//------------------------------// // VIII - As the Jungle Groans // Story: Empty Horizons: Sea of Stars // by Insipidious //------------------------------// “It’s a jungle up here,” Granite reported. “And I mean that literally. It looks like an actual jungle. Trees and everything.”  He wasn’t lying. As the Hex puttered through the water, the trees below swayed with the currents of the ocean. It was a bit strange that the trees were normal in appearance with a few palms and gum trees here and there, despite living underwater. The pressure should have killed them.  “So far, nothing else of note. I guess Rook looks happy.”  “Con—” Orange’s voice came from the other end before it was absorbed in static.  “What was that?” Granite asked.  “—ion i—k-k-k-k-k—t, conne—” “Should be come back? Repeat, should we come back?” Granite asked, ears swiveled directly to the radio so he could pick up everything he could.  “-ain in th—k-k-k-k-k—edge, I repea—k-k-k-k-k-” “Remain in sub, stay near edge,” Sparkler translated.  Suddenly, the entire Hex jerked like something was pulling them back.  Granite frowned. That wasn’t the jerk of them reeling the tube back up, that was the jerk of the tube getting stuck on something. Probably a tree. What a time to have that happen.  “Tube stuck on tree!” Granite reported, twisting the Hex around to get a look at the impediment. He found the tube stuck in a tree canopy, all right, but the ground wasn’t in the orientation he remembered. “Something’s wrong with the ground.”  “It’s moving,” Sparkler said.  “What? Don’t be ridicu—” The Hex hit the top of the forest canopy. Instead of bouncing up as the effectively weightless craft should have, it continued to sink into the trees.  “Okay, ground’s moving,” Granite agreed. “Up.” He pulled back on a lever, ordering the Hex to ascend. The propellers and air jets twisted it upward but he was too slow. The speed of the rising island had begun to increase faster than the sub could deal with, and it was soon pressed into the ground. Granite took his hooves off the controls. “Well, boys, looks like we’re in for a bumpy ride! Make sure your suits are secure and you’ve got something to hold onto!” Sparkler folded her hair into her suit. “Not that I have anything to hold on with…” “The rest of us have to make-do without freaky hair-legs, deal.” Granite’s two present boys - Wiffle and Lob - nodded in agreement. Sparkler sealed her helmet without another word.  A knock came at the main viewport where Rook was slamming her hoof furiously to get their attention.  “Yes, I know there’s a problem!” Granite said, finding it a lot harder to gesture with only hooves in a heavy suit. Rook pointed up in panic and grabbed her throat, feigning choking.  “Oh. Crud.” Granite bit his lip. “I…” Cozy started drawing on the window, creating a ‘V’ shape with the ripples of water in the top. She pointed to herself, and then to the ‘V’ shape.  She’s going somewhere with low elevation that’ll keep enough water.  “Lower!” Granite nodded, pointing down. “I got it!” Rook forced a smile before crawling off into the blue murk, the acceleraiton keeping her from properly swimming. They were approaching the surface at an alarming rate.  Glancing at the radio, Granite frowned. Still nothing but static. Something had to be interfering with the radio, no doubt whatever was making the island rise. What could even do that? Islands didn’t move! It was unheard of.  The thought of discovering something completely new made him grin. This was shaping up to be quite the eventful outing… and it looked like he’d get to see the sun today.  “How long until we surface?” Granite asked. Sparkler sent out a ping, using the relative location of fish minds to determine the location of the water’s surface. “Twenty seconds? Less?” “Hold on, try not to get washed away!” “We’re inside a mini-sub, how exactly are we going to do anyth-” The top of the island breached the surface of the ocean, sending a massive wave through the rippling water. The rush washed over the Hex, twisting it around a nearby tree trunk and pulling the hose so tight that it ruptured, spewing pressurized air into the tormentuous sea. The remaining woven fibