//------------------------------// // Experiments // Story: The Olden World // by Czar_Yoshi //------------------------------// Back at her camp, Starlight ate swiftly, not taking the time to properly rest. Her head was too abuzz to do so, swinging back and forth between creativity and defeat at hundreds of times per second. She had seen smoke. Civilization must be near. Yet, an insurmountable drop and miles of jungle still lay between her and her destination. She picked up a stone from the lakeshore and threw it, letting the ripples disturb her reflection. The gale from the canyon blew here, as well, but by some geographical oddity the surface of the lake was protected from the winds and remained still and placid, even as the conifers threatened to topple. The town was clearly built next to the river. If she could follow the river, she'd find it for sure. Sosa had had a boat, but with the rope in that condition... it would probably be useless, too. A thought suddenly occurred to her: while the rope had been useless, she had struggled long and hard to get the crates open. Those had to be sturdy. It wasn't impossible that she could make her own boat from them, should she find a way of surviving the waterfall. Immediately dropping her meal, Starlight scampered back to the cave, eager to test her hypothesis. She arrived, chest puffing and saddlebags bearing the full weight of her supplies. Around her, illuminated by the light of her horn, Sosa's crates lay exactly where she had left them... but they wouldn't stay that way for long. Starlight licked her lips, selecting the one she remembered to contain bottles. The climbing spikes might come in handy, now that she had seen what lay ahead, but never this. Starlight sized the crate up, taking a minute to rest and even her breathing. Then, she shoved against it with her shoulder and telekinesis both, pushing it toward the subterranean river. It ground along the dusty, stony floor, much heavier than the one with nothing but dry rope. Grunting as she pushed, Starlight leaned harder... and barely caught herself when it suddenly disappeared over the lip. A colossal splash rose up, soaking her face and mane, but she leaned into it, hornlight intensifying as she eagerly watched the choppy, speeding surface of the river. A second later, the crate surfaced, bobbing madly as it surged along and was swept out of sight. Starlight grinned triumphantly: if they could float with that much weight inside, surely they could carry her. Forget having a whole boat, she could just use a plain old crate! With a confident smirk, Starlight hoisted the rope crate in her aura and began trotting back toward the beginning of the cave. Starlight's crate gave a light plop as she dumped it into the shallows in a still part of the lake. She then sat back, watching. The blue sky scrolled by overhead, and trees bowed over, leaning in with interest as Starlight Glimmer apparently did nothing. Her crate bobbed placidly, occasionally drifting away from the shore and being dragged back by a warding prod of telekinesis. After half an hour, Starlight pulled it out and looked in... and frowned. The walls were wet, and nearly an inch of water had pooled in the base. She yanked it up further onto the shore, dumped it out, and sat back to think. At best, a leaky boat would be extremely uncomfortable to ride in. At worst, it would sink. She tipped it back on its side and examined it, but couldn't see any obvious holes - the boards must have just been loose in general. Sitting back and sighing into the sky, Starlight wracked her brain for answers... and one quickly surfaced in her memories. Trees were covered in sap. Tree sap was sticky. Once, she had been playing and covered herself in the stuff, and water hadn't been able to wash it out. Would the same apply here? Willing to find out, Starlight stood up and approached the nearest pine. She tongued the inside of her mouth, imagining the best way to collect the stuff, and eventually settled for brute force. Her telekinetic aura expanded and encircled the tree. Starlight was no expert at levitating liquids, but pine sap was more solid than liquid anyway. It would work out. She rubbed and rubbed, but nothing seemed to happen. Frowning, she rubbed harder... and suddenly broke off, feeling the twinge of an oncoming headache. That wouldn't do at all, not after how long she had waited to get her magic back. Reluctantly, Starlight gave up, flopping onto her back and staring moodily up at the trees. Several hours passed, during which a lone cloud scuttled across her vision. She glared at it, daring it to rain on her. It chickened out, floating off into the distance without so much as a drop. Starlight thumped the back of her head against the soft forest floor and sighed. When she got up, it took only a brief glance at the mirrorlike lake to tell her she had twigs in her mane. Grumbling, she didn't bother to brush them aside, enthusiasm cut sharply short by her forced break. The one positive was that it had worked; her headache never fully materialized. Still, she glared treasonously at her stubby lilac horn. Why couldn't she use magic for days on end like grown unicorns? The crate lay where she had left it, drying in the midday sun. Perhaps she'd settle for a leaky boat after all. If only Sosa had had something to say about how to build a boat, rather than how awesome his was. It didn't matter anyway, she thought miserably, mood failing to reflect the brightness of her surroundings. She still had no way of getting down the waterfall, let alone with a giant wooden crate. Completely ignoring her earlier fatigue, she channeled all her frustrations into her horn in one swift burst and conjured up a giant manacrystal in midair. With a yell, she slammed it into the water, taking bitter satisfaction in the giant splash that arose. Seconds later, it bobbed to the surface. Starlight blinked as the block vanished, her spell dropped in surprise. That stuff floated too? Her curiosity suddenly returning, she felt her spirits lifting, returning a grin to her face... until her horn stabbed her with a bolt of dizziness. Growling loudly and unhappily, Starlight stomped over to her crate, flipped it upside-down over her like a shelter, and took a long nap.