Preparations were thusly made and everything scheduled accordingly. But though Gallus had committed himself to it, he was still intimidated by the prospect, which didn’t help with all of the second thoughts coming up shortly thereafter. Knowing his luck, this would all probably be a waste of time anyway and Gene Type’s discoveries were for nothing. The option of changing his mind and backing out still lingered, and the temptation to take it was higher than he really cared to admit. Part of him hated himself for feeling so uncertain about it, while another part reminded him it was certainly not ungrounded, considering what it could mean for him and whatever was uncovered in the process.
But he stubbornly stuck his ground, if just to prove something to himself…though exactly what he still wasn’t sure. And as Smolder pointed out when filling in his friends on all this, there was still one guaranteed upside—no matter what happened, he still got a free day off from school and that had to count for something. In fact, because his ride wouldn’t arrive to pick him up until ten o’clock and he’d been excused from his morning class (and his roommate Sandbar didn’t), this meant Gallus both got the chance to sleep in and get the dorm room all to himself.
And he naturally took full advantage of it—if things did prove to be all for naught, then he wanted to get the fullest he could out of this free day.
Though perhaps he exploited it a little more than he should’ve as he was eventually roused from his deep sleep by a polite knock on his door. At first the knock didn’t fully register within his groggy brain, so he was rolling over to drift back to sleep when a second knock followed. This one actually sank in, so Gallus lifted his head up to squint at the door, confused and annoyed by the interruption. But concluding he’d have to get up and answer the door to make it go away, he stretched and reluctantly pulled himself out of bed.
On his way to the door, a third knock started. “Gallus, are you in there?” a voice called through the door as they knocked.
Gallus recognized the voice, but with his brain still waking up, the significance didn’t really hit him until he opened the door in the midst of the knocking and saw for himself the younger dragon sheepishly standing there, taken aback by the griffon’s sudden arrival. “…Spike?” Gallus blearily asked, surprised to see him at his door. He blinked a few times trying to clear the lingering tiredness from his brain. “What are you doing here?”
“Uh…seeing if you were ready to go?” Spike answered, puzzled. He looked the griffon up and down briefly leading Gallus to also glance down at himself and notice how mussed up he currently looked. “Were you still asleep?”
“Well yeah!” Gallus responded, rubbing at his eyes with one set of talons. “What else would I be doing this early in the morning?”
Spike stared at him for a second. “Gallus, it’s nearly ten in the morning.”
Gallus’s brain locked up with realization before finally revving into full gear. “Wait…what?” he hissed before whipping around to glance at his alarm clock. Sure enough, it read it was about eighteen minutes to ten. He gaped at it, processing how he’d slept in much later than planned. “…finches!” Then, catching himself, he looked back at Spike, still appearing taken aback. “Sorry, I just…I didn’t mean to sleep in this late…” he paid closer attention to Spike’s appearance and saw that, in addition to the official-looking golden medal he wore around his neck, he also carried a neatly packed satchel on his back. “I suppose this explains why you look ready for a trip.”
“Well…that is the plan for us both, right?” Spike asked hesitantly. He clearly didn’t quite know how to respond Gallus’s own lack of preparedness. “…why were you sleeping in today of all days anyway?”
Gallus snorted, thinking it obvious while again massaging his eyes. “It’s also a day with no classes for me, so forgive me for wanting to sleep in a little.”
“Really? I could hardly sleep at all last night!” Spike made a sheepish grin. “Couldn’t stop thinking about…well…today.”
“Yeah…yeah, I’ll bet,” Gallus muttered half-heartedly. He stretched again. “You are here early, after all…”
“Barely,” Spike retorted with a small frown. But he nonetheless sighed. “I suppose, though, working at the palace has made me a little…extra punctual.”
Gallus snickered. “You are sounding a little like Princess Twilight right now.”
Spike groaned causing Gallus to laugh. “Awww, I don’t wanna be a slave to a schedule like Twilight though,” he bemoaned. “Gah, being royal advisor changes you more than I thought.” He sighed before turning professional again. “But…we both still have a schedule we agreed to keep, and I’m sure Gene Type will appreciate us not being too delayed so…how much time do you need to get ready?”
Gallus looked himself over before sniffing his shoulder. “Can I at least get a shower first?”
Spike was obviously reluctant to agree, but giving the griffon another once-over, he concurred a shower might be wise. “Okay,” he agreed with a nod. “But try to be quick, all right?”
“I’ll just be in and out. Five minutes, tops,” Gallus promised as he started trotting down the hall for the dorm showers.
Spike trailed in his wake and waited outside while Gallus took the welcomed hot shower—it did wonders to help shake the cobwebs from his mind—and overall freshened up. He exited again feeling and looking a bit more awake in addition to freshly clean, but Spike’s mood had decreased a notch by then, having been tracking the time with a pocketwatch he’d pulled out.
“That took fifteen minutes,” he couldn’t help but gripe, motioning Gallus to hurry as they started down the hall. “I thought you said you were going to be in and out.”
