//------------------------------// // The Island // Story: Lunar Ambrosia // by Waxworks //------------------------------// After weeks of waiting and preparation, Thesis met on the coastline of the Lunar Bay with her team. She looked them over and performed roll call. “Banger?” “Here.” “Crash Test?” “Yes’m.” “Cumulus?” “Here.” “Dust Devil?” “Sure.” “Stormy Eye?” “Yep.” “Shilling?” “I’m here.” “Aaaand, Desperado?” “Aye.” Desperado was the one and only unicorn that had applied to be part of the expedition. She had hoped that if she got any unicorns, she would at least have more than one applicant, then she could pair the two of them together. As it was, having a single one meant that one pegasus was going to be mostly grounded, which would pose a problem. But Thesis couldn’t complain now, these were every applicant she had, and at least Desperado could teleport, no matter how gruff he looked and sounded. Thesis put down the roll and walked in front of the team. She waved to them, and Dust Devil snickered. She blushed, but cleared her throat and spoke. “Good day to you ponies. You’ve all been given an extended briefing on where we’re going and what we intend to do over there. “The island has no name, as you know. Some ponies call it Beanberry island due to the berries that grow there, but it’s not official. We’ll be the first ponies to spend any length of time there in decades. If all goes well and the research pans out, we’ll probably get to name the blasted thing. “We’ll also be searching for the natives, and again, if all goes well we’ll be lauded for our work upon returning with information about this tribe. Buuuut the tribe isn’t known for being welcoming. We may get attacked. We may get poisoned, and yes, some of us may die if we’re not careful. That’s why the instructions I gave you cover every possible scenario we may encounter within the reach of my imagination. There are certainly more, but those are the ones I thought might likely happen. “On that note, remember the golden rule: At the first sign of possible danger, fly or teleport back here. You’ve demonstrated your flying abilities, and unless a wing is injured, I expect you to make your way straight back here. Call for help using the radio you should have on you at all times on the specified medical channel. They’ll be here waiting within ten minutes of receiving the call, and hopefully arrive before you do. Don’t return to base camp. Don’t call me. Come here.” Thesis stamped a hoof for emphasis and looked at the group. “Are there any questions?” Dust Devil raised his hoof. “Yes, Dust Devil?” “Yeah, you said we were getting’ paired up. Who’s getting’ paired with who? I don’t wanna end up with dead weight here.” He tilted his head toward Desperado. Desperado didn’t acknowledge the comment, but Thesis stepped closer to Dust Devil and looked him in the eye. “Let’s get something straight, Dust Devil. Everypony here is more than capable of escaping, and, if necessary, capable of dragging their injured partner to safety. That includes Desperado. So, if you do get paired with him, which you won’t, he’ll be able to drag your sorry ass back here to get fixed.” Thesis pulled away from him and walked toward the supplies. “Now let’s all play nice, okay? I ended up four ponies short, so we have to pull our weight just that much harder.” Desperado still got the brunt of the dirty looks as they made the preparations for the trip across the water. He was able to carry several heavy boxes in his magic to lighten the load, but he’d never been to the island, and they had to carry him in the supply net. They set all the boxes, crates, and barrels in the net, and each pony put on a harness at different portions of the net so that everything fell neatly into the center, including Desperado. The initial liftoff was careful, letting the items fall slowly and settle. Once they were in place, Desperado teleported himself on top of the pile, and picked up the remainder to carry. then they lifted off and began the slow flight over to the island itself. It was a rather short distance, comparatively, but it wasn’t very long as the average pegasus flies. The only thing that was going to take this trip so long was the supplies they were bringing. “So how come *grunt* the unicorn gets to ride? Why doesn’t he just teleport there?” Dust Devil demanded. Stormy eye groaned. “Because the island is too dangerous to just go dropping in without knowing where you’re going to end up, Dusty. He could teleport right into the middle of the native’s camp.” “Isn’t that what we want to find?” “Yes, but we don’t want to scare them. That’s a good way to get killed.” Dust Devil grunted and flapped a little bit harder, flying up just a touch. Desperado was shifted slightly and had to right himself, but he didn’t drop anything, nor did he look at Dust Devil. Dust Devil just smirked. “Quit bothering each other already and fly steady! If you willfully damage any of the equipment, Dust Devil, it will be coming out of your pay!” Thesis