Quill Tip looked at the scenery from the train window as it went by. It had been a while since the beige unicorn had left Canterlot. Even longer when his destination wasn't another major city. He turned to look at Feather Tip. The orange pegasus just looked right back at him.
“You don’t have to do this,” His sister said, “You’ve already been a big help in bringing those books and maps. There’s no reason for you to come.”
Quill looked at the saddle bag lying next to him. It was stuffed with books and maps, some that Dr. Hunt had asked for and some that Quill thought would be helpful, and then looked back at his sister. “I told the doctor that I would come with you on your expedition and that is what I’m doing,” he said firmly, “And anyway, it isn’t like this is my first time going out to a historical site for study”.
“This isn’t like one of those research trips you go on, Quill,” his sister said, frustration building in her voice, “this is a first in exploration group. Our job is to explore unknown areas for undiscovered ruins, temples, and artifacts. This is a job for trained explores and,” Feather paused, “and you’re just an author”.
This caused Quill to take a look at his flank. On it was his cutie mark, a quill and an inkwell. “I can do more then just wright,” he said quietly.
Feather looked down at the floor after he said that. “I know Quill,” she said quietly. “I know that you can offer a lot to an expedition,” she continued, “but I just want to make sure you’re safe”.
Quill couldn’t help but smile at this. He had said those exact same words to her once. Quill had been so worried for his little sister’s safety then and now the horseshoe was on the other hoof. “It’s not like I’m a helpless colt, I’ve been trained to defend myself with both magic and without,” he said.
“I know,” Feather Tip said. She was quiet for a while before she smiled and continued, “It’s not like I’ve ever been able to get anything through that thick skull of yours”.
“Look who’s talking,” Quill retorted, a smile equal to Feather’s on his face. They both sat their smiling for a while before Feather’s face became serious again as she looked into her brother’s eyes.
“Promise me,” she said before letting out a sigh, “Promise me you’ll stay safe”
“I will,” Quill said with equal seriousness.
Feather seemed to take this as the best she’d get because she lay down on her bench and went to sleep.
Quill turned his head to look back out the train window, trying to convince himself that what he just told his sister was true.
Quill Tip sat their looking out the train window, trying to relax. He turned to look at his sister. Feather was sound asleep. Quill looked her over when his eyes stopped on the mark of a looking glass with a pair of wings on her flank. A pony with a talent for aerial reconnaissance, Quill thought to himself, of course she’d be recruited for something like this. The thought helped to quiet the others that said she had been recruited to encourage Quill to provided resources. He knew that the expedition had little funding and his maps and books would be very helpful. Quill scolded himself for thinking that. Not everything was about him.
It wasn’t much longer until the train was almost at the siblings’ destination. Quill decided now would be a good time to wake his sister.
Feather Tip got up slowly and shook her head vigorously as the train came to a halt. She checked her reflection in the window to make sure her copper coloured mane was just the way she liked it.
Quill just stood there with his saddle bag on, watching his sister. The routine brought back memories of him waking her up when they were foals.
Feather turned and saw her brother looking at her. “What,” Feather asked while checking herself over, “do I have something on me?”
“No,” Quill replied, a smile appearing on his face, “just reminiscing.”
Feather just walked passed him with a smile matching his and headed towards the exit. Quill followed right behind her.
The second Feather Tip left the train a black stallion with a gray mane appeared in front of her, seemingly out of nowhere.
“Shadowhoof,” Feather Tip exclaimed, her forelimbs wrapping around the stallions neck in a hug, “, it’s been too long.”
“It’s good to see you to, Feather,” the stallion said, looking more than a bit uncomfortable with the sudden embrace. He patted her on the back as she let go of him.
Quill came out from behind feather and nodded at the stallion. “Shadow, it’s good to see you.”
“Likewise, Quill,” Shadowhoof responded. “I heard you would be joining us. Are you sure that is a good idea,” Shadowhoof continued.
“Of course he’s sure.” The response came from a light green pony that had draped his right forelimb over Quills’ shoulder. “It’s not like this is going to be overly dangerous.”