Gallus rolled his eyes, unbothered. “Sorry,” he grumbled, “last night’s dinner wanted out too.”
“Ew, Gallus!” Spike said, wrinkling his snout. “Too much information!”
“You asked!” Gallus snapped back.
“Sorry, sorry,” Spike then backpedaled, seeing fighting wasn’t getting them anywhere. He paused to take a deep calming breath. “Look, I’m not trying to be snippy here. I’m just…surprised you’re acting like this was sprung on you suddenly when I know it’s not.”
“I know, I know,” Gallus apologized as they walked, stopping briefly again at his dorm to grab his own bag. Fortunately, he had enough foresight to pack it the previous night so it’d already be prepped to go. “Sorry, it’s just…” he trailed off, unsure how he wanted to say it.
Spike seemed to understand nonetheless. “…it’s kind of a big day for us, isn’t it?” he asked knowingly.
Gallus sighed. “Assuming Gene Type’s actually right about whatever he’s found,” he admitted.
“Do you think he is?”
“That’s the part that I’m still getting hung up on.” Gallus averted his eyes. “Not sure what I want to think about that.”
Spike hummed knowingly but otherwise didn’t comment further. If it was because he sensed he didn’t really want to talk about it, Gallus appreciated it. Never mind how awkward it felt, he really didn’t know how he wanted to articulate what he was feeling currently.
Because morning classes were still in session, the halls of the school were essentially empty, and they encountered no one except a passing student that neither Gallus nor Spike knew personally. So without any further distractions barring their path, they headed straight out into the school courtyard where an impressive royal carriage pulled by a grey-furred stallion was waiting for them.
Gallus whistled at their ride. “Wow.”
“Yeah, Twilight pulled out the fancy carriage for the occasion,” Spike said with a grin. “She figured it called for a little riding in style.”
As they approached the carriage, the stallion, who Gallus now saw wore a deep blue armor instead of the more iconic golden armor he associated with the Royal Guard, turned to look at them. “There you are,” he noted aloud. “That took longer than I thought.”
“Yeah sorry, lieutenant, but we had to make some…last minute prep,” Spike explained simply before motioning to Gallus. “Anyway, this is Gallus.”
“Hello,” Gallus said to be polite, extending one paw for a shake.
“Hey,” the guard replied, returning the shake with his hoof, “Second Lieutenant Dream Chaser of the Night Guard at your service.”
Gallus’s eyebrows went up. “Night Guard?” he repeated in surprise, not expecting that. A glance at Dream’s wings he’d previously not paid attention to showed they were leathery and bony instead of feathery and fluffy as he’d assumed. “Seriously? As in like, Equestria’s special forces?”
Dream just laughed. “I wouldn’t read too much into it,” he advised. “I was really just the next guard free and available to fill in when the first choice…” he paused to choose his words carefully, “…proved unavailable.”
“Well, sure, but I bet you could still tell some cool stories, right?” Gallus asked, now turning interested.
But Dream just gave him an apologetic grin. “Unfortunately, none you’re cleared to hear,” he explained, which only disappointed Gallus since that was effectively confirmation there were stories to tell. Dream then motioned with his head to the carriage, “Anyway, we have places to be, so might as well step aboard and make yourselves comfortable—we’ve got a long flight ahead of us.”
So since they’d already dallied long enough, they climbed into the carriage and were soon off, flying away from Ponyville and roughly northeast towards the Celestial Sea. Gallus had wanted to try and strike up conversation with Dream as they flew, see if he could still squeeze any cool details out of the lieutenant’s work in the Night Guard, but the guard was concentrated on flying and the rushing wind made it hard to speak with him while he was harnessed up.
Gallus figured this might have been by design, as the inside of the carriage, though open-top, was shaped in such a way that it was nearly entirely shielded from such interference, making it easy to converse with other carriage occupants. This was probably so royalty and other officials could talk freely in-flight without fear of whoever was pulling the carriage accidentally overhearing potentially sensitive information. And there was little doubt that the carriage carried such important dignitaries on a regular basis, as it was lush with luxuries only such creatures would get to enjoy. Cushy padded seats, exquisitely polished detailing, gold leaf trim, pristine shag carpeting, a center table for both work or dining, a radio capable of listening to civilian or government stations with crystal clear signal, and even a mini-fridge (though to Gallus’s disappointment, there was nothing in it but a pair of water bottles for him and Spike). It was all so nice that admittedly Gallus had felt obligated to thoroughly wipe his feet before he’d stepped aboard, and even now he was a little reluctant to be sitting in any of the seats, for fear he’d somehow sully them.
The carriage also offered an enjoyable view of pretty much everything around it as it flew…except the front, where the carriage’s nose was shaped to mostly block one’s view of most anything at or below the horizon unless you leaned way over its sides. But this was probably for the sake of carriage-pullers like Dream Chaser, as this way one could only see his head and back and no lower on his body. Gallus eventually appreciated the benefits of that—if he were in Dream’s spot, he wouldn’t want to spend the whole trip wondering whether or not the passengers were ogling him, so this resolved that problem nicely. But the view everywhere else was nice. Only it was just mostly uniform hills, fields, and the odd country town for miles around, all things Gallus was fairly used to seeing as a flying creature and not especially captivating for him on this occasion.