shouted back at them. Dust Devil grunted, but evened out his flying, steadying the net of supplies. The rest of the flight was uneventful, until they arrived at the landing site Thesis had picked out. She had performed several fly-by’s of the island, looking for a spot that was close to the coastline they had just left, but looked like it was safe from ill-weather effects, high-tide, and easy to escape from attacking ponies at. She had found a cliffside spot, so that one flank was protected by the drop, but it was surrounded on every other side by trees. Beanberry bushes covered the ground, and choked the bases of many of the trees, but that was to be expected. There was no escaping the beanberries anywhere on the island. They approached the landing site, and slowly lowered the net to the ground. Desperado teleported down from the net and pulled the supplies to a safe position as the pegasi lowered it. He shifted things as they settled to avoid breakage, crushing beanberries as they landed. Once the supplies had all settled safely, the rest of the team landed and rested their wings. Thesis didn’t waste any time in ordering them around in order to secure the site. “Alright team! No rest for the wicked, and to the natives, we’re probably wicked outsiders, so let’s get base camp set up. Remember your partner, stick with them, and never let them out of your sight! This is for safety’s sake, so don’t go trying to sneak off and see the island yourself,” Thesis said. The group had all been briefed on what was expected of them upon arrival to the island, and the ponies grouped up and got to work with thankfully little talk. Dust Devil and Cumulus cleared a spot for the tents, pushing back the beanberry bushes and cleaning up the berries they had squashed. Banger and Crash Test trotted out a perimeter for safety where they would set up the tripwire alarm (One could never be too careful!), and Shilling and Stormy Eye flew over the immediate area just outside the soon-to-be perimeter. That left Thesis herself and Desperado to unpack the crates and barrels. Desperado had already begun lifting things out of the net and setting them down on crushed beanberries. The bottoms of every barrel and everyponies hooves were quickly becoming stained with the purple juice. It was poisonous, so everypony had been warned not to rub their eyes or lick their hooves. Everything had to be done with mouths, wings, or magic. And carefully! Thesis helped roll barrels out of the net so they could pack it back up, and thought it a good time to ask Desperado some questions. “Why did you accept the invitation despite being the only unicorn, Desperado?” “Pay’s good,” he answered. “It’s dangerous work, though. The natives may not take kindly to us.” “I been shot at before.” “Ever explored an unexplored island before?” “Nope.” “Are you worried about anything?” “Nope.” Thesis heaved a little sigh and kept dragging crates, barrels, and bags away from the net. Desperado was clearly not the type to talk much, and wasn’t volunteering any information. Talking to him any further would be like pulling teeth. He was her partner, too, so she would have to get used to this. At the very least, he was magically capable. His resumé had included such skills as teleportation – which was required – shields, beams, powerful telekinesis, and digging, to name a few. He had demonstrated all of them to her satisfaction, but the resumé had been written simply. If she hadn’t been without other volunteers, she wouldn’t have accepted him. In his cover letter he had written only: “I got magic. Here’s a list –“ and had left it at that. He had all the useful unicorn skills she could imagine, but he was very taciturn. He was obedient and helpful thus far, but his silence was disconcerting. That very reason was why she had partnered herself with him instead of one of the others. “Desperado, find me the crate with the quills and parchment. Until Dust Devil and Cumulus are done, we’ll map out base camp to start with. This will be the start of the map we make.” Desperado grunted, but started prying open crates with his magic, searching through them for the supplies. He found them quickly, presenting her with an oiled sack containing parchment, quills, and ink. Thesis took the supplies and pulled it open. She set the inkpot on top of a barrel and flew up to sketch out the secion of the island, including topographical markers. This spot was open to the air, so it had probably been mapped, but she would need to connect it to the rest of the island. As she was looking over the island from above, and now that she had actually landed on the island instead of just flown by, it was really clear just how much of the island was choked by the beanberries. The bush they grew from was spider-like in its growth, and covered the sides of the cliff, clinging to the sheer rock face, leaving only sparse patches of stone free of the grasping vines. Every ground surface was covered in it, with the plants choking out every other fern, bush, or