"Well, I'll be," the Doctor remarks in an amused tone not long after he, Feather Wind, and Stern Wing exited the TARDIS. "It really is a cargo hold we're in. Fancy that!”
"I told you we were," reminds Stern Wing as she clings to one of the cargo crates to help her not slip and slide all over the place as the ship heavily tilts in various directions. While she does that, Feather Wind clings tight on her back, and draped over his back, is his mystical Mist Cloak. As Stern Wing continues to regard the Doctor, she grows annoyed. "What? You didn't believe me?"
“Oh it's not that,” the Doctor quickly assures her as he, too, clings to the rope securing a crate. When he said that, Stern Wing's look at him shifts from annoyance to curiosity. He goes on to explain, “I'm only surprised because I've recently started to notice the TARDIS has landed in a storage area of some sort an inordinate number of times. If I combine this with every other time that the TARDIS has landed in some place other than storage, then that is, by far, the majority. However, when it comes to one specific category, it tends to be a storage facility of some type more often than not. Plus, this time, we arrived here after I deliberately set a random course with just a few conditions in place, and lo and behold. We land in yet another storage facility of some type.” While one hoof continues to cling onto a rope, another rubs the bottom of his chin as he gives the TARDIS a discerning look while he says aloud, “I wonder if there is a hidden message here that the old girl is trying to tell me.”
“You talk to your ship?” Stern Wing asks with a peculiar look at the Doctor. “Can you get any stranger?”
“Absolutely!” the Doctor replies immediately and enthusiastically.
Stern Wing rolls her eyes as she says, “I shouldn't have asked.”
“Never mind that. Does anypony notice anything else strange about this place?” Feather Wind asks aloud.
The Doctor snickers a bit due to the term, “anypony”.
“Like what?” Stern Wing reflects at her friend on her back as she turns her head to look back at him over her right shoulder.
“Look at all this metal we're surrounded by,” Feather points out. “Rusty metal in some places, but still! How did everypony on this ship get a hold of this much metal if they don't have any or very little access to dry land? A wooden ship would make more sense because at least it's possible to grow some trees in the middle of an ocean voyage.”
“An astute observation, my young friend!” the Doctor commends. “And one which I have a partial answer to. Besides some of the eras where they do have access to dry land, as rare as that may be, the natives also had some access to underwater mines via submersible ships and cities or they traded with their aquatic neighbors. At least, that's the story that I know of from the dimension of this world where I was originally from.”
“And it looks like they have some access to other materials, too,” says Stern. “Look at most of these crates. They are made of wood. It looks like much of the ropes and nets securing them appear to be made of hemp.”
“I guess that is a decent enough explanation for their access to metal,” Feather Wind says with a simple shrug. “This also tells us they have some skills in metallurgy, or at least some of them do.
"Are you sure this is an alien world, Doctor? Because, so far, I'm seeing a unusual number of parallels to our world."
“Alien worlds can still speak the language when it comes to common sense,” the Doctor replies. “If they have access to any kind of materials even remotely similar to the ones on your planet, it only makes sense they'd eventually develop techniques to utilize it. Also, just because you are in an alien world doesn't mean everything within it is wholly different. Some can be, though, and I'll do my best to steer clear of those which are utterly unsustainable to our kind. But just because I avoid those places for survival purposes doesn't mean they don't exist. The universe is very large, my friend, and all kinds of fantastical things exist within it.”
“Wow! That boggles my mind,” Stern Wing expresses. “Similarities aside, it's hard to believe that we really are on an alien planet. And, while the Doctor was an alien in our world, here we all are the alien visitors. There might be an intense reaction to that from the natives so it is best to remain on our guards.”
“But aren't you always on your guard, Stern?” Feather Wind asks casually. “That's kind of your thing.”
“Scoff if you like, but the one who tends to survive unexpected surprises is the one who remains prepared for them,” Stern Wing returns.
