rewarded. But remember that failure will be harshly punished."
Indigo forced herself to nod in silence as the bandit took a final look around before heading down the ramp out of the airship. When he was out of sight, she finally forced herself to breathe slowly until her hooves stopped shaking.
“Making progress,” she muttered under her breath as she picked up her tools and began to reassemble the main engine components.
Her hooves were deep inside the device, trying to realign the power source with the repaired focusing crystals when she heard Red's voice booming outside the airship. Broken metal walls distorted the sound, but she still understood the words and heard every drop of greed and evil pouring off of them.
“Good morning, friends!” the bandit leader called to the rest of the gang as they emerged from the food tent. "I have wonderful news. The warship is nearing completion!"
The ground rocked and the walls trembled as bandits chanted and stomped their hooves. Indigo noted that the group enjoyed making noise. Loud, violent noise.
“For too long the world has looked down on us!” Red continued to walk through the crowd, placing a forehoof on each bandit’s shoulder as he passed. “We were all cast out by society, by those who couldn’t see our greatness. Well, tonight, we will make them see! We will make them suffer! We will become legends and everypony who dared look down on us will cower in fear!”
The bandits cries of triumph were almost deafening and Indigo was sure the vibrations would cause the junk piles to collapse around her.
“So, prepare yourselves, my friends!” Red continued, standing in front of his tent and addressing the whole camp as one, “For tonight we claim our destiny!”
Indigo watched as Red turned around and made eye contact with her, grinning viciously before he disappeared inside.
“Great,” Indigo muttered, quickly returning her attention to the engine and redoubling her efforts, “Just perfect…”
Rarity stumbled as she continued to follow Rook through the jungle. She was stubbing her hooves and knocking her shoulders with even greater frequency despite sunlight bathing the world around her in a warm glow.
The wake-up juice had done its job and she no longer felt like she would fall asleep the moment her hooves stopped moving. But the invigorating drink left her somewhat twitchy, lacking some of the grace and control she usually strived for, which was why she didn't like to rely on the stuff while designing.
"Beastly jungle!" Rarity muttered under her breath as her right forehoof twisted unexpectedly, sending her staggering into a thick tree trunk. "I've picked up more bruises from the flora than the fauna!"
"It's not the easiest terrain to traverse," Rook nodded, "I'm finding the heat worse than the wildlife, it feels like I'm drowning in sweat."
The designer looked ahead to find no sign of perspiration on the other pony. She hadn't seen a drop on the violet unicorn the entire time they'd been traveling together. Although, she guessed it could be hidden beneath the dark traveling cloak and the thief somehow didn't sweat on her face or legs.
"As you say," Rarity sighed, trying not to think about the weight of perspiration soaking through her own fur, "At least we haven't seen any monsters for a while."
“Maybe, but that won't last forever” Rook nodded, keeping her eyes on the uneven ground. “The numbers will likely pick up again as we move further from the roads. I don't know how those ward stones work, but they do discourage the more dangerous creatures from getting too close. There are some pretty nasty monsters in the jungle.”
“Nastier than the vampire-wyrms or armoured-boars?” Rarity gasped before frowning at herself. She knew there were worse creatures in the Everfree forest, why wouldn't they be just as bad in the jungle.
“There are creatures out here that make those things look like new-born kittens,” Rook replied.
Rarity's expression suddenly shifted and she almost snorted with joy before suppressing the display into a warm smile, “I recently acquired a kitten myself. She is the most darling little creature... although she is prone to biting and scratching and general violent behaviour.”
"Just like her owner then?"
"I am not... I reserve violence for when the situation truly calls for it," Rarity insisted. "Opalescence seems to default to lashing out."
"Then why did you choose her as a pet?" Rook asked with a subtle smile, "You must've spent time with her beforehoof, got a sense for her personality. You would've known she was a feisty little thing."