flower. The plants crawled around under the trees, over rivers and creeks, and even reached out over the small beaches toward the bay itself, though the vines down at the bottom of the cliff that touched the ocean looked sickly. Thesis marked the height of the cliff and sketched out the image of the beanberry plant reaching the salt water. If the bay was the only thing keeping the beanberry plant from the rest of the land, that was good to know. After all, some seeds had surely fallen into the bay or some berries had been eaten by fish or birds. The question of how they hadn’t spread when they had taken over their island was one she had hoped to answer. Then there was the question of how the trees on the island had managed to flourish. If the beanberries had choked the land so much, how did the trees still grow? They should have been killed by the foliage when they were saplings struggling for sunlight. Did the beanberries help provide them the nutrients they needed with their juice, or was there some other effect at work here? Yet another question she hoped to answer. Thesis was interrupted when Stormy Eye came flying out to her. “Professor Thesis, you should come see this.” “See what? What have you found?” Thesis asked, as she stowed her quill in her bag. “We think it’s a native. Shilling is watching with Banger and Crash Test. We wanted you to come see for yourself before we did anything,” Stormy Eye said. A thrill went through Thesis at the thought of meeting a native. And so soon! She hadn’t expected to meet one at all, much less on the first day! She flew along with Stormy Eye running through possible things she should do when meeting them: Hold her hooves out wide, keep her wings closed tight, and offer something. “Stormy Eye, I want you to stop at the camp and ask Desperado to help you find the offering. Dried fruits and berries. It’s in a blue bag. Where are the rest waiting?” Stormy Eye pointed to a small patch of forest. “Right over there.” Banger and Crash Test were standing just outside the trees, waving up at the two. They were hidden behind a couple of trees with Shilling, looking downhill at something. Thesis landed next to them, for her own safety staying behind the trees with them. “What do we have?” Thesis asked. “Ma’am, we’re not exactly sure, but we think it’s a native,” Shilling said. “Right there.” Banger pointed a wing down the hill at something far below. Past a tangle of beanberry bushes, rocks, tree trunks, and low-hanging branches, was a face. At least, it looked like a face. At this distance the details were indistinct, but it appeared to be a pony’s face, possibly a stallion, staring up the hill at them. Thesis squinted to try to see better, but it didn’t help. “Somepony bring me some binoculars.” Thesis immediately had three pairs of hooves pushing binoculars at her. She took a pair and looked down the hill again. With the extra magnification, she could now see that it has the snout, the mane, the eyes, and even the ears of a pony, but that was all. She couldn’t see a neck. Thesis lowered the binoculars and turned to the assembled group. Stormy Eye and Desperado approached, carrying the dried fruit she had intended to offer. “I don’t think this is actually a pony.” Stormy Eye looked shocked. “What? But it looks like a face!” “Have any of you seen it move?” “No, ma’am. It just sits there,” Shilling said. “Exactly. I think it’s a trick, so we ought to go down there and have a closer look.” “If it’s a trick, uh… shouldn’t we be worried about a, uh… a trap?” Banger asked. Thesis shook her head. “No, if they wanted to attack us, they would have. If their tribe is like most ponies, then they’re simply warning us away. It’s a common tactic. Desperado, with me, and bring the offering. Shilling and Stormy, stay here. Banger and Crash, follow after us but maintain a good distance.” Thesis started walking down the hill with Desperado at her side, then turned back to look at the rest. “And remember: No flying! The journal says they’re all earth ponies. The last thing we want to do is scare them!” Thesis wandered down the hill with care. Beanberries squelched underneath her hooves, and made the trek more perilous than it would have been. The vines were everywhere and made good hoof-holds, but the slick juice from the berries made holding onto them difficult. They left a trail of purple on the rocks behind them, but they reached the bottom of the hill and could finally see the face properly. Thesis stepped toward it, approaching it while looking around her for any possible traps. The natives were likely better at hiding among the beanberries, so she didn’t expect to find anything. She motioned to Desperado to keep close to her. “Be ready to teleport us, Desperado. We won’t get much warning.” He said nothing, but his horn was lit. When Thesis got up next to the face, she found out she had been wrong. It was an actual pony’s face. Contrary to what Thesis had expected, unfortunately, it was not attached to a body. The skin was