//------------------------------// // Meeting the Team // Story: Daring Do and the Trials of Zenith // by Fedora //------------------------------// The plane swiftly touched down on the landing strip, coming to a complete stop near the end of the strip. The pilot looked back, and gave Daring a signal. The archaeologist pony recognized it as clearance to leave, and so she stood up in her seat in the back of the cramped cargo aircraft, and pressed her hoof up against the door. The door fell back, swinging downwards and unfolding into a set of stairs. Daring stepped down the grated metal and onto the tarmac of the runway, her legs wobbling beneath her. As brave as she was, she didn't exactly like airplanes very much. Her flying instincts as a pegasus interfered with the sensations of the plane in flight, making it uncomfortable. In fact, the only reason she had agreed to take a plane in the first place was due to the convenience in scheduling. Had the trip down to the continent below her own not been as lengthy, she would have preferred to fly it herself, or at least take an airship. Alas, neither of those options had been practical, and it didn't matter anymore as she was at her destination. The bulk of the travel was behind her. Daring was approached by an older looking pony wearing a campaign hat over his grayed mane. His coat was light brown in color, almost a caramel but slightly subdued with the dulling of age. He had a somewhat stern expression on his face, like that of a pony who had been hardened by past experiences. At least, that's what Daring read into it. The stallion began to speak, and Daring listened attentively. "Greetings, you are Dr. Do I presume?" the stallion asked, looking at Daring's outfit. Daring wore her usual pickle green vest, and her beloved pith helmet topped her head. Both seemed peculiarly clean, however this was simply due to the fact that she had just arrived a moment ago. No doubt the heat and humidity would cause her to sweat profusely, but Daring didn't mind. She preferred digging and exploring the undisturbed forests to the boring drudgery of grading papers and giving lectures, as interesting as the subject matters were to her. "You can call me Daring," replied Daring, "Daring Do at the most. I hear too much of this 'doctor' nonsense all week." The older pony shook his head. "It's your title, but if you insist I can call you Daring," said the stallion, extending a hoof to shake hers. Daring met the hoof and shook it warmly. "My name's Trenchoof. Sergeant Trenchoof," said the stallion, nodding. The two ended the handshake and began walking across the tarmac off to the side, where a rugged vehicle sat in a parking area. Once there, Daring was greeted by another pony, this time a mare. This particular pony looked slightly odd. She had a darkish gray coat, and a flowing lemon-colored mane. Her eyes were a bright amber, and her eyelashes appeared to be carefully arranged, which was odd for a pony going on some kind of an archaeological expedition. The mare also wore several accessories, including a pair of goggles pushed up on her forehead, a grayish cadet cap, a white vest with brass buttons, and four rubber hoof covers, evidently for walking through muck. "This is Dr...." started Trenchoof, but he was cut off by the mare he was introducing. She turned around, eyes widening as she saw Daring Do and Sergeant Trenchoof approaching, almost like she had been caught like a foal stealing cookies. She recovered and regained her composure in an instant, extending her hoof and smiling at Daring. "Stiflehock," the mare said, nodding in a way that made her bright yellow mane bounce in the back, "My first name's Elise. Elise Stiflehock." "Pleasure to meet you Dr. Stiflehock," said Daring, nodding. She saw the other two ponies standing in front of her, and a few others working around the vehicle to get it ready. She couldn't find the other pony, the engineer. "Where's Engineer Hammer?" Daring asked, still looking around. She noticed Trenchoof exchange glances with Elise, almost as if he didn't really know how to field her question. "Well," the sergeant started, "We haven't been able to find Engineer Hammer as of recent. You see, we've been having some problems with raiders." "We think that Engineer Hammer may have been taken prisoner by one of the groups of raiders," continued Elise, picking up where Trenchoof had left off, "Until such time that we can find him, we must be on high alert of these raiders." "Eesh." Daring stated simply, shaking her head. She observed the vehicle they were to be using. It was a truck, with large rubber wheels and an internal combustion engine. Those kind of vehicles were uncommon in Equestria, where carriages and taxis were pulled by the drivers themselves. Trains and streetcars were one thing, but to ride in a self-propelled truck was something of a novelty. "I see you've noticed our method of transport, yes?" Elise said, tapping a rubber-covered hoof on the metal door of the truck, "This is a custom-fitted truck made specifically for the expedition. This thing will go over potholes and through muddy trails like they were no impedance at all." "Why an internal combustion engine?" asked Daring, "Most ponies don't use 'em." Elise shrugged, and then Trenchoof coughed. He looked from the truck to Daring to the trees at the edge of the clearing the airstrip sat in. There was a beaten road that lead out of the clearing and into the dense jungle, which Daring took to be the road they would be taking. "Well, the terrain is such that we'd either have to walk, or use this. Carriages would not be sufficient where we're travelling," explained Trenchoof in a stern voice, "I think you'll find that once we get armed guards situated in the back of the truck, we won't be bothered too much by these raiders." He motioned to several ponies who wore khaki vests and brodie helmets left over from the war era. They were equipped with used Equestrian military weapons, which were currently slung over their shoulders. Whoever the raiders were that had been harassing the team, they were being dealt with seriously. Daring slung her bag over her shoulder, and hopped into the back of the truck. As she did so, Trenchoof and Elise were quick to join, and a different pony entered the truck from the driver's side, slamming the door shut behind him. It was time to get going, and Daring couldn't help but wonder what had gone on during the raids and attacks that had driven the team to these measures, and who- or what- had perpetrated them. **** The afternoon wore on, but Daring found things to occupy herself. For hours they had been on the river, truck sitting atop a large cabinless boat. Daring had contented herself to watch the lush jungle drift by on the shore as they floated down the mighty river. That had gotten old pretty fast, for