Quill politely moved out of the grasp and looked the earth pony over. He had of course expected Dr. Hunt to be here. What he hadn’t expected was for him to be wearing something that looked like it had been taken straight out of the wardrobe of Daring Do. The only thing that was different was the addition of a sheath holding a large knife. A machete, Quill corrected himself.
“It’s good to see that all of you have made it safely,” The doctor said as he walked in front of the three ponies. Quill noticed the cutie mark of an alligator as he did this. “Now before we discuss anything to do with the expedition lets go to the place I’ve acquired for us to use as a barracks for the night. Follow me.”
The doctor walked off. The three ponies just stared at each other before following.
On the way to the starting base Quill and Feather Tip were able to catch up with their old friend.
“I’m surprised to see you doing a job like this,” Quill said as he took in his surroundings. It was a small village, the kind were you would expect everypony to know each others name. “I thought you were working in Los Pegasus with that acrobatic group.”
“Ya,” Feather piped in, “I’ve been meaning to go and see one of your shows.”
“Management problems,” Shadowhoof muttered. “We’re on hiatus for a couple weeks so I needed to find a job until then. The doctor was paying well, so I decided to join.” Shadowhoof looked at Quill. “It’s not like this is my first expedition.”
“Don’t bother trying to talk him out of it,” Feather responded, “If I couldn’t do it then you don’t stand a chance.”
“Anyway,” Shadowhoof said, leaving the subject behind, “they mentioned that they needed a flyer, and I remember the last time you wrote you said something about looking for more work so I mentioned you.”
“Well it’s nice to have you with us,” Feather said. “It’s nice that the three of us together again.”
The three nodded in agreement. They continued walking until Dr. Hunt stopped them.
“Here we are,” the green stallion said, gesturing in front of him, “the barracks.”
Quill just looked forward. The “barracks” that Hunt had lead them to was a shack that was badly in need of repair. Quill wondered if there were any beds in their or if they were going to sleep on the floor.
Hunt walked into the building, followed by Feather. Quill looked at Shadowhoof who just shrugged and walked in. Quill let out a sigh and followed.
The interior was nicer then Quill expected. It resembled a one room log cabin, with bunk beds on the other three walls. Over in the corner Quill noticed there was a pile of bags with expedition gear in them. In the center of the room there was a square table covered in maps and books with a light hanging over it. Sitting at that table looking at the maps and books was a forest green unicorn with a compass for a cutie mark. She continued to focus on the maps and books on the table after they were all in the building.
“Everypony, this is Tira Point, our navigator,” Hunt said. “Tira, this is Shadowhoof, Feather Tip, and Quill Tip,” Hunt continued, pointing at each one of us as he introduced us.”
“Hello,” Feather said as she walked up to Tira and stuck her hoof out.
“A pleasure,” Tira responded absentmindedly, giving Feathers’ hoof a weak shake.
Quill looked around the room again and noticed that Shadowhoof had put his bags in the opposite corner then all the others and was now sitting on the top bunk of the left wall, which was impressive because they seemed to made to be only accessible to a pegasus. This did not surprise Quill. What did surprise Quill was when he turned around and realized the other three ponies were all staring at him.
“I assume those are the maps I requested,” Tira said as she looked at Quills’ saddle bag.
Quill turned to look at his saddle bag. “They’re the maps I was told to bring,” he said. “I also brought some books and charts I thought would be useful.”
“Would you please just give me the maps I asked for,” Tira said in a flat tone.
Quill did as he was asked. A yellow aura surrounded the maps as they lifted out of the bag and were levitated in between Quill and Tira. There a green aura then replaced the his as Tira took the maps and laid them out with the others on the table. Quill noticed that Hunt and Feather were sitting at the table now and decided to join them.
The four ponies each took a seat at one end of the table and were all paying attention. Shadowhoof stayed on his bunk but made it quite obvious that he was also focused on what was happening. Dr. Hunt looked at Tira who looked back at him and nodded. Hunt then turned to address the other ponies.
“The expedition we will be going on is a search operation. Inside this forest is a ruin that, judging from my research, contains many artifacts that are very valuable.”
“Uh, excuse me,” Quill said with a hoof raised. Everyone just looked at Quill as he lowered his hoof embarrassingly. “I’ve done some research about the forest, and it seems it was very thoroughly explored a few centuries ago, and ever since then nothing of interest has occurred in the area.”