dried and stretched over the skull. It had been painted and padded out with mud and leaves, and the eyes were decorated stones. It had been propped up on a branch coming out of the tree it was next to, and positioned to stare up the hill. “Oh… well.” “Bad?” “It’s, uh… not pretty. Take a look.” Desperado came up to look at the skull. His face betrayed no signs of disgust or alarm, but he looked it over in a very clinical manner, as though it were a work of art he was appraising. “Not bad. Primitive. Too much purple, but that’s what they’re working with. They managed to capture a face from a distance, but it falls off the closer you get. Wouldn’t work without the trees and other foliage.” “Background in forensics?” Thesis asked. “Personal interest.” “Ah.” Thesis didn’t pry any further. “Let’s leave the offering for them here. Not on the ground, though. The beanberries grow too fast. Open the bag and try to put it on the branch next to the skull. We’ll come back to check on it periodically.” “Not taking it?” “I want to, but I don’t know if that will be an insult. We leave it for now.” Desperado pulled open the bag with his magic and arranged pieces of dried fruit on the branch. He didn’t put the whole thing there, but he put at least one of each piece of fruit. A slice of apple, pear, and a hoofful of dried cranberries. When they were sure the fruit was secured, they climbed back up the hill, picking their way through the purple mess they had left on their descent. Banger and Crash Test reached out to help them up the hill, pulling them past particularly steep sections. Then the four of them climbed the rest of the way up to where the remaining members of the team waited. Dust Devil and Cumulus had joined the group, curious to find out what had been discovered. “What was it?” Stormy Eye asked. “Was it a, uh… trap?” Shilling asked. “I mean… you’re not injured or dead, so, uh… I guess not.” He scratched at the back of his neck and gave a small smile. “What were you investigating?” Dust Devil walked forward, pushing past Shilling to march up to Thesis. “It’s a skull,” Thesis said simply. “A skull?” Dust Devil brushed past her and went to look down the hill where they’d left the offering. “That’s kind of awesome.” Thesis ignored him and addressed the rest of the group. “So, it is, indeed, an actual pony’s skull.” There was a murmur from the group at that. “We did not touch it, did not move it, and we left an offering of dried fruit there. I don’t want anypony going down there without my express permission. We’ll continue setting up camp as planned. If they had wanted us dead, they could have killed us. This is either a warning, a greeting, or some ritual of theirs, so we wait, watch, and see how they appreciate our offering. Understood?” The ponies all watching her, some with alarm painted clear on their faces, all nodded their understanding. Thesis turned to Dust Devil who was staring down the hill at the skull. “Dust Devil, you are not to approach the skull without my express permission, understood?” He waved a hoof at her and muttered, “Yeah, yeah.” Thesis marched over and stood in front of him. “Not, ‘Yeah, yeah’. I need a; ‘Yes, I understand. These are dangerous natives who will and have killed for no discernable reason. Do you understand me?” He looked at her, a frown on his face. “Yes, I understand, Professor Thesis.” “Thank you.” She turned away and marched back to the camp. “Now let’s get back to work. We want to have camp prepared before nightfall. Today is preparations, tomorrow, we venture into the island.” There was a little bit of grumbling from Dust Devil, but everypony went back to the camp to finish what they had started. A good portion of ground had been cleared of beanberries, and Thesis and Desperado began setting up tents and a campfire. While setting up the tents, it became just how deadly the beanberries were going to be. They were toxic when ingested as a whole berry, and the juice was enough to cause digestive pain and mild fever. But that meant the juice was still dangerous. But the ground was stained with purple splotches everywhere, deadly freckles dotting the stone and soaking into the dirt, creating a blackish mud everywhere there wasn’t solid stone. The beanberries were thriving so much that they couldn’t avoid them, and setting up a tent meant placing it on top of beanberries or beanberry juice. “Desperado, we’re going to need another coat of wax on some of the tents. I don’t think there’s enough exposed stone.” “Aye,” was all he said in response. “I was hoping it being one of the higher points on the cliff we would have more rock, but I couldn’t tell through the beanberries. We’ll have to make do. If we can’t get the tents safe, we might have to double up.” Desperado just grunted, but he began pitching the tents. Thesis measured out as much rock as possible and Desperado set them up one at a time. Thesis made him take them down once or twice in an effort to get the best use out of the stone they had available, but despite