And after only about an hour into the flight, the carriage’s luxuriousness started losing its charm, especially once Gallus had explored everything it offered. And with little else to do, boredom started looming near, making him long for something to entertain himself with. As Spike had settled down to work on some official-looking paperwork he’d apparently brought with him, Gallus had been leaving him to it, but now he wondered if he should try to strike up a conversation with the little dragon. The problem was that since most of what he knew about Spike was gotten in passing, he only had vague ideas about what might interest him, making it difficult to come up with a good conversation starter.
Finally, Gallus was given one when he saw Spike pull out his pocketwatch to check the time, remembering suddenly that he’d never seen him with such a watch before now. “So where’d you get that pocketwatch, anyway?” he asked.
“Hmm?” Spike hummed, looking up from the gold-colored timepiece before closing it. “Oh, uh, Raven gave it to me on my first day as royal advisor, as a sort of welcoming gift.”
“…who’s Raven?”
“Raven Inkwell. She’s kinda my predecessor for the assistant royal advisor job, or at least she will be soon.” Making a humble grin, Spike turned to so face Gallus more fully. “She’s been helping train me for the job, but soon she’ll be getting promoted to the head royal advisor position.”
Gallus frowned, confused. “What’s the difference?”
“The assistant advisor works directly with the ruling princess and helps assist with all of her needs, like handling travel logistics, managing the schedule, help do the paperwork, and so on,” Spike explained. “The head advisor, however, serves as the princess’s liaison between herself and pretty much all of the other departments within both the palace and most of the central government, helping address the more day-to-day issues faced in all of them that the princess may not be able to spare the time to do herself. Basically, it’s much more demanding than assistant advisor.”
“Oh, I dunno,” Gallus said with a smirk. “Sort of surprised they didn’t just make you the head advisor right off the bat.”
Spike smiled, flattered, but shook his head. “From the start, Twilight wanted me to keep serving as a friendship ambassador in addition to royal advisor, which meant my duties needed to be kept free enough to do so. Besides, I’ve got enough on my plate with just the assistant advisor job. I don’t think I could really handle tackling the head advisor post.” He shrugged. “Raven has more experience anyway, and after serving so well as Celestia and Luna’s assistant advisor, it was agreed that she deserved the promotion. Plus, the spot’s opening up anyway—the current head advisor, Kibitz, is planning to retire soon after, like, fifty years of service or something.” Spike paused to consider. “In just a couple more weeks, in fact.” He looked back at Gallus with a grin. “At that point, Raven will take his job and I’ll work solo as the assistant advisor from then on.”
“Well, kudos to you, I guess,” Gallus said. A moment of silence then fell as he sought a way to keep the conversation going. “So…how long has it been now since you and the princess took over at Canterlot?”
Spike hummed to himself as he thought about it. “Gosh, it’s nearly been a whole year now…heh, time really flies when you aren’t keeping track. But then I have been staying plenty busy this whole time.” He turned to Gallus. “How about you, though? How have things been for you?”
Gallus shrugged. “Eh, the same as it’d already been, really,” he admitted. “Just…going to school, learning about friendship…all that stuff.”
“Been getting good grades?”
Gallus hesitated tellingly. “Well…they’re all still passing grades at least.”
Spike laughed. “That’s okay. To me, getting all A’s isn’t the important thing so long as you’re still learning what you’re there to learn.”
“I like to think that I am,” Gallus assured confidently. He laughed teasingly to himself. “Otherwise, I guess I wouldn’t be at the school anymore, now would I?”
“Oh, we all know you wouldn’t stand for that,” Spike remarked, giving the older griffon a smirk. “I remember the lengths you’d go to try and keep your friends at the school for Hearth’s Warming.”
“That happened one time!” Gallus retorted swiftly. “And even I admit it was a mistake to have done it in the first place.”
“Point still stands, though,” Spike pressed. “You like it at the school, don’t you?”
Gallus rolled his eyes but he couldn’t keep a slight grin off his face. “Well, it’s not like I’ve got anything to appreciate back in Griffonstone anyway,” he reasoned as a half-hearted cover. “Not that anyone there would really miss me.”
“Not even griffons like Gabby or Gruff?” Spike asked.
“Gabby and I’s rapport can be summed up as we know each other by name but not much else,” Gallus elaborated pointedly. “And Gruff and I only put up with each other because we have to. I don’t even like the guy, and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t like me either.”
Spike nodded to himself, his gaze turning distant for a moment. Gallus didn’t miss his attempts to hide a frown about that. “Well, in any case, I’m kind of glad for that,” Spike then said, changing the subject. “Otherwise, you probably wouldn’t be here and I’d have to go see Gene Type on my own.”
The somewhat sullen shift in tone gave Gallus momentary pause. “Aw, c’mon,” he reasoned. “If it wasn’t me, I’m sure Princess Twilight would’ve tagged along instead. Or, failing that, sent someone else to go with you. One of her friends, probably. Someone else you know…probably better than you know me, really.”