"Yes, well," Rarity frowned before tossing her hair and shrugging, "You are not incorrect in your assumption. I couldn't imagine having a pet that wasn't beautifully elegant and at least a little bit aggressive... and that does... reflect an aspect of my personality."
Rook’s head tilted to the side, ”I met you while you've been trying to rescue a kidnapped pony and I've never seen you in your day to day life, so, this might not be a fair assessment. But you seem incredibly comfortable being aggressively violent, love."
The designer trotted in silence for a moment, her eyes focused on the ground under-hoof while she tried to think of an answer. She hadn't really thought about how comfortable she was with violence in years, not since her time at fashion camp. The other campers had made no secret that they found her presence unappealing while inspiring violent thoughts more than any other time in her life.
"I will admit this is not representative of my general demeanour," Rarity said, her slightly tangled hair bobbing as she tilted her head from left to right, "I don't spend most days exhausted, hungry and fighting monsters in the company of a thief who seems remarkably reluctant to help out in battle."
"I help... I just don't charge in head first like you," Rook stuck her tongue out at the designer who rolled her eyes.
Rarity found herself strangely trusting of the thief. Despite Rook's criminal activities and the fact she lied to her about being a deputy, she had a feeling that the other pony could be relied upon... just not in the same way she trusted Applejack.
There was something familiar about somepony who trusted her completely in a fight. Trusted her enough to not need to be at her side every moment.
"Well, let's just say that most of my friends back home would be charging in with me," Rarity observed.
"I can see why you get along with them. But we're all unique creatures," Rook shrugged, "and this isn't normal for me, either. I'm more of a lone wolf, not interacting with ponies unless I need to. I don't really do fighting side by side or friendships. But chatting with you these few hours has been... unexpectedly enjoyable. I'm... sorry if I'm not great at team work."
"You're fine, darling," Rarity replied instinctively before adding, "Well, we're fine now that we've figured out the details of our dynamic. As you said, we're all unique and we don't all work together in the same way. Life would be rather dull if we did."
"I..." Rook paused, her lips pursing as she thought, "I guess we're both kind of strange in or own ways. And if you can live with a cat then working with me can't be that much more challenging."
"If you want to compare yourself to Opalescence, then as long as you don't bring me dead little animals as a gift, you're doing well."
Indigo worked furiously. The denim fabric covering her forelegs was becoming more ragged. Each ray of sunlight through the holes in the wall was like fire against her exposed fur and the vulnerable skin beneath. She didn't have time to patch the overalls or even strap more bandages over the rips. The pain just had to be endured.
The bandits had eaten lunch and she could still smell the aroma of roasted vegetables and flat bread. It made her already grumbling stomach protest louder, but eating was something else she didn't have time for. And even if she did, she couldn't trust Zap not to poison her food for fun. It seemed like the sort of cruelty the bandit would enjoy.
Making an airship fly wasn't an easy task, especially an armoured airship carrying heavy weapons. And with the exception of the gas-filled balloons, everything from the pre-Equestrian era worked differently to modern magical technology.
Gravity defying devices from over a thousand years ago weren't happy working with newer equipment and it was a miracle that any of the ancient crystals still retained their enchantments. Indigo was starting to suspect that the gems had been grown around the spells rather than the magic being placed on the rock after it had grown.
Even if everything had been new and easy to fix, the shear number of damaged components was staggering. The tinkerer wondered if it would be quicker to build an entirely new airship from scratch.
Aching hooves fixed a series of gears into place, trying to realign everything on instinct while Sapper held the heavy metal equipment in place.
"Done," Indigo nodded, releasing the gears and wiping her grease-stained hooves on the sides of her grease-stained overalls. "It won't run smoothly, but it'll run."
"Another section complete!" Sapper grinned as she bolted the repaired component into place, "How close are we to having this baby finished?"
"It will be done before the deadline," Indigo nodded, moving to the next task and grunting as she bent down to reach inside the damaged machinery, "We won't have time to test everything and there are so many patchwork repairs that’ll need to be redone with better equipment. But in theory it’ll work.”