their best efforts, at least one tent was going to be set up on top of some of the dirt and mud. “Dammit.” Thesis looked at the three tents, then at the as-yet unassembled fourth. “Almost.” She looked at Desperado. “How do you feel about sleeping on poisonous mud that may or may not seep through the canvas of the tent?” “Probably slept on worse.” “I doubt that, but let’s set it up. One night probably won’t kill us. Just get another coat of wax on the cloth and let it try before you put it up, okay?” He nodded and began pulling out the stakes, poles, and rope. He got the tentcloth out and went hunting for the wax. They had brought plenty specifically to protect their clothes and tents from the beanberry juice in case prolonged contact to the juice made anypony ill. It was the only plan she had, but she hoped it would be enough. “Banger! Crash Test!” Thesis shouted. “Are you done?” Crash Test came flying up out of the trees not far away and waved as he swooped in. “Almost. What’s goin’ on, professor?” Thesis frowned. “Where’s Banger?” “He’s back-oh…” Crash Test could see the unapproving frown and flew back down. He came back, pulling Banger with him. “Sorry, professor. I forgot.” Banger kept his head low. “S-sorry. Miss uh… professor Thesis.” Her expression softened. “It’s alright, but remember why we have teams, okay? It’s dangerous territory, and leaving anypony alone is a recipe for death. This isn’t a field trip, this is serious business. Serious, and deadly, business.” She smiled at them. “Now, tell me how the perimeter is coming.” “We uh… we almost have the-the-the whole uh…” “We almost have the whole perimeter marked out, professor,” Crash Test interrupted. “We took it a short distance down the side of the cliff, but figured since they’re earth ponies, they probably can’t approach from there.” “Excellent. I’ll come take a look in a moment. As soon as you’re done, come back here, we need your help.” When Banger and Crash Test finished setting up the perimeter fence they flew back in to find Thesis and Desperado tamping down the soil for the last tent. Desperado had set up the tent to dry nearby, having added a second coat of wax to the outside. It would ideally be done before nightfall, and Thesis was putting the bedrolls and blankets inside the tents that were already set up. “Thank you for coming. Just help me get the emergency food inside the tents and away from the beanberry bushes. We need them isolated to avoid risking contamination,” Thesis said. “Yes ma’am,” Crash Test answered. After the food was taken care of, they unloaded testing devices, set up the radio, and organized who would be working on what, and where. As soon as she had a table set up, Thesis pulled out her journal and began writing things down in it, her curved hoofwriting swiftly covering the page. While she was writing, Dust Devil and Cumulus trotted back in, carrying their machetes and covered in purple flecks from head to tail. “Got the bushes chopped back all the way to perimeter. There’s still branches layin’ about, so watchyer step, but we, are gonna go wash up. Cause let me tell you, this shit feels nasty,” Dust Devil said. “That’s fine. Don’t swallow any of the juices, and don’t get separated from each other,” Thesis told him. “Yeah, yeah, ‘mom’.” Thesis watched him go for a moment, then frowned and continued writing notes down in her journal. Banger approached from the side, scuffing his hooves along the stone. “P-professor? Uh… could you come check the, uh… the perimeter fence? Crash Test and-and-and I would also like to go bathe soon,” he asked. “Oh, of course.” She closed her journal, stoppered the ink, and set down her quill. “I forgot about that in my haste to note everything we’d seen so far.” “It, uh… shouldn’t take long. We’re con-confident we g-g-got it.” He led her to the edge of the beanberry bushes. Dust Devil was right in that he and Cumulus had chopped the bushes up to the perimeter, but they had only cut the bushes and not cleared any of them. Vines littered the area near the fence, almost as thickly as the bushes themselves grew. She had instructed him to toss the vines over the edge of the cliff, but it would seem he had gotten lazy near the end. She’d have to talk to him about it when he was done, but he had earned this rest at least. She turned her attention to the perimeter fence that had been set up instead, admiring the work done by Banger and Crash Test. The two of them stood nearby, waiting to hear approval from her for their work. For their part, though, they had done an excellent job. The perimeter was made of thin wire strung along near the ground. It was intended to be nearly invisible, especially in the dark, and was magically-charged to emit a high-pitched keening attuned specifically to awaken somepony from sleep if it was cut or yanked. The natives likely had no magic, and so they wouldn’t know what to make of something like it. They would be scared off, but not harmed, and the ponies in the camp would be alerted and free to