“Probably,” Spike admitted. “But…for the record…I’m glad it’s a creature who can appreciate this because it applies to them just as much as it does for me.”
Gallus scoffed. “Yeah, well…honestly, I’m still shocked it happened at all,” he admitted. “I…sort of just sent in that sample kit on a whim and because everybody was pressuring me to. I didn’t actually think it’d turn up anything. Not like this, at least.”
“Makes sense,” Spike said with a sage nod. “I was kinda surprised when Twilight told me you’d be coming too. I’d have figured you wouldn’t be interested in getting the testing.”
Gallus snorted, gazing out at the land passing them by. “Well, you’re the first to think so. Everybody else thinks I should’ve been clamping at the bit for it and were surprised when I wasn’t.”
“Nah, I get why you wouldn’t be eager,” Spike assured, his gaze also distant. “You’ve always been so…confident about that. There wasn’t anything you could’ve changed about whatever had orphaned you anyway, so you chose to accept it and focused at moving on rather than staying…stuck in the past.”
Gallus was silent for a moment. “I don’t know if I’d say I’d accepted it,” he corrected finally. “But…yeah, I never really saw the point in dwelling on it. I figured…whatever had happened, it was done and over with, so…no use continuing to cry over spilt milk, right?” He shook his head. “I’d rather think about the here and now than the past anyway.” He pinched the bridge of his beak with his talons. “Unfortunately, it’s…sort of hard to do that in this scenario.”
“Yeah, I get that,” Spike assured.
“Do you, though?” Gallus asked, not out of malice but genuine curiosity. “Because you have a family. I mean, adopted, sure, but…still more than anything I’ve got, and still something you’ll have no matter how this goes.”
Spike averted his gaze, looking a little guilty. “…I mean, I am glad to have Twilight and her family. I might not refer to them as family very often…but I do see them as one. I wouldn’t ever want to give them up.” He glanced up at the griffon’s solemn face. “But…just because I was adopted by another family doesn’t mean that I don’t still…miss the first, even if I never knew them. I get what it can be like to wonder…what if, you know? And it doesn’t mean I shouldn’t still try to know. About my real parents…what could’ve happened to them…”
“But it stops being a what-if the moment you know the reality, and whether or not it matches up with the fantasy.” Gallus watched Spike for a second. “So you see why I’m not eager to get into all of this, right?” he motioned around them. “It’s that…what-if…staring me right in the face…and I’m not sure I’m…” he hesitated, biting his tongue, “…ready to face that reality, because once I do…you can’t exactly go back to the fantasy…” his voice dropped to just above a soft whisper. “…and the fantasy might’ve been better in the long run.”
“Yeah,” Spike said, giving him a sad but reassuring grin. He scooted closer to Gallus and breathed a heavy sigh, trying to gather his thoughts. “Did you ever hear about Sludge?”
“Sludge?” Gallus racked his brain for a second. “Wait, was that the name of some fat dragon Smolder said was hanging around Ponyville about a year back?”
Spike nodded. “Smolder’s already told you about him then?”
“Well…sort of…mostly it’s just angry raving that’s hard to follow.” Gallus studied Spike for a moment, realizing there was more to it than Smolder’s half-formed rants. “What did he do?”
“Well, among other things, he wanted to exploit the generosity of Twilight and her friends…so he tried to pass himself off as my dad as an excuse to do so.”
Gallus scowled. “Oh, that’s low.”
Spike snorted. “What made it worse is that I believed him for a while…made me think I had actually found my…flesh and blood family. He wasn’t, obviously, but…it gave me a sense for the first time of what that might actually be like. For a moment, I got to feel what it was like to know the real thing. And even with Sludge being a jerk, it’d felt…good.” He shuffled awkwardly. “Look…I’m very happy with what I’ve already got, don’t get me wrong…but…the whole experience made me realize…as much as I might want to, I still can’t escape that past, that reality. Sometimes, I’m just going to have to face it head on. And suddenly I felt ready to face those answers, good or bad, if I could find them. And this time…maybe something will actually come of it, something that could…settle why it’d happened at all.”
Gallus looked down at the carpeted floor of the carriage for a moment. “And what if it doesn’t?” he asked. “What if this all just ends up a false alarm, or even a lie…like how Sludge had? Could you really put yourself through that again?”
Spike took a deep and empowering breath. “That’s why I’m committing to it,” he explained. “I…can’t explain how, but this…this feels different. Like this will actually uncover the truth, somehow…or at least get me closer to it.”
Gallus snorted again, but gentler this time. “I wish I could be that confident.”
“And that’s why I’m glad you’re here too,” Spike said, smiling faintly. “So we can both help each other get through this if it doesn’t…because who else would understand it but us?”
Gallus didn’t reply to that. But he did manage to smile too, taking some comfort in those words.
Meanwhile Spike was turning back to his paperwork, initially to resume working, but then, reconsidering, he instead scooped up the modest stack of papers and returned them to his bag. “Hey, so to make sure I had something to do during the trip, I brought along a deck of cards. You want to play?”
