Voyages of the Lightbringer: Episode 1: Artifact Hunting

by Admiral Wyatt Stone

Vacation Mysteries

"Captain's Star Log; Equus Date: 2/26/2274: After our recent victory at the Star Forge and the collapse of J'ula's alliance, my friends and I feel we should wine down before taking up the duties of exploring the stars. Thanks to some recommendations from Princess Twilight and the crew of the starship Harmony, we've decided on the perfect place to visit: Risa. While we've never been there, we've heard quite the positive reviews of the world and it's luxuries, and we hope to join in on the fun while it's here!"

Risian Islands, Vacation Resort|

I took a glass of Rokassa juice to my lips with my magic, taking a drink as I admired the beautiful sight of the two suns of the Risa system sitting still in the sky. We'd arrived at Risa in less than half an hour, and after beaming down to the surface, we decided to take a look around to get to know the areas and natives of the large island that held the large resort on it's southern end. By the time we were done, we then asked to find a place to relax and enjoy ourselves at the wondrous island.

As I savored the fine taste of the Risian beverage, I set the drink down, Calamity digging into a nice, steaming bowl of Risian beans as Velvet Remedy began the conversation. "Well, I'm quite impressed by the quality of this food, I'd have almost been spoiled if I lived here!"

I smiled at my friend, wiping my muzzle with a cloth as I replied. "Yeah, I can see why they don't have this stuff available all across the galaxy."

"They must've grown those beans naturally," Velvet said as she pointed a hoof at Calamity's beans, the stallion wiping his muzzle with a cloth in his hoof as my friend continued. "I wouldn't be surprised if they told us that."

"Ah'd talked t' one o' the cooks while y'all waited, and they said all of the food is made that way."

We had ceased our conversation as we saw Steelhooves and Commander Snowdrop trot over to us, a small statue being held by the pegasus mare in her right wing. The statue had the appearance of a large head with four small pieces coming out of it, under the head was a small body with two legs and two arms. It was made of wood.

The unarmored Applejack's Ranger smiled as he spoke to us. "While you were relishing in the treats of Risa, we had stopped over to pick up one of the island's souvenirs sold by that gentleman there. They call this statue a Horga'hn." Snowdrop set the small statue on the table in front of us, her and Steelhooves taking a seat next to us as the latter spoke again. "Xenith has decided to take a walk around the island, she is intrigued by the creatures around the area."

Velvet gave a joyful smirk as she replied to Steelhooves, Pyrelight hovering at the medical mare's side. "I wouldn't blame her, this place has many beautiful birds around here, I was wondering if Pyrelight here would want one as a friend." The green Balefire Phoenix cooed to Velvet, the rest of us letting out chuckles as I replied.

"Yeah, which one do you think would get together with her? I've seen some Passion Wings, Seasprays, and even one of the rare Sunset Streamers!" Velvet pondered for a moment as I took another drink from the juice in my magic, the charcoal mare speaking once more as I swallowed my drink.

"You know, I think we should try finding some eggs for the researchers, perhaps they could choose the best one for Pyrelight to play with." Calamity smiled at her words before he replied to her decision.

"Ah heard some participants o' that Horga'hn hunt found a few durin' their search for them, ya think I could go and find one fer ya?" We looked to Velvet for her answer as Calamity finished, the next hunt for those little statues would be in about half an hour, so we had plenty of time to decide before it would start.

Calamity's wife smiled as she gave her response to her husband. "That's a wonderful idea, it'd be perfect for our honeymoon here."

As we all nodded and muttered in agreement, Admiral Stone trotted over to us, a small device strapped to his back. It was one of those fancy floaters the visitors and natives of the island would use to fly around the island, this one was Yellow and had a black central booster, three smaller ones on the underside of the floater and two more being held by two thin pylons.

The admiral smiled as he spoke to us, myself setting my drink down to listen. "Hello everyone, I take it you're all enjoying the break?"