“Do you think we’re getting closer?” Rarity asked, brushing a wave of tangled purple mane from her eyes and trying not to think about her appearance.
“Yes,” Rook nodded, “their airship can only go so far without refuelling and we aren't near to any refuelling stations. So, they can’t be that far away.”
“Wonderful!’ Rarity's grin quickly turned to a frown, “And what if they were carrying spare fuel with them? Or steal it from the convoys of energy crystals we know are transported through the jungle?”
“I'm... fairly certain they haven't” Rook frowned, “but it is possible they're halfway across the continent now and we'll never catch them on hoof.”
"I really wish we'd thought this through before we started."
"In our defence, neither of us has ever been part of a rescue party before. I'm a thief, you're a fashion designer. This isn't exactly our area of expertise, love,” Rook shook her head, "If you want to be angry with anyone, I'd focus on the sheriff. This is exactly the sort of thing he should've been taking care of."
"Yes, well, I'm afraid I still feel responsible" Rarity's frown deepened.
Indigo grunted as the final power transfer rod was welded into place. They'd lost a lot of efficiency in rigging together the damaged technology, but she was confident it would work well enough to get the ship into the air.
That was true of every repair she'd made. The original pre-Equestrian design had been elegant, intricate and far more detailed than modern airships.
In flight the heavily armoured craft would’ve been faster and more manoeuvrable than the sleekest of current designs. But fixing every little flap, wing, propeller and gravity distorter would be impossible with or without the deadline. Most of the magic and technology it was based on didn't exist anymore. So Indigo had jury-rigged everything. Bypassing most of the more complicated systems with simpler workarounds.
When the repaired ship got into the air, it would fly like a brick. A brick with rudimentary and poorly calibrated controls.
But it would fly.
Which meant Indigo had just a couple of hours to fulfil the final piece of her bargain, repairing the weapons. She would've much preferred using that time to test the work she'd already done, but Red was very insistent. The weapons needed to work.
Her hooves trembled and the knot of anxiety in her stomach was strong enough to drown out the pain from her exposed, silver fur which burned in the sunlight.
"So, what do you need me to do?" Sapper asked after a moment of silently watching Indigo stare at the armaments. In the time they'd been working on the repairs together, she hadn't seen the tinkerer pause for more than a couple of seconds. "You... you alright?"
"Why are we doing this," Indigo whispered, her artificial voicebox hissing with pain, "Why are you doing this? Why are you with these bandits?"
"Because I owe them," Sapper shrugged, "Because they saved me."
"It can't be worth this," Indigo replied bitterly, "Working with thieves and murderers."
"They're not murderers," Sapper shrugged again, "They're just acting tough to intimidate. They wouldn't hurt anypony, not seriously. And if you knew what my life was like before, you'd see how much better this is."
"What was it like before?" Indigo asked, reluctantly kneeling to examine the most intact weapon, "You said your family was bad? Bad enough to justify all this?"
Sapper groaned before bending down to help dismantle the magical cannon. Taking apart the metal casing, she watched as the tinkerer manipulated the crystals and machinery inside with her almost invisible field.
"I'm from Canterlot," Sapper explained quietly, anger and pain tightening her words, "and my parents are a fairly well known artist and musician. I don't know if it's because they're Earth Ponies surrounded by unicorns, or something else, but they both have an obsession with appearing high class and respectable."
Indigo nodded. If there was one thing she understood apart from magical technology, it was obsessive parents.
"I always hated that. The social climbing... it was weak, desperate and pointless to me and I grew more rebellious as I got older. And the more I pulled away, the more they wanted me to obey, to be just like them, to help them look better," Sapper looked back to the mark on her flank, half-hidden by smudges of grease. "The final straw was when I got my cutiemark for chemicals and metal. What’s wrong with chemicals and metal? They’re perfectly useful talents. It should've been the happiest moment in my life, but my mark wasn't elite and high class, not in my parents eyes. Potions and metalwork are not for a pony at the top of Canterlot society."