Gallus perked up, interested. “Sure,” he said, turning around so to face Spike fully. “Did you have a specific game in mind?”
“Not really, but it’s just a standard deck anyway, so we could do any of the typical card games,” Spike said as he brought out the deck, pulling off the rubber band holding it together. “So…I dunno…I guess we could play Go Fish, or Old Maid, or Crazy 8s, or…”
“Oh no no no no no,” Gallus quickly intervened, motioning with his talons to hand over the deck and, upon Spike doing so, proceeding to skillfully shuffle them. “If we’re gonna play cards, we’re definitely not playing some old lady’s game like Crazy 8’s.”
So, since he didn’t already know how to play, Gallus taught Spike how to play poker instead.
And by the time the carriage was flying over ocean several rounds later, Gallus had to admit—the little guy was catching on quick.
“Call,” Spike announced confidently as he added several of the candies they were using as chips into the pot.
Gallus glanced up from his hand of cards, raising an intrigued eyebrow. “Well, aren’t you confident,” he remarked.
Spike glanced up from his own cards, attitude unchanged. “There a problem with that?”
Gallus didn’t waver. “Depends on the hand you’ve got and if it’s really all that.”
Spike made a simple shrug, like it didn’t matter to him one way or the other. “You’re going to either to have to take the bet or fold to find out,” he replied matter-of-factly.
And still very confident, to the point Gallus would almost call it smug. Were this their first round, he would’ve interpreted it as a major tell for Spike, but he already knew not to take it at face value. Spike acted confident regardless of whether or not he actually had a good hand, and seemed to be his way to try throwing off his opponent by leaving them guessing. And darn if the little guy hadn’t gotten pretty good at it.
But Gallus wasn’t too shabby of a player himself, and after a long beat he smirked and added a handful of candies to the pot himself. “I raise,” he announced and proceeded to stare Spike down now that the ball was in his court again.
Spike returned it, for a long moment his confidence not even wavering once as the two waited for the other to blink. But at last Spike sighed, dropped the façade, and resignedly let his hand of cards fall to the table. It was a mere mishmash of mostly useless cards.
Gallus’s smirk grew. “Ha,” he said as he laid down his own hand, a simple straight that was more than enough to beat Spike’s otherwise miserable hand. “Oh, but I still gotta give you credit—you’re pretty darn convincing with that confident act of yours.”
“So what gave me away?” Spike asked, propping up his head with an elbow and otherwise taking his loss in stride.
“I dunno…just something in your eye, I guess,” Gallus admitted as he started resetting for another round. “Better luck next time, though.”
But before they could start again, Dream Chaser suddenly brought the carriage into a banking turn and began dropping altitude. “Hey, better pack it up back there, because we’re here!” the bat-winged stallion called back to them.
And so they were. The Griffish Isles were clearly visible as a long brown smudge out in the distance, but their actual destination wasn’t there but rather a small islet not much longer than a hoofball field, some miles out from the shore of the larger isles. There also wasn’t all that much on it, being mostly rocky, though it did have a sandy beach surrounding its outer edge and some light grasses growing more towards its middle. More important to them, however, was an airship parked along its far shore, just far enough inland to be above the tideline, which Dream Chaser brought in their carriage in for a smooth landing alongside of.
The modest white-with-blue-trim craft wasn’t the biggest of airships, but it was also no small craft, sitting at roughly a bit more than forty feet in overall length and two separate decks in layout. Especially interesting to Gallus, as he’d seen few airships with such a design, was that it had no exposed deck. Even its control cabin, which sat at the prow of the upper deck, was fully covered by large glass windows shaped to meld in with the rest of the ship’s glossy hull. Hung above it with enough gas to stay inflated while landed was its sizeable lifting envelope just shy of maybe double the length of the airship’s main body. Other than a few unique elements to its structure that Gallus assumed had to do with Gene Type’s work supposedly taking place aboard, it seemed like a fairly normal airship.
“Huh,” he remarked as he and Spike grabbed their bags and climbed out of the carriage. “I admit I don’t know what I was expecting, but I guess from what the headmare and princess told me, I’d figured an airship that looked a bit more…sciencey.”
“Don’t let her exterior fool you,” Dream Chaser advised as he unhooked himself from the carriage’s harness and joined them. “I’ve seen research airships like this one before. They’re built to have a high lifting power for all the lab equipment and a large flight range for traveling long distances.” He nodded his grey head at the craft before them. “This one appears modified to be able to sustain flight in and around storms.”
“Makes sense considering that study of Gene Type’s that Twilight wouldn’t stop talking about,” Spike quipped as he looked the craft up and down, seeing no immediate sign of its operator. “So…the doctor knows we’re coming, right? Do we need to knock or…?”
But they didn’t have to do anything as the cargo hatch located on the ship’s side suddenly slid open and a smart looking unicorn stallion with pale green colored fur and a charcoal mane stepped out, carrying a satchel around his neck. Spying the three, he hurried over with a big grin, eagerly looking Spike and Gallus in particular up and down through his round spectacles.