“I wasn't scoffing. It's just an affectionate observation,” Feather elaborates which causes Stern to blush for a brief moment, but she clears it a second later as she puts her serious game face back on.
“Be that as it may, I suggest we venture on,” Stern Wing urges. “I don't think we're going to encounter anypony that needs saving here.”
The Doctor nods in agreement with nearly as serious an expression as he says, "Agreed. Let's see where we might be more needed." To that end, he pulls out of his curious hidden pocket on his left flank his sonic screwdriver in his mouth. Somehow he fiddles with it before it shortly emits a curious, low-volume screeching noise. He turns his whole head with the device in his mouth as if to aim it in various directions.
“What are you doing?” Stern Wing asks curiously.
The Doctor finishes what he's doing first before spitting the device out of his mouth and onto his right hoof then says, "Scanning for lifeforms, and I believe I found some. Most of them are in that direction,” he nods in a direction they haven't explored yet, “but I'm much more concerned with the few I detected on the surface level of this vessel because they should be exposed to the elements.”
"Okay, seriously, is there anything that the device can't do?” Stern Wing exclaims questioningly. “You've used that thing in so many ways, I'm starting to think you're making it up.”
“Starting to?” Feather asks with emphasis toward Stern Wing.
Feather Wind notices a look of mischief sink into the Doctor's face as if to indicate the Time Lord grew tempted to give a joking answer for a moment, but instead decided to say, “What this thing does also depends on the skills of the one who wields it. A clever and skilled enough mind can do just about anything with any tool. The reason this thing is called a sonic screwdriver is because that is what the device was originally intended for. It used to be just a tool to screw or unscrew screws by using intermittent and variable frequency sonic vibrations. However, when I got a hold of it, I quickly realized its greater potential which made me think, 'Hey! In addition to using this for what it is designed for, why not also use this to break reality as well?' And so, with a bit of tinkering, a lot of practice, and some clever thinking, it has become an invaluable tool for just about any need. Let that be a lesson for you two. Always keep an open mind to expanded possibilities.
“Oh, and to answer your earlier question, the answer is; this thing cannot affect wood, unfortunately.”
“That's fascinating but we're wasting time,” Feather Wind reminds. “The larger number of collected lifeforms you detected earlier is likely in a lower and more secure deck of this ship which makes sense, of course. However, if there are also some on the upper deck during this intense weather condition then that is cause for concern. We should move to investigate that, and fast.”
“Agreed. This way,” says the Doctor as he crawls carefully in the direction where he detected some of the lifeforms.
The weight and significance of where they are did not fully hit Feather Wind until they exited through a door leading out of the cargo bay. Beyond that is the outside of this vessel. From there, they see a metal chain bridge that leads to another separate ship. The cross-section chains form the basis for the bridge and smaller nets close the gap between the chains. This provides a solid enough step for each hoof. Beyond this bridge, there are significantly larger chains in intermittent metal tubes which serve the dual purpose of keeping both ships from drifting apart and yet also keep them from smashing together. Based on how thick, old, and rusty those huge chain links are, this is obviously meant to be a permanent modification, meaning these two vessels are designed to never drift apart.
There are more of these things out there. A lot more. If seen from high above, it would have looked like a large fleet of square shape ships that are literally linked together like the patches on a square quilt. Altogether, it sort of makes a giant city floating together, but they are linked together in such a way that keeps them flexible. As such, each individual square can curve and bend over the waves instead of buckling by putting too much stress in the center.
More than that, though, Feather Wind is deeply affected by the weather itself. Not just because of the awe of its terrible might, but because he has a deep and intrinsic connection to nature and anything to do with the sky in particular. As such, he has learned to communicate with it on a level that is very different from verbal communication. It's more like a "knowing". Through that communication, Feather hears the song of the wind which, for him, does have a different pitch to it compared to his native world. For him, it is a much stronger indication that he is, indeed, in an alien world because the spirits in nature sing differently.