"My parents hated my mark too," Indigo nodded again as she finished restoring the enchantments and began work on the mechanical aspects of the weapon.
“Well, unlike yours, mine didn't... try to beat it out of me," Sapper continued hesitantly, "That wouldn't reflect well on them. So they... sent me away to what's officially called a life guidance and focus retreat where they help guide fillies and colts who don't understand their marks. But most ponies think of it as cutiemark correction camp. Where they try to force young ponies away from what their mark represents."
"But the marks are a manifestation of your soul!" Indigo yelped as much as her artificial voice would allow. "You can't change it or how you connect with it."
"I'm afraid that you can, it's just... really bad for the ponies who go through it," the bandit's hooves trembled as she held a metal coil in place for the tinkerer, "I didn't know what to do. I'd never left the city before and I found myself trapped on a train heading to my worst nightmare. I sort of... stumbled into escaping.”
“What happened?”
“Red’s bandits attacked the train and everypony was terrified, but I saw an opportunity. They wore metal armour and they used smoke bombs. These were ponies who would appreciate my talents. They weren't looking for new recruits, but I showed them how useful I could be and they saw my value."
"How long have you been with these bandits?" Indigo asked, her goggles focused on a series of crystals as they glowed with red hot energy before fading again, leaving a lingering scent of burning.
"Almost a year."
"Wait, how old were you when you got your cutiemark?" the tinkerer looked up from her work, frowning as much as her mask would allow.
"I would've been thirteen," Sapper shrugged, "Got mine a little later than average. Possibly because I was so scared about what it would be."
Indigo stared at the bandit for a moment before remembering the deadline and hurriedly moving back to work.
"So... how old are you now?” She asked.
"I'm fourteen,” Sapper shrugged.
The tinkerer tilted her head to the side as she glanced over her shoulder, "You look older."
"I've always been big for my age."
"Big? You look larger than most adult Earth Ponies."
"Yeah, imagine what it'll be like when I stop growing," Sapper grinned as she flexed her powerful shoulders.
Indigo's artificial voice hummed as her brain tried to reconcile two disparate thoughts. Sapper was a bandit, a large, dangerous, heavily armed pony who'd helped kidnap the tinkerer. But she was also a child, barely old enough to have her cutiemark.
Deep in the jungle, Rook sniffed the air as she continued to lead the way through the thick undergrowth. The thief's head jolted down as she came to an abrupt stop and the distracted Rarity almost walked into the back of her.
"I've discovered why we haven't seen many monsters recently," Rook said, her cloak trembling slightly as she pointed ahead, "Venomous Vines."
Rarity's eyes narrowed as she tried to determine what the thief was talking about. After a moment she noticed some of the trees ahead had vines growing around them that were slightly darker than usual with a series of spiked thorns along their length. She was certain that she wouldn’t have spotted them until she'd been much closer.
"Venomous Vines?" Rarity groaned, "I can guess what they do, but please tell me it's not as bad as it sounds."
“Oh, they're harmless," Rook explained, "Unless you go near them. Then they'll either lash at you with their vines, shoot poisonous barbs at you or blast you with a cloud of knock-out gas."
"Wonderful, darling," Rarity sighed.
"Then they'll drag you to the heart of the vines and eat you."
"So, our already slow rescue party is going to be delayed further as we skirt around these plants?"
"I'll check," Rook replied, slipping her forehooves under the cloak to attach her climbing shoes.
With the spiked hoofwear in place, Rook leaped at the nearest tree and started scrambling upward. Rarity watched the thief's journey, shaking her head in disbelief. Ponies weren't known for being natural climbers, but Rook took to the trees like she was part squirrel.
"The bad news is I can see wide patches of Venomous Vines we'll need to work around," Rook called from the top of the tree, "But the good news is I can see the bandit camp!"
"I never thought I'd be so happy to locate a bandit camp!" Rarity grinned, "Can you see Indigo?"