“Hello, hello!” He greeted energetically, shaking the paws of Spike and Gallus each in turn. “You must be Gallus and Spike! I’m Dr. Gene Type, the scientist that’s been doing your genetic analyses.” He shook his head, releasing a jittering chuckle. “But obviously you knew that, that’s why you’re out here!” He chuckled again. “Apologies if I seem a bit scatterbrained, but I’ve got a lot running through my head about what needs to be done now that you’re here, and, oh, it’s actually somewhat surreal to finally meet you two in the flesh like this. When you do so many genetic analyses of creatures like I often do in my work, you sort of end up feeling like you already know quite a bit about a creature even before actually meeting them, so there’s something of a…disconnect…when you finally do, you see.”
“Uh, sure,” Gallus mumbled, a little taken aback by the stallion’s nervous energy. “Can’t really say the same for myself, but I’ll take your word for it.”
“Yes, well, I’m sure you’re both eager to get on with this, so if you’ll follow me aboard, we’ll get started,” Gene said, motioning for the two to follow them. He then abruptly remembered Dream Chaser when the guard proceeded to follow. “Oh yes, and you, of course. Sorry, what was your name? I wasn’t expecting escorts, much less from the Night Guard.”
“Second Lieutenant Dream Chaser, sir,” Dream introduced with a professional nod.
“Ah,” Gene said, returning the nod. He then tilted his head at the stallion. “No one was available from the Royal Guard then, I take it?”
“Basically, but don’t worry, I won’t be in the way,” Dream promised with a reassuring grin as they approached the parked airship. “I’m really just here to chaperone.”
“Of course, of course, can’t ever be too safe and all that,” Gene hummed to himself, gaze going unfocused as he became distracted in thought.
Spike cleared his throat as they arrived at the open cargo door. “So Twilight told us you think you might have a lead on figuring out our respective family lines?” he asked, hopeful for details.
“Hmm? Oh yes, I believe so!” Gene confirmed as he was brought back out of his reverie. He patted Spike on the back. “But while I’m sure you’d love to hear all of the details, there’s still a window of uncertainty to it so I dare not elaborate until we’ve done a couple more minor tests and settled those lingering uncertainties. Then we should know for certain one way or another, and can…act accordingly from there.” He gazed up at the sky. “Though we shouldn’t delay—naturally, none of you could’ve known before you arrived, but there is a major storm rolling this way.” He pointed one hoof out at the sea behind the airship, and sure enough, on the horizon was a dark grey smudge that could only be a storm slowly rolling in.
“Is that cause for concern?” Dream asked, alert.
“No, we shouldn’t be in any notable danger from it, particularly while inside the airship,” Gene explained as he turned to face them. “But you were all told about the research I’ve been conducting out here, yes? That storm will play a key shift in the environment here, and I will want to be in the proper position so to monitor it as it arrives. In fact…” he motioned Spike and Gallus on into the airship, “…you two head on inside. Through this cargo room and directly across the corridor is my lab, where we’ll do the testing. Go ahead and wait there for a moment while I have a word with the lieutenant about how we might want to handle the matter of the storm.”
Spike and Gallus hesitated, Gallus even frowning in slight puzzlement as leaving them unattended in a lab didn’t seem like a good idea, even if they had no intention of causing trouble. But Dream gave them both a confirming nod to go ahead, so they left the two ponies to talk and wandered into the airship as instructed. Through the cargo door was, as explained, a partially filled cargo room of little interest. On the other side though was another hatch leading into the airship’s lower deck corridor, which was slightly more decorated with various niceties though still built with a utilitarian design in mind. On the opposite side of the corridor were two more doors located at nearly opposite ends from each other.
Remembering Gene Type’s instructions, Gallus led Spike through the closer of the two, but found both doors opened into the scientist’s lab anyway, seeming to fill most of this side of the deck. As labs go, it was fairly routine; sterile, mostly white in color, and lined on most sides with worktables and cabinets filled with various equipment neatly stored away upon or within. A metal cart on wheels sat in the center with a series of supplies already set upon it. These presumably were part of the tests to be done shortly, but both of them knew better than to mess with it and left it alone. A pair of examination chairs sat nearby though, so they set down their bags and both took a chair to sit down, awkwardly making themselves comfortable while awaiting Gene Type’s return.
They were only waiting for a couple of minutes when they heard the cargo hatch slide shut again and Gene Type appeared in one of the lab doorways. “Good, good, just hold on a couple more minutes and then I’ll be right with you two,” he promised before vanishing from view again, heading further up the corridor where a stairway leading to the upper deck was.
Gallus snorted, folding his forelegs across his chest and leaning back in his seat, annoyed. “You’d think he’d have gotten everything prepared in advance for us already, seeing he knew we were coming and all,” he grumbled to himself.
“C’mon Gallus,” Spike said, who was more forgiving. “Like he said before, he’s got a lot on his mind at the moment, and we all have moments struggling to keep things straight while under pressure.”