Not only does he hear and feel that song, but he quickly realizes that the spirit of the wind notices him noticing it and it is surprising that anypony from the mortal realm can hear it because very few others do. It feels to Feather Wind that the wind grew excited at that discovery and quickly became chatty as if it says, "Wow! You can understand me? That's awesome. Few others do. In that case, let me tell you about the entire history of this planet." Then BOOM! A bombardment of information suddenly crashes into Feather Wind as if the spirit of the wind on this planet couldn't wait for its entire story all at once.
“FEATHER WIND! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?” Feather hears Stern shout in concern loud enough to have a chance to be heard over the powerful storm, but since he is so dizzy and delirious because of what just happened, Stern Wing's voice sounds more distant and echo-y.
For a while, Feather just isn't strong enough to reply other than to continue to struggle to cling to her, but he does try a little (and fail).
It takes a moment for Feather to adjust to the huge download of information, but it later occurs to him that it isn't as heavy as it initially felt because the spirits of nature do not keep track of every single little insignificant detail like what bowl of soup an individual had exactly one thousand, one hundred and twenty-six years ago. Instead of that, it only cares about and is aware of itself and its job. The only time spirits of nature tend to notice the significantly more ephemeral mortals dwelling around them is when those mortals do something that significantly impacts nature directly, regardless if the outcome is positive or negative. Or both. As such, Feather Wind gets information about this planet from the planet's perspective which largely entails things like the cycle and flow of energy. Also, spirits like that tend to not keep track of time the same way mortals do so it's very hard to tell, based on the story given, the precise order of when significant events happened in the past. Instead of that, Feather Wind's mind could only frame it roughly in various types of eras in the past like the era of ice, the era of storms, the era of calm tropical waters, and so on. Altogether, the information is not different enough to overwhelm Feather in some significant, ongoing way. He basically got a synopsis of what happened and there is a simple flow to it like nature usually is if it isn't disrupted by something sudden, intense, and/or unnatural.
“Are you alright?!" the Doctor's voice blares through Feather Wind's mind with shocking clarity. It takes Feather a moment to realize that the Doctor just communicated to him telepathically. It also helped to clear Feather Wind's mind. He quickly regains conscious awareness and focus again. Upon doing so, he sees the Doctor's head veer back enough so Feather can see the Doctor's face, which means they touched foreheads a moment ago. Maybe that was how the Doctor facilitated such clear telepathic communication a moment ago.
“Yes. Thank you,” Feather tries to say but he quickly notices that the storm is so loud out here that it drowned out his voice, so he repeats himself except this time in a shouting volume. “YES. THANK YOU.”
"WHAT HAPPENED?" the Doctor checks. In doing so, Feather Wind can see not just concern in the Doctor's eyes, but also an urgent need to gather information. After all, what Feather just experienced might be significant, and informing the Doctor could affect his future plans.
“I, AH . . . I SPOKE WITH THE ELEMENTS OF NATURE, OR RATHER THEY SPOKE WITH ME,” Feather Wind answers.
“HE CAN DO THAT,” Stern Wing adds. “IT'S A SPECIAL TALENT OF HIS TIED TO HIS CUTIE MARK.”
The Doctor nods in partial understanding to Stern Wing (because the concept of cutie marks is so new to the Doctor at this point) then he looks back at Feather Wind and awaits the small pony to continue. As he does so, he prompts, “AND WHAT DID THEY SAY?”
Feather Wind shakes his head and chuckles a bit then shouts, “YOU MIGHT NOT BELIEVE THIS, BUT THEY TOLD ME THIS WORLD'S ENTIRE HISTORY.”
“ARE YOU KIDDING US?!” Stern Wing asks in astonishment.
“FROM THEIR PERSPECTIVE,” Feather Wind elaborates at her then regards the Doctor again. “THEY DIDN'T SAY MUCH ABOUT THE MORTALS ON THIS PLANET. MAINLY THEY JUST TOLD ME ABOUT THE CYCLES OF NATURE THAT HAVE GONE BY.”