fly or teleport to safety. Thesis was worried it might make the natives hate them if they tripped it, but the safety of the team was paramount, and she wasn’t willing to risk their lives just for her next paper. She wandered along next to the perimeter, which had been strung between every tree nearby, from one cliff to another in a semi-circle around the camp. It was modest protection, but it was protection. “Excellent work, you two! This will hopefully keep the natives away until we establish some sort of relationship with them. You can go bathe. Just remember-“ “Don’t swallow the juices, and don’t separate,” Crash Test said. “Exactly.” “Thanks, professor! Be back soon!” And they were off. Thesis followed them back to camp, and they dove off the side of the cliff to the water, leaving Thesis with Desperado, who was idly sitting nearby whittling. She returned to her journal and opened it back to the page she had been working on. She tapped her quill against the margin for a moment, then turned to Desperado. “Desperado, I would like your opinion.” “Shoot,” he grunted. “Do you think the skull warning counts as first contact?” “Aye.” “Because I had only intended four ponies to remain on the island until we finally made contact, but in my mind contact was them noting we were here somehow. We haven’t seen them, but surely they’ve seen us. I don’t think that skull would have been put there otherwise. I just want safety in numbers, but I don’t want to expose anypony to this island without good reason. Should everypony stay on the island this first night? We have the perimeter set up, it’s getting close to sundown, and most of the tents are set up. Should we all stay?” Desperado grunted, and a large chip of wood fell to the ground. “Yeah, I think everypony staying would be best. We can get started first thing in the morning with an expedition further into the island. We have everything as safe as can be, with the perimeter, the beanberries removed, and carefully packaged dried fruit, with the morning’s rations prepared from the mainland. We’re fine. Thank you, Desperado.” He grunted again, and continued carving, staring out into the woods nearby. Stormy Eye and Shilling eventually returned from their scouting trip, and had stopped by the mainland for the first of the rations that were prepared for their use. Now that the beanberries had been removed from the campground, it felt safer to have the food on location. This first shipment would be for tonight’s supper and their first day of exploration tomorrow. Carefully sealed inside liquid-proof packaging, they would be their only protection against the beanberry poison. “Nothing strange to report from above, professor. Besides the head we found, of course. We’ve got a possible path we think is worth investigating tomorrow whenever you’re ready. And, uh… where are we keeping the food?” Stormy Eye asked as she landed. “Pick a tent for yourselves and keep it inside that. We want everything kept away from the beanberries as much as possible, and the food moreso, so be careful. You’re in charge of it, so don’t let me down.” “Of course, professor,” Shilling said with a bow. Shilling and Stormy Eye began arguing over the tent they might want since they were the first ones to choose. They hadn’t needed to deal with any beanberries in their flyover, so they weren’t stained all over. Thesis looked at her own hooves and sighed. “Hey Desperado!” He looked up from his whittling at her. “Let’s get washed up. Try to get some of this juice off our hooves.” He nodded and put down his knife and wood. His horn flashed and he disappeared. Thesis sighed and fluttered her wings, flying up and over the tents, then dropping down the side of the cliff’s face. She found Desperado already there with his hooves immersed in the water. He had picked up a rag somewhere and was scrubbing furiously at the stains covering the fur of his legs. Thesis dipped her hooves in the water and tried to rinse the juice off. The seeds and pulp from the beanberries came off, but her hooves and fur remained a gross purple. She looked over at Desperado, who, despite all the scrubbing, didn’t appear to be faring much better. “It doesn’t come off easily?” Desperado shook his head and grunted. He floated the rag out toward Thesis, who took it and tried to scrub her own hooves. It was no use, and the purple stains would not come out of her fur. She looked at the rest of the group some ways down, to see if they had the same trouble. Their hooves were still stained, but they had apparently given up on cleaning and were just splashing in the water. “Damn. Well, I guess we’ll have purple hooves for a while. It’s not the end of the world. We can see about getting some stronger cleaning supplies later. Because this stuff is definitely a dye.” Thesis turned her hoof over, looking at the colors dyed into her fur. “It will be interesting to see what the natives have done with it.” “Mmhmm,” Desperado grunted in agreement. “I’ll meet you back at the top, Desperado. Thank