Gallus sighed but didn’t dispute the point. “I just hope these tests he wants to do actually help and we aren’t wasting our time coming out here for this,” he said.
Silence fell for another moment as they continued waiting for Gene Type to come back, but it was soon interrupted by the sudden drone of motors winding up elsewhere in the airship. This drew curious looks from Gallus and Spike, but it wasn’t until they felt the deck jolt faintly underneath them that they started wondering what was up. A moment later the airship felt like it was shifting positions and Gallus felt his stomach drop lower in his gut, sort of like how it felt when riding up an elevator.
“Wait a minute,” he muttered upon noting this, getting to his feet and walking over to the lab’s far wall, the one he assumed ran along the airship’s outer hull. He set his talons upon it and leaned one ear close, feeling the thrum of engines pulse through the framework of the craft. “We’re moving—this flying tub is airborne.”
“What?” Spike asked, just as surprised as he jumped up too. “But why would we be flying anywhere?” He stopped to consider it for a second, rubbing his chin. “Do you think it’s because of that storm?”
Gallus considered it too. “Well, he did say it was part of his studies or whatever and wanted to be prepared for it…” he reasoned, thinking it a valid theory, “…but you’d think he’d have given us a little forewarning first…”
“Yeah, I didn’t think he was going to act on that until at least he got his tests on us started,” Spike added in agreement.
They fell silent for another moment to try and puzzle it through further. Before they could really speculate much though, Gene Type returned, strolling through a lab door and setting aside his satchel.
“Sorry about the delay,” he apologized, motioning for them to sit down again as he moved to the cart of supplies. “But as I explained, I needed to prep for that incoming storm and that required getting the airship in position first.”
“Explains why we’re airborne,” Gallus remarked as he sat back down, seeing he and Spike had been on the right track.
“Don’t worry, we’re not going especially far,” Gene Type reassured as he looked over the supplies laid out on the cart, making sure he had everything needed before proceeding. “Okay, so, first things first…let me get a scan of you both real quick.”
“Scans?” Gallus asked, surprised. “What for?”
“Oh, you know,” Gene Type said as he lit his horn and faced Gallus, “so to get comparative base readings and all that.”
Gallus didn’t really follow, but knew magical scans were harmless to the point one could barely feel them, so he shrugged his shoulders and let the unicorn begin scanning him with his magic.
While he did so, Spike had another thought. “Hey, where did Dream Chaser go?” he asked, realizing he hadn’t seen any sign of the bat pony since they came aboard, nor that he was aboard himself.
“Oh, he’s still with the carriage you both arrived in,” Gene Type replied distractedly as he finished with his scan of Gallus.
Gallus’s brow furrowed, confused. “What, he’s not coming with us?” he asked. “I figured he would be, since, y’know, he was escorting us or whatever.”
Gene Type made a nervous laugh as he turned to Spike to scan. “Well, the airship doesn’t have room to store your carriage aboard and he didn’t want to leave it unattended in case any nefarious creatures tried to steal it or something,” he nonetheless explained with little hesitation.
That explanation seemed to fit in Gallus’s brain. “Yeah, I suppose it is a pretty nice carriage,” he agreed. “I certainly wouldn’t leave it just sitting around back home in Griffonstone, so…”
But as Gene Type started scanning him, his horn flickering slightly as it did so, Spike was still confused. “Well, yeah, but…I figured we were more important to safeguard than some carriage,” he pointed out before making an amused shudder as the scan passed over him. “Heh, that kinda tingles.”
“You’ve still got me,” Gene Type assured, scans finished and now wheeling the cart over to them. “After all, I work for the Royal Guard. I can absolutely keep a close eye on you both, so we’re all covered. And Dream Chaser will still be in that same spot once we’re all done here.” He clapped his hooves together. “Now, I’ve kept this waiting long enough, so let’s get on with it.”
“All right, fine,” Spike replied slowly, pacified for the moment and now eyeing the vials and needles Gene Type had lain out. “Just what are these tests you want to do?”
“Well, the material you both sent me before were enough to get me on the right trail, but they alone can only go so far,” Gene explained. “So to begin with, I need to take some new samples that will give me clearer and more precise information about your respective genomes. And for that, I will need to take some blood samples for analysis.”
“Oh fun,” Gallus muttered sarcastically with a roll of his eyes.
“That’ll be the worst of it though, assuming things go as planned,” Gene then promised, picking up a needle with his magic and bringing it to Gallus, the closest and thereby the unlucky first to be pricked. “I’ll then need some time to analyze the samples, get the information to verify my previous findings. Assuming they’re still being upheld by that time, then I will have one final, but simple, test to conduct that should finalize everything. Now,” Gene proceeded to take a swab of medicinal alcohol to Gallus’s arm, “If you’re ready?”
“Yeah, go ahead and get it over with,” Gallus groaned, not looking forward to this but forcing himself to try and stay relaxed, letting the scientist do his work.