An interested look sinks into the Doctor's eyes. He takes a moment to digest the information he received. A moment later he realizes something and then focuses on the small blue unicorn again as he asks, "DID THEY SAY ANYTHING NOTEWORTHY ABOUT THIS PARTICULAR STORM?"
Feather Wind was almost going to say no to the Doctor, but then he thinks on that some more and eventually realizes the answer is actually yes. That little detail simply felt buried beneath all the other information they gave him. He takes a moment to focus on that particular set of information which shortly later makes him widen his eyes as he realizes something startling. He then focuses back on the Doctor as he shouts, "ACTUALLY, YES. THEY TOLD ME THE SOURCE OF THIS STORM IS UNNATURAL. IT'S LIKE THE ELEMENTS OF NATURE ARE BEING . . . OH. HOW BEST TO DESCRIBE IT? SORT OF LIKE . . . BEING TICKLED BY AN EXTERNAL SOURCE."
“EXTERNAL?” the Doctor reflects. “EXTERNAL LIKE OFF-WORLD?”
Feather takes a moment to reflect on that question before he shakes his head and shouts, "HONESTLY, THEY DON'T KNOW. THESE SPIRITS CAN'T TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THINGS LIKE THAT. THEY FOCUS MORE ON WHAT IS, NOT WHY IT'S THAT WAY. THEY MAY ALSO HAVE A LIMITED CAPACITY TO UNDERSTAND THINGS LIKE THAT OR TO EVEN TELL ONE WAY OR ANOTHER.”
"SORT OF LIKE FIRE SIMPLY REALIZING IT EXISTS, NOT THE FACT THAT IT NEEDS TO CONSUME SOME FLAMMABLE OBJECT AND OXYGEN TO EXIST," Stern Wing muses.
"BUT IT IS EXTERNAL," the Doctor reflects. "THAT MEANS SOMETHING IS CAUSING THE STORM AND IT ISN'T NATURE ITSELF." He looks across the chain bridge at the other ship. "IN THAT CASE, IF SOMETHING ELSE IS CAUSING IT THEN IT ALSO MEANS IT CAN BE STOPPED. WE SIMPLY NEED TO FIND AND DISABLE THIS THING. WE'LL HAVE TO REMOVE ITS FUEL SOURCE. THAT ALSO MEANS THAT, UNTIL WE DO, THIS CONDITION MAY REMAIN ONGOING.”
The Doctor then snaps his gaze back at Feather Wind as he asks, “HOW LONG HAS THIS STORM PERSISTED?”
“AHHHH … FROM NATURE'S PERSPECTIVE, NOT THAT LONG AT ALL,” Feather answers. “BUT REMEMBER. TO TIMELESS BEINGS LIKE THESE, IT MEASURES ENTIRE EPOCHS LIKE IT'S MERELY A DAY.”
"IN THAT CASE, WE SHOULD ASK ONE OF THE NATIVES IF WE FIND ANY," Stern Wing suggests then realizes something startling. "THAT IS IF WE CAN EVEN COMMUNICATE WITH THEM."
"OH, WE'LL BE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH THEM," the Doctor promises. "THOSE WHO TRAVEL ON THE TARDIS ALSO GAIN THE BENEFIT OF SOME TELEPATHIC COMMUNICATION. AMONG THOSE IS THE BENEFIT OF LANGUAGE TRANSLATION. THEY ARE STILL SPEAKING THEIR NATIVE TONGUES BUT WE'LL HEAR WHATEVER WE UNDERSTAND THE MOST."
“OH!” Stern Wing blinks. “THAT'S CONVENIENT.”
The Doctor nods as he explains, “MY PEOPLE QUICKLY REALIZED THE INCONVENIENCE OF TRAVELING TO OTHER WORLDS WITHOUT THE BENEFIT OF COMMUNICATION SO THEY QUICKLY DEVISED A MOSTLY FOOLPROOF WAY AROUND IT."