Dr. Hunt just looked at Quill Tip from across the table. Then a big smile appeared on his face. “You’re quite right Quill;” the doctor said, “Anything of archaeological value was long ago removed, excavated, and studied. But what we are after,” Hunt continued, “is something that was placed their after those extraditions.”
Everypony just stared at the doctor, everypony except for Tira, who was focused on the maps. Dr. Hunt just sat there with the same smile on his face, not saying a word. Quill was considering asking him what it was they were after when he finally spoke up.
“A long time ago, Canterlot University decided that some artifacts were too dangerous to be studied in large urban areas like Canterlot. It was decided that search parties would be sent out to find suitable locations that would be safe to test possibly dangerous magical artifacts.
“One of these locations,” Hunt continued, “was an intact castle ruin located in the forest nearby were many valuable artifacts were sent for study. Sadly, contact with the research team was lost quite a while ago and this has caused us to lose many valuable artifacts. Our mission is to go to the castle and discover what has happened to all the artifacts located there.”
“Question,” Shadowhoof said as he leaned over his bunk and looked down on Dr. Hunt, “if the artifacts at this castle are so valuable, why is the university only sending five ponies, three of which aren’t even members of the university, to retrieve them?”
“Well…” Dr. Hunt said nervelessly as he looked around the room at the ponies.
“The doctors’ evidence wasn’t enough to convince the board of chairmen that the castle was one of the off-site research areas,” Tira said as she moved one of the maps closer to another and looked at them carefully, her horn lightly glowing as she did so.
“Thank you Tira,” Hunt said sarcastically. The doctor then turned to the others and let out a long sigh. “Due to pour filing and other factors, most of the records relating to the off-site research areas were lost or damaged, but my research gives great support to the theory that this ruin was one of the locations.”
“Why didn’t you just find someone who worked at the research areas,” Quill asked. “Wouldn’t they know anything about the ruin if it used to be one of them?”
This question was again answered by Tira. “Only ponies who worked at the specific research area had any knowledge of it, and the only name to come up for that specific area is a Professor P. N. Esquire and it is the only place that name is mentioned in any document,” she said in a way that made it sound like she had said this many times before.
“I’m sorry,” Feather Tip said, “but how long ago did we lose contact with this outpost?”
“Well…” Dr. Hunt said, “more than a century ago.”
The room was completely silent except for the sound of shuffling papers coming from Tiras’ work. No pony said a word for quite awhile until Tira shouted.
“I found it!”
Everypony turned to face Tira who was circling a part on one of the maps with a quill. Dr. Hunt seemed the most exited.
“See,” the doctor said, the smile from earlier returning to his face, “it’s not like we are going into the forest blind. Tira is the best navigator out there. By Celestia, it’s her special talent, we know where the castle is, and as he had said,” Dr. Hunt pointed to Quill, “the forest has been well explored. How dangerous could it be,” Hunt finished his last part more as a statement then a question and then stared at the three friends and waited for a response.
Quill saw Feather look up at Shadowhoof. The black stallion just shrugged and then turned over onto his back as to go to sleep. Feather then looked at Quill and he met his sisters’ eyes. He knew if he was going to back out this would be his last chance. Quill looked Feather straight in the eyes and nodded.
Feather turned to Dr. Hunt and just said, “We’re in.”
“Good!” Dr. Hunt exclaimed. “Now we should all get some rest, we’ll be leaving first thing in the morning.” The doctor then climbed into the bunk under Shadowhoofs’ and got ready to fall asleep.
Feather flew up to the bunk opposite Shadowhoofs’ and Quill climbed into the one under that one. Tira went to the bunk opposite the door. Once everypony was in bed the light went out.
“Goodnight,” Quill said, and everypony responded in kind. Quill then turned to face the wall and tried his best to fall asleep.
The doctor had meant what he said when he had told the group when he said they would be leaving first thing in the morning. What he hadn’t mentioned was that they would be waking up two hours before sunrise to make sure everything was ready. Quill hadn't been expecting this, but he didn't let it get to him. What was getting to him was the pain of his hooves from walking six hours straight. When they came to the clearing and were told to take a brake, Quill almost collapsed.