Gene proceeded, gently inserting the needle with careful precision. Gallus, to his credit, only winced faintly at the sharp pinch but otherwise was braving the blood draw without much reaction. “So anyway,” Gene began talking as he worked, so to distract Gallus, “I’m curious…how well do you two know each other? Is this your first time meeting?”
“Oh no, I’ve known Spike for a couple of years now,” Gallus answered, noticing that drew surprise from Gene.
“We’ve kinda just been acquaintances for most of that, but yeah,” Spike confirmed as he awkwardly watched Gene finish drawing his sample from Gallus. “It wasn’t really hard though, with Gallus a student and me part of the school staff…well, until I became royal advisor.”
“Yeah, you can thank Twilight Sparkle for that,” Gallus remarked with a smirk, glad the draw was over. He reached over to nudge Spike. “But that’s what you get for being so close with her—a bit of favoritism.” Spike rolled his eyes in good humor to that.
“Hmm,” Gene hummed as he floated aside the vial of Gallus’s blood and picked up a new one and a fresh needle before moving to Spike, who visibly tensed. “I’ll admit that’s rather interesting, considering circumstances.”
“Yeah, I thought it a heck of a coincidence too, but what can you do?” Gallus remarked, watching Spike tense up greatly as Gene Type worked to slip the needle in-between the dragon’s purple scales. “Relax, Spike, that’ll help take some of the edge off.”
“Trying,” Spike grunted, not really complying. “First time I’ve ever done this before.”
“Not surprised. Dragon hides are a bit tricky to get a needle into, so I imagine past doctors preferred avoiding it if possible,” Gene mumbled as he nonetheless got his needle in and began the draw. He half-glanced at the griffon again. “Now Gallus, I understand you’re from Griffonstone?”
“That’s right,” Gallus replied flatly. “Why?”
“I’m just looking at your blue coat and pondering the genetics of it,” Gene explained as he finished up with Spike. “A blue like that isn’t very typical of Griffonstone griffons, is it?”
“I guess. Probably more of a Griffish Isle coloring, but I wouldn’t really know.” Gallus gave Gene Type a questioning look. “You saying I could be descended from Griffish Isle griffons?”
Gene smiled wryly. “We should know for certain soon,” he promised as he set the vial of Spike’s blood with Gallus’s. “Now, I’ll get these examined, but like I said, it’ll take a few minutes, so let’s get you both somewhere to wait in better comfort than this sterile lab, hmm?”
Agreeing, Gallus and Spike let him escort them out of the lab and into the corridor once more. This time he lead them into a comfortable galley set in the nose of the airship, consisting of a table with a wraparound bench and windows looking outside as the airship flew. Here, Gene Type made sure they were seated comfortably and had a bowl of snacks before leaving to continue with his analyses, promising to try and be as quick as he could. Left to themselves in the galley, the two kept busy looking out the windows and watching where the airship was flying. For the moment, it was over even and open seas, but the oncoming storm was much closer now, filling one side of the sky as the airship flew perpendicular to its approach. On the other side though, the skies were clear and the islet they had previously been parked on still visible, though now a small speck too far away to make out any clear details.
Spike nevertheless tried, looking for any sign of Dream Chaser waiting for them there. “Gallus, did you think it weird the lieutenant stayed behind instead of coming with us?” he asked the griffon.
Gallus, who was also mulling things over his head, shrugged. “Maybe a little?” he admitted. “I guess it was kinda weird nobody foresaw that problem with the carriage…but honestly, I figured he’d know what he was doing either way.” He motioned out the window at the faintly visible islet. “Besides, I’m sure he can still see us from there, so in a way he’s still keeping an eye on us.”
Spike gazed out at the islet for a long moment, not looking reassured. “I suppose.”
Gallus watched him for a second. “You know, you were the one who said you felt confident this would all work out,” he remarked pointedly.
“And I still do, but…” Spike shook his head and turned back around in his seat to face Gallus. “…I don’t know. Ever since we came aboard something just…”
“…seemed off?” Gallus finished, and nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I’ve kinda been feeling the same. At first I thought it was just how…jittery…Gene Type’s been, but…” he sighed. “I don’t know…maybe I’m being paranoid.” Yet he still bore an air of hesitation while looking Spike in the eye. “But my gut says something isn’t quite adding up.”
Spike bit his lip. “I mean, if you think it’s important, I’m willing to hear you out on it.”
Gallus averted his gaze, rubbing the back of his head. “That’s the thing though. All I can say is that it feels like we’ve been left out of something, but…I don’t have the evidence to prove it. I’m not sure there even is any and I’m not just…looking too much into it.”
Spike mulled it over for a moment. He heard thunder distantly rumble from the approaching storm, seeming to reflect the mood nicely. “Well, if it helps,” he offered, “I sort of feel the same.” He glanced around for a moment. “But I think, since we’re already here, we might as well let Gene Type finish his tests. After all, I can’t think of any reason why we shouldn’t.”
“I can’t either,” Gallus admitted. He managed a faint grin. “Besides…I still kinda want to know what he finds out.”
Spike nodded, sharing the grin. “Me too.”
So they continued waiting, hoping for the best.