"Am I?" I said with a smile before continuing, the admiral building his own smile to join mine. "The food here is amazing! I've never had such delicious drinks like this, not even Tenpony Tower had this kind of stuff." My smile faltered slightly as I finished with, "Well, yeah, the place was providing the best they could get from a post-apocalyptic Equestria, but still."

We all laughed at my comment before Wyatt replied. "Yeah, they even have a competition that will give you one of their new corvettes. That is, if you can keep up your pace. The event takes almost a month to finish without getting some additional voucher from the Lobi Consortium."

As Calamity and Velvet continued to eat their food, Wyatt focused on me, the human pulling out a small device as he spoke to me. "And, as much as I hate to interrupt the fun, I've got a call from artifact hunter Sovak, he wished to speak with you in private."

I raised an eyebrow at the admiral's words, my friends joining my surprise as I stood up, trotted over and took the communicator before replying. "Alright, let me find someplace private before I answer." Admiral Stone nodded as I looked to my friends, Velvet speaking for the others as they gave smiles towards me.

"Good luck, Littlepip. Don't strain yourself." I nodded as I started trotting out of the large room, passing through the open hallway and turning to my right to one of the archways.

----------

I had found a small area behind a bush that stuck out near the edge of the island. There was barely anyone over here, so I would hopefully not be heard while I talked to Sovak about the mission. Taking a breath, I pulled out the communicator and tapped it, a male voice speaking through a second later.

"Ah, I take it you've decided to help, my friend?" I cleared my throat as I replied to Sovak.

"Yep, what do you need me to find for this little scavenger hunt of yours?" I said politely as the Ferengi scavenger spoke back.

"I would more so call it a large scavenger hunt this time, my friend. You see, I've gotten a call from your friends at the U.A. a bit ago and they've told me that there's an artifact here that is not like the others, much less from this universe." I raised an eyebrow as my contact continued. "They say it's from your universe, and if it were to fall into the wrong hands, the finder could use it to do quite some damage to this place. I of course can't have anyone else go and find it because of the risk it poses, and given your record and recent fulfillments, you were the right choice for the job."

I smiled as I was ready to go on a little hunt for an important piece of hardware from my home, taking another look around my area before responding. "You got it, I was hoping to go flying around this place at some point today."

"I had hoped so. Also, you won't be alone on this mission, your friends have sent one of their older agents here to help you out. She said she knows about you and your friends, and she wants to get to know a fellow agent like yourself during the hunt. I hope that isn't a problem."

"No, I'd be happy to." I replied as I started to look towards the floater vendor at one of the huts near the beach. "But first, I've got to get a floater."

Before Sovak replied to me, I heard the sound of a transporter behind me. Turning to look, I saw a small white floater with a blue glow on the power cell. The Ferengi hunter's voice then spoke. "Ah yes, about that, I have a floater that I got for a few trips around the island a while ago. I think you'll need it for this one, just make sure it gets back in working order, please."

I smiled gleefully at the small floater as I replied. "Thanks, it'll be in perfect condition when it comes back to ya."

"Good, now, you should get started quickly, your assistant should find you somewhere around the island at some point. Good luck."

As the signal cut out, I picked up the floater and its control grips in my magic, strapping the device around my waist and holding the controllers in front of me. As I pressed a button, the floater activated, my body lifting into the air a moment later. I took a look around myself as I tried to understand how the floater worked. "Wow, this'll be much easier than lifting myself around this place." I said with a slight chortle as I pressed the controls, myself flying higher into the sky as I looked to my Pipbuck.

I tapped the small device to initialized my scanner, and after a few seconds, it was ready. As I examined the area, I saw that I was at the same height as the resort hotel's roof. After taking in the beauty of the island, I continued forward, constantly tapping my scanner every minute to keep an eye out for the hidden treasure.

>>>(==o)

Almost half an hour had passed and I'd found nothing, though my scanner said I was getting closer to it. As I reached a high point in the late afternoon sky of Risa, I took a look at the view. It was like a sight I'd expected to see only in a dream, the mountain was illuminated by the light shining down from the binary suns up above, several natives with floaters and birds flew about the island as they enjoyed the day above their home. I think I felt a tear slowly slide down my face as I admire the gorgeous sight.