"No," Rook's reply was muffled by the dense foliage between them, "it's a tiny dot in the distance, still hours away on hoof. But the direction is right, she has to be there."
"That's better than nothing," Rarity called as she peered into the jungle, hoping to see something through the impenetrable greenery, "Let's get moving!"
There was a faint rustle of leaves above before Rook dropped from the air, her cloak spread wide as she thudded down beside the designer who leaped backward, glaring at her.
"We're in a hurry" Rook shrugged before turning to lead them through the jungle, taking a more winding path, "stay close, the trigger roots are easy to miss."
"Trust me, I don't want another lungful of knock-out gas," Rarity frowned, sticking out her tongue. She was still tasting the bitter smoke from the day before.
"This is where we have to start being sneaky," Rook explained, moving at a slower pace, "Firstly, we don't want to disturb these pony-eating vines. And secondly, we can't afford to be spotted by the bandits before we rescue the tinkerer. Everything relies on stealth."
“You’re sure you’ll be able to rescue her?” Rarity asked, "If this goes wrong, we're effectively trapped in the middle of nowhere with angry bandits after us."
“Trust me, love,” Rook grinned, “I’m a master thief, sneaking in and retrieving things unnoticed is my specialty.”
"I still find it curious that a thief would be risking her life to help a stranger in need."
"Some would say it's hard to believe that a fashion designer would be risking her life too. I guess we’re deeper than superficial stereotypes would suggest.” Rook shrugged again, “And like I said before, I know what its like being the outcast of the group. Us weirdos have to stick together."
"I'm not a weirdo. I am a unique and distinct rarity," The designer said with an indignant snort.
"Us unique and distinct rarities have to stick together."
"Thank you, darling."
While Rook and Rarity were carefully approaching the bandit camp, Indigo and Sapper were still hard at work on the airship. The engineer was on her back in the flight deck, trying to force the weapon controls to work through the remains of the control panel.
“How is my ship?” Red asked, climbing the steps from the cargo hold with Zap and a third bandit trotting behind him.
“I’m almost there,” Indigo replied as she twisted two wires together and used a spark of magic to fuse them, “it'll be done in time. I swear.”
“It’d better be,” Red said, his horn glowing as he retrieved the silver pocket watch and checked the time, “You’ve got five minutes left on the clock.”
“I’m not sure if I’m more interested in her succeeding or failing,” Zap said, his armoured fore-hooves sparking with electrical energy as he stomped them, “Either way, I get my fun.”
Sapper rolled her eyes while the last bandit grinned as she stomped her own hooves which had sharp spikes built into the armour.
“Final checks,” Indigo nodded, not looking at her captors as she made adjustments to the control panel.
“Good,” Red nodded. “For your sake I hope this all works. Because if it doesn’t, you’re dead. And if you try to trick us, you’re dead.”
The tinkerer continued to ignore the bandits, working feverishly to make sure the final pieces of the puzzle came together. Sapper stood at her side, holding things still, ready to bolt them into place as requested.
“Done,” Indigo gasped, her voice strained as she finished her checks and stepped back, taking a deep breath through her mask, “We’re good to go.”
“Fantastic. Then let's get straight to the test flight,” Red said, stepping up to the controls and reaching for a lever, “This is the ignition, correct?”
“Yes,” she nodded as Zap and the silent bandit stood either side of her, holding her in place. “The controls are as similar to a modern airship as I could make them, but they'll be more sluggish. I had to remove a lot of the automated assistance.”
“As long as it flies, that’s the main thing,” Red shrugged, dragging down the ignition lever. The airship around them hummed as the engines came to life. “Sounding good so far, let’s see if your work is as good as you claim.”
Reaching for another lever to his right, Red pulled the controls back and the airship lurched and juddered before slowly raising off of the ground, shedding rocks and debris as it cleared the crater it had been lying in.
“Finally,” Red laughed as they hovered in the air, “this is going to be fun!”