"MAKES SENSE," Feather agrees with a casual shrug as he passes a look from the Doctor to Stern but then he looks back at the Doctor as he realizes something else which prompts him to say, "OF COURSE, IF THAT'S TRUE, THERE MIGHT BE SOME ROOM FOR ERROR HERE. PERHAPS ONE SOCIETY INVENTED A WORD THAT HAS NO TRANSLATION IN SOME OTHER LANGUAGE BECAUSE IT NEVER OCCURRED TO THAT OTHER SOCIETY TO INVENT ONE. FOR INSTANCE, WHAT WORD WOULD THERE BE FOR 'SPACESHIP' TO A PRIMITIVE, STILL STRICKLY HUNTER/GATHERER SOCIETY?"
"EXACTLY," the Doctor agrees. "WELL PUT. THESE TELEPATHIC TRANSLATIONS FROM THE TARDIS CERTAINLY HELP, BUT IT'S NO SUBSTITUTE FOR DISCERNMENT AND GOOD-OLD FASHION COMMON SENSE. ALWAYS KEEP THAT IN MIND WHILE YOU TRAVEL WITH ME."
“WELL, NOW THAT WE HAVE THAT ESTABLISHED, LET'S CONTINUE,” Stern Wing suggests then looks back at Feather Wind. “YOU GOOD FOR THAT?”
Feather Wind nods as he shouts, “GO AHEAD. WHILE YOU DO, I'LL TRY TO HELP BY RAISING A FORCE BARRIER AROUND US. THAT SHOULD KEEP US FROM BEING BUFFETED BY THE WIND, RAIN, AND WAVES TOO MUCH. KEEP IN MIND, THOUGH, SINCE SOMETHING ELSE IS CAUSING THE STORM, I WILL HAVE LESS INFLUENCE OVER IT MYSELF SO I CAN'T RELY ON MY CUTIE MARK ABILITY AS MUCH TO PROTECT US, OR OTHERS, FROM THIS.”
“THAT MEANS YOU CAN'T FLY EITHER,” Stern Wing realizes. “YOUR TALENT IS A COMBINATION OF LIGHTENING YOUR BODY WEIGHT, CONTROLLING THE WINDS, AND GLIDING WITH YOUR CLOAK. HOWEVER, IF YOU CAN'T CONTROL THE WINDS BECAUSE SOMETHING ELSE IS DOING IT INSTEAD, THEN YOU'D SIMPLY BE BUFFETED ABOUT BY THE WINDS FAR MORE EASILY IF YOU DARE TO LIGHTEN YOUR BODY WEIGHT NOW, SO DON'T DO IT.”
Feather Wind nods as he says, “AGREED, BUT THAT'S ALMOST A MOOT POINT. WITH WEATHER THIS INTENSE, I WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO FLY EVEN IF I WAS BORN A NATURAL PEGASUS. AS FOR YOU, YOU'RE MUCH STRONGER THAN AN AVERAGE PEGASI BUT EVEN YOU WOULD PROBABLY BE OVERWHELMED BY THIS.”
“DEFINITELY,” Stern agrees. “I MIGHT ATTEMPT IT ONLY AS A LAST RESORT, BUT IT IS FAR TOO UNLIKELY TO SUCCEED UNDER THESE CONDITIONS SO I WON'T CONSIDER IT A RELIABLE OPTION EITHER.”
"I GUESS WE'RE ALL LIKEN TO EARTH PONIES NOW WHEN IT COMES TO OUR ABILITY TO FLY HERE," the Doctor figures. "WELP. THAT'S OKAY. WE STILL HAVE OTHER OPTIONS TO RELY ON. LET'S NOT CONCENTRATE TOO MUCH ON WHAT WE CAN'T DO AND RATHER FOCUS ON WHAT WE CAN AND, INDEED, MUST DO." He looks across at the other exit and entrance on the other side of this chain bridge. "ONWARDS AND UPWARDS, MY FRIENDS."