My moment of sightseeing was short-lived when I heard a sudden burst of energy from under me, a moment later, another flyer flew up to my level, an advanced purple floater boasting on her back. It took me a moment to notice that this flyer was an earth pony, she was a blue-coated mare with a purple mane and tail. Her cutie mark was a poison joke plant.

As I recovered from my shock caused by the sudden arrival, the mare spoke up. From how she sounded, I think I heard a faint accent in her voice. "Hey there, Littlepip! Ya ready for this little hunt of ours?"

I took a breath as I replied with a slight bit of annoyance. "Yeah, just don't pop up like that, I could've fallen!"

The young blue mare looked at me with guilt before speaking again. "Oh, sorry. I was just so excited to meet ya that I couldn't stop myself."

I realized my rude response to my comrade's arrival and returned the guilty feeling as I replied. "Ah...It's alright, I was a little rude there. I was just in the middle of a brief sightseeing break."

My friend laughed as she spoke. "I can see that, that'll teach me a lesson with interrupting someone in a trance." We both chuckled a bit before she began her introduction. "Oh, I guess I haven't told ya my name yet, have I? I'm Jokeblue, Homage's old friend from the Wasteland. Ya heard about me from her, right?"

I stared at her in shock upon her saying her name, this was my love's old friend from their adventures, and I was looking at her! But... how did they get her into commission? Wasn't Jokeblue killed by a raider trap during one of their adventures?

"Uh... right, so you're her old friend. And how did they bring you back this time?" I said as Jokeblue cocked her head, then righted herself as she realized what I was getting at.

"Oh, yeah! My "death" as you know it, well, ya see, before I "died" in that death trap, I took a moment to do somethin' private when those boys from the U.A. showed up. They told me of what happened in the historical records and asked if I would like to have a position in their Temporal Division, and while I was a bit hesitant, I heard that my lo-.... our love Homage would make it just fine in the Wastes and I took up the offer."

As I tried to put the pieces together, I asked for one last detail. "Okay, but how did Homage see-" I stopped as I thought of what it was. "Oh wait, let me guess: Hologram?"

The blue mare that was Homage's old friend nodded in agreement before continuing. "Yeah, and after some time with them, they told me about this little artifact ya would be huntin' for in the future, and I took up the job of doin' this mission. And... well, here we are."

We laughed again, this time for about half a minute. As we both calmed down from our little talk, I spoke to her with a smile. "Well, that's quite the interesting story there, Jokeblue. I'm happy to be helping you in this job."

Jokeblue smiled as she replied back. "Yeah, they didn't tell Sovak this, but I've got quite the story to tell about that Star Blaster of Homage's."

"Oh?" I said as we began flying towards the signature, both of us checking our scanners as I continued. "What about it?"

Jokeblue frowned as she started her story. "Well, ya see, that blaster wasn't any ol' weapon forged by the stars themselves. From what I've been told and shown, that weapon was a unique pistol which was custom built by a Ferengi and his workers."

I raised an eyebrow at that, I had thought about what Homage had told me during one of our nights together. “Long story, one night, Jokeblue and I were poking our hooves around Fetlock, trying to find a Stable we’d heard rumors about, when there was a strange explosion that lit up the clouds above. At first, we thought it was thunder, but then all sorts of debris started raining out of the sky. Chunks of the strangest sky-wagon you ever laid eyes on. We took cover in a burned-out passenger wagon. When it was over, I found that thing amongst the rubble.”

As I saw my scanner confirm our distance to the target, I looked to Homage's old friend. "Well, do you think you can give me the whole story? I assume you were briefed on story about how they got there."

Jokeblue smiled as she turned her head to me, her scanner also confirming our approach to the artifact as she answered me. "Definitely, it could help us kill time while we look for the artifact."

I smiled as we flew together, checking our scanners again as Jokeblue began the story. "Ya see, that Ferengi guy I mentioned was a friend of Sovak's a while ago, and he was contracted by a mercenary to make these special weapons for him. Unfortunately, however... that little delivery trip would not go as planned..."