//------------------------------//
// In Search Of Landmarks 
// Story: The Olden World 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
//------------------------------//

"This is a lot more wildlife than I'm used to," Slipstream remarked as the trio followed the train tracks through the boundary between the hills and dunes. "Birds in Ironridge were rare, and I saw even fewer in the Empire. But here, they're everywhere."

"Maybe south of the mountains is just weird," Jamjars replied, hopping from slat to slat and fearfully watching the sky.

"It is a world that has had almost no contact with your own for the last thousand years," Glimmer noted. "I'm surprised wildlife and trains are the only things we've ran into so far."

They continued along the tracks, ducking in and out of sight of the sea as the sun progressed through the sky. Slipstream began to regret that they hadn't brought the sound stone, and before long they had all chanced the river water due to thirst alone. Nothing in the terrain changed as they progressed, and after a while Jamjars began to flag. "My hooves are too delicate for this," she complained.

"Should we think about turning back?" Slipstream shaded her eyes with a wing and looked up at the sun. "It's only several hours until dark. Fortunately, we haven't found anything hostile, so it should be safe for me to fly high and take the most direct route."

Jamjars winced. "On second thought, let's keep going. Maybe we'll see something on the other side of that peninsula!"

The shoreline followed a wave pattern of broad, gentle coves connected with protruding spurs of land, offering frequent points where a new view promised to open up around one more bend. Slipstream rolled her eyes. "We're going to have to fly back sometime, and my wings are as rested as they're going to be, you know."

Jamjars ignored her, running on ahead... and stopped short at the curve, staring past it. "Woah."

"What is it?" Slipstream left Glimmer, running to catch up.

The sea pushed forward sharply, opening past them into a bay many miles across. They could see the tracks following the shore until the distance became too far to make out, curving around and around until the land became the horizon far in the south. Then the shore came closer again in a protrusion pointing at them from across the water, like the thumb on a griffon's talon, rising out of the water in a great, singleton mountain shaped bizarrely like a tree.

The mountain was covered in buildings strewn through every available outcropping, though their construction was impossible to make out from that far away. Patches of yellow could have been dry grass or thatched rooves, and a small stone keep graced the peak, flying a red-and-gold flag that stood out like a beacon at the pinnacle of the landscape.

"That looks interesting," Slipstream remarked. "What do you suppose it is?"

"It looks like a long distance around," Jamjars answered dubiously. "Even if it's where these tracks are going, we have to go all the way along the shore past it to the south. Either count me out of the party that scouts down there, or I want a ride."

Slipstream glanced back over her shoulder at the endless hills. "Well, shall we head back? I think we've done a good enough job getting the lay of the land and identifying points of interest for today."





Slipstream once again soared through the air, Jamjars and Glimmer along for the ride yet both useless for navigation. She flew straight north, having gone southwest to reach the ocean and then southeast along the tracks again, and concentrated on breathing as she went, determined to make it without having to stop and rest her wings.

She kept a higher altitude than had been allowed by Jamjars on the flight out, the filly thankfully keeping quiet and not noticing with her eyes closed and her face hidden. It allowed for a better idea of what the hills looked like from above, especially the layout of the rivers, which came down from the mountains in a few large streams that split and branched as they drew closer to the sea. The hills rose, too, and while some rivers flowed steeply at the surface, others had cut deep gorges into their valleys, dropping dozens of feet or more.

Slipstream found herself drifting to the east as time passed, a shadow on the horizon she was fairly sure was a forest of some sort. That was another thing that would be useful to check on a future run... but for now, her breaths were raw and her wings hurt. She rose even higher, scanning the ground over and over for the Immortal Dream... There!

Her wings drew into a descent, speeding up and losing height as she chased the unmistakable sight of a wooden hull nestled between two hills. Glimmer held on and Jamjars whimpered as they rushed in close... but Slipstream soon pulled up, frowning.

This ship had a hole in the deck. It also lacked the harmony comet assembly, and had noticeably different proportions to their own ship, slightly longer and more tapered at the ends. And the bridge was different, a smashed-off prow extending beyond the missing windshield.

"This isn't ours," Slipstream murmured, hovering around it with interest. "I wonder how long it's been wrecked for..."

She flapped behind it, noting a large, broken-off propeller that had once been attached to the stern. It was tempting to explore and even more tempting to stop and rest, but an abandoned airship could be dangerous and she needed to get home. Adding another entry to her list of places to return and explore, Slipstream gained height again, panting and angling her course more west in the search for home.





Slipstream wasn't sure how long she had pushed herself. The sun's height was hard to measure, and it could have been hours or fifteen minutes, but judging by how long it had been since her wings started feeling she couldn't go on, it was at least thrice as long as she had carried the girls before their first rest.

Finally, the Immortal Dream appeared in her sights. With a last burst of strength, Slipstream landed gratefully on the deck, stumbling to a stop before dropping both of the fillies, laying down and panting. "We made... it... Whewww..."

Jamjars woozily staggered to a railing, and Glimmer nodded in thanks. "I'll see who's doing what and let the others know we're back. You did good, Slipstream."

"No problem..." Slipstream waved weakly, slumped against the floor.

Several minutes later, Grenada appeared in the doorway, fixing her eyes on Slipstream and Jamjars. "I was told you had a scouting party?"

"Hi..." Slipstream looked over, not getting off the deck. "We did. I don't think I'm up to doing that distance again, though..."

Grenada's horn lit, and an aura pulled Slipstream onto her hooves. "I am tired too," she replied, offering a shoulder. "Amber will not come out of her room and Felicity and Harshwater are busy with the injured, so it has fallen to me to clean up the ship after our flight. Come. You should lay down somewhere better and tell me what you saw."

Slipstream gratefully took her shoulder, walking with her down the stairs. "How are we for beds? We might be over capacity, and there are a lot of injured..."

"I have only restored one cabin," Grenada replied. "Felicity insisted on one for herself, and I would rather share than spend time fixing another for me when the ship has more pressing work to be done. Would this bother you? There are not many, but I can fix another..."

Slipstream shook her head. "Roomies with you two? That's fine, I just need to lie down. Please?"

Grenada nodded, leading her down the stairs and into the darkness of the interior.