“Why are you lying on your back with your hooves stuck up in the air,” Feather asked while looking down at him with a small smirk.
“Because this is the only way I can lie without letting any of my hooves touch the ground” Quill said as he rolled over and splayed his legs out.
“Well,” Feather said as she lay down next to her brother, “make the much of this as you can, as soon as Shadowhoof gets back from scouting were leaving immediately.”
Quill took his sisters words to heart and closed his eyes. Quill new he wouldn't be able to fall asleep and decided just to listen to the noise around him. When Quill heard the sound of a pony approaching he was afraid that they had to leave already before he realized it was Tira coming to ask Feather a few questions. Quill listened to their conversation and the sound of pencil on paper for a while before focusing on the sounds of the forest
…
Quill was surprised when all that he could hear was the conversation between Feather and Tira behind him. Quill opened his eyes and stared into the forest. He had chosen to lie down a small distance away from the edge of the clearing and wasn't able to get a good look through the trees . Quill stood up and moved a little closer, continuing to stare into the oddly quite forest.
“What's wrong?”
Feather startled Quill. He hadn't noticed that his sister had walked up next to him, let alone that he was now the focus of attention for her and Tira.
“It's just...” Quill began to tell the two ponies staring at him why he was focused on the forest when he started to hear a sound. Quill soon realized it was only the rustling of the trees. Quill put the noise to the wind and began to continue his response.
Wait, Quill thought, before he was able to continue speaking, there is no wind. As this realization came to mind, Quill noticed the rustling was getting louder as he heard shouting coming from behind him.
“Get back,” Dr. Hunt shouted as he galloped towards him.
Suddenly, Quill was picked up by Feather and was flying backwards. Before Quill could say anything, a huge manticore jumped out of the forest and landed about an inch from were he had been standing only seconds ago and let out a loud roar.
“Oh...” was all Quill was able to say before he was unceremoniously dropped by his sister.
“... horse apples,” Feather finished as she dropped her brother a short distance from the ground. She looked down to make sure Quill was okay before retuning her focus to the manticore.
Dr. Hunt was standing a few feet from the creature, his machete held in his mouth. Suddenly, the manticore charged at the doctor swiping it's claws at him, but Hunt jumped out of the way at the last second, cutting it's paw as he did so.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Feather flew behind the maticor to look for an opening. Suddenly, the manticore's tail came shooting at her. Feather was just able to dodge to the side of the poison bard, but wasn't quick enough to dodge when the tail swatted her to the side.
Feather landed on the ground and skidded before coming to a stop. By the time she got up, the manticore had turned to face her with its wings spread open, seeing what it considered easy pray. Feather tried to stand tall while ignoring the throbbing pain from the side she'd been hit and the wing she had landed on. That's when she noticed the dark figure jump out of the forest into the air.
Shadowhoof did a somersault in the air before landing dead center on the back of the manticore. The beast thrashed around as it howled in pain, trying to shake Shadowhoof of. In it's frantic acts to get Shadowhoof of its back, the manticore had turned its side to face Feather Tip. Feather took advantage of this and charged at full speed. Once she was close, Feathe jumped and headbutted the manticor right in the side. As she made contact Feather heard a crack and felt ribs move into unnatural positions. Moving back from the creature, Feather saw Shadowhoof jump of and take a position similar to hers on the opposite side it.
Surrounded by two attackers on either side and distracted by the pain, the manticore did not notice the third attacker charge at its head before it was to late. Hunt, machete in mouth, lunged at the manticores face, leaving a large gash down its right eye.
Shadowhoof, Dr. Hunt, and Feather Tip closed in on the manticore as it backed closer to the clearings edge. In pain and surrounded, the manticore let out one last roar before turning and fleeing into the forest. The three ponies all let out a sigh of relief together.
With a look of relief on her face, Feather turned to look at her brother and saw that he had moved from where she had dropped him. Feather saw that Quill was frantically flipping two books he had taken out of his saddle bag with a look of distress on his face. It didn't take long for Feather to figure out why.
Lying at Quill's hooves was the dark green body of Tira Point.