as diverse and vivid as the rain forest was, a pony could only stare at it for so long. What Daring needed was something to occupy her time, and so she took a deck of playing cards out from her vest pocket. Daring was familiar with many card games. Her favorites were those that could be played with a group of friends with a mild amount of gambling involved. At the moment that wasn't an option for her, as most of the other ponies who were on the boat were either sleeping or wandering about completing minor tasks and maintenance. Daring shuffled the cards in the deck, striking them against the deck of the boat and then proceeding to make small piles going from her left side to her right. She left one card turned face-up at the very bottom of each pile. The rest of the deck was moved and placed above the piles. Daring amused herself by playing a game of cards for several minutes until Elise stood in front of her. The bright afternoon sun was obscured by Elise and left a dark shadow over Daring's card game, causing the pony to blink a couple of times before looking up at the other mare. "What are you playing?" asked Elise, lifting up her cap and scratching her yellowish mane. She leaned back and her shadow moved with her, sending the light of the sun into Daring's eyes and causing her to squint. "Patience," Daring replied, rubbing her eyes and looking downwards. There was a dark spot in the middle of her field of vision left over from the sudden glare of the sun. She shook her head, trying to make the spot fade faster. Daring turned back to her game of cards when she could see properly again, starting to match cards in similar suites with the next one lowest. A moment after that Elsie spoke up again. "Well, are you going to ever tell me?" Elise asked again. Daring looked up, this time lowering the brim of her pith helmet to shield her eyes as she looked at the other mare. "No, I don't think you understood me," Daring said, "Patience is the name of the game. Maybe you know it as Klondike instead? It's a type of solitaire..." "OH!" exclaimed Elise, striking the deck with one hoof, "That game. Alright I hear ya now. Hey listen, we've got a meeting in five minutes over by the back of the truck, Sarge has some stuff he wants to go over. I just thought I ought to let you know." With that, Elise trotted off to the edge of the boat, sitting herself down. Daring observed the mare as she splashed the water idly and dipped her hooves into the current. No doubt it was her way of amusing herself during the trip, but it made Daring shake her head. "Hey Stiflehock!" called out Daring, craning her neck up so her voice could project to where Elise was sitting on the edge, "I wouldn't do that if I were you!" "Why not?" was Elise's reply, "I'm just dipping my hooves in the water, no harm in that!" Daring shook her head once again upon hearing this and lifted herself up, walking over to the edge of the boat where Elise was. "Tell me," said Daring, "Have you ever heard of the Piranha?" Elise shook her head no, and Daring nodded slowly. "Well the Piranha is a type of fish that swims in these waters- they're mean and vicious. They have a fondness for eating flesh. They're short and deep bodied, but they've got an undershot set of jaws lined with razor-sharp teeth just waiting to gnaw into, well, whatever they come across that has some meat on its bones." Elise grimaced, and quickly pulled her hoof out of the water. One could almost see her face pale, and Daring threw back her head, laughing out loud. "You should see the look on your face!" Daring exclaimed amid a spurt of laughter, "I'm sorry, that's a bit mean of me, but the timing on that was perfect!" As Daring continued laughing, Elise's brows furrowed, and she looked embarrassed and angry at the same time. "So you mean to tell me that that was just a big sick joke?" she sputtered as she glared at Daring. Daring shook her head as her laughter subsided and she took on a more serious tone. "No, I was being completely serious. Piranhas actually do exist and they actually do eat flesh. However, unless you're bleeding right now I think you'll be alright. We are on a big boat after all- but don't go swimming around willy-filly on your own or you might get eaten." Daring explained. She hadn't meant that stuff about piranhas to be a trick to make Elise react strongly. She had almost lost a member of another crew to a piranha attack. That colt was lucky they only took off one of his ears and another chunk from his flank. That had been a scary experience for Daring when they had to carry the injured colt on their backs through the jungle to the nearest fishing village to find a surgeon capable of treating him. It was late at night, and his terrified screams had left an impression on her about the dangers of wild carnivores. But that was no matter now- she had a meeting to get to with Trenchoof. **** The three ponies gathered near the aft end of the truck, which was situated close to the stern end of the ship that carried them down the river. Sergeant Trenchoof had a map of the area propped up against the bed of the truck and was drawing in lines with a black permanent marker. Daring and Elise approached the map that Trenchoof was using, watching him carefully trace lines on the map. The older stallion finished his lines, and turned around to face the two mares. "Well, good afternoon!" said Trenchoof, "We're about an hour away from the landing, and now would be a good time to cover the site layout." He pointed to the map with his free hoof, showing the outlying area of the ruins a short distance in from the landing. He had traced a thick black line from the boat landing to the base of the ruins on the map. "This here is the road that was constructed last week, there's a makeshift bridge standing across the gorge that the truck will be able to cross. That's about one mile into the actual forest itself," Trenchoof explained. Daring nodded, understanding. Elise seemed indifferent, as if she already knew it all. "Now, let's be sure that we're all aware of our responsibilities..." Trenchoof continued, "Miss Stiflehock?" "Surveying and on-site terrain analysis," was her curt reply. Trenchoof nodded and looked towards Daring. "Architecture and artifact analysis," said Daring, taking off her pith helmet for a moment to brush part of her mane out of her face. "Very good," Trenchoof said, "Now that that's out of the way, I just wanted to tell you two to be on the lookout for anypony, well, anyone else who might try to sabotage or interfere. As you know, the Gryphons have been looking for possible leads on Zenith for some time. We've searched five so far, but they're coming right up behind us with four searches. None of theirs has yielded anything conclusive, but then again neither has our previous attempts. Let's hope we get lucky this time."