you for the rag.” Thesis jumped off the rocks at the bottom and flew back up to camp. Desperado was already there, drying off his hooves. Stormy Eye and Shilling had settled on a tent and had the food piled up to one side inside it. The rest of the group flew up one at a time as the sun began setting, and Thesis called to have supper divvied out. “Remember to eat with your wings, magic, or mouth directly. I don’t want anypony getting sick because they accidentally ate any beanberry juice. Take care, go slow, and be cautious,” Thesis said. “Yeah, yeah.” Dust Devil said, tearing his package open with his purple hooves. He shoved his face in and chewed, smacking his lips together. His partner, Cumulus, was much more careful, and tore the package open with her teeth on top of a barrel, then picked out one piece of fruit after another with a wingtip. Thesis herself did the same, and was done her food before everyone but Dust Devil. He was fidgeting over a small firepit, trying to get it going. Desperado, carrying his food in his magic, glanced at the stack of wood and vines and the whole thing burst into flame. Dust Devil scrambled backward from the abrupt flame and glared over at Desperado, who had already turned back to his food. Dust Devil stood up and stomped toward the silent stallion, a scowl on his face. “I know that was you, old stallion! You gotta show off with your fancy magic just because you can?” Thesis stood up and interposed herself between Desperado and Dust Devil. “Dust, drop it. He was just trying to help.” “Bastard almost set my mane on fire!” “You weren’t anywhere close enough, Dust Devil,” Shilling said. “Who asked you?” “Dust, stop. Nopony wants to hurt anypony else,” Stormy Eye pleaded. Dust Devil gritted his teeth and turned away with a snort. “Fine, but don’t try to ‘help’ me again, old stallion. I don’t need your help, and I sure don’t appreciate it!” Thesis sighed. Dust Devil was shaping up to be a real problem. He was probably going to get worse before he got better. She’d have to come up with something for him to do before he hurt himself or anypony else. Something that would keep him busy and feeling important for most of the day while they tried to locate the natives. Cumulus might be sad to miss out, but that was just the way things had to be. “Alright everypony. It’s about time to get to sleep, so let’s go over what will happen tomorrow.” Thesis stood up and walked over to the now-crackling fire to seat herself next to it. There was a scattering of excited sounds coming from the group, one nervous cough from banger, and a scoff of derision from Dust Devil, but everypony gathered around the fire to hear the plan. “First off, in the morning, if you are feeling in any way under the weather, let me know. I’m sure I don’t need to remind you, but the beanberries are deadly. The juice won’t immediately kill you, but it can and will make you nauseous, light-headed, or dizzy, so please tell me if you are experiencing any of those effects.” “So, whadda we do if we have those?” Crash Test asked with a yawn. “If you are experiencing any of those symptoms, please let your me know. If you can’t find me, talk to your partner, and return to the mainland as swiftly as possible. Understood?” Nods came from all around. “Good. Second thing: Tomorrow we will be investigating the path Stormy and Shilling have mapped out for us. We expect danger, and we will need you to stick with your partner at all times. Keep track of them, get along with them, and listen to their concerns. Six of us will go as a group, but you are responsible for your partner more than the rest of the group, understood?” Another set of nods. “Good. Dust Devil and Cumulus, I want you two to stay at the camp and ensure it remains safe. If the natives wanted to destroy or loot the camp, they would choose then to do it, so you are responsible for alerting us with the flare gun if anything strange or dangerous happens here while we’re gone.” “What? Why do I have to babysit the camp?” Dust Devil demanded. “It’s precisely because of that attitude you get to ‘babysit’ the camp. I don’t need somepony belligerent angering the natives should we chance to bump into them while out scouting.” “Celestia’s ass, you just have it out for me.” Dust Devil stomped off to a tent and crawled inside, grumbling to himself. Thesis ignored him and addressed the rest of the group. “As for the rest of you, prepare whatever you might want to take with you tomorrow. We’re intending to be gone all day, so dress and plan accordingly. And sleep well!” The group broke slowly after finishing their meals. Desperado and Thesis set the final tent up in the mud, testing the floor to be sure it wasn’t going to leak. The extra coating of wax seemed to be doing its job and nothing looked like it was going to seep through immediately. It remained to be seen whether or not anything was going to get through over time, but it was a good start. They unrolled their bedding, crawled inside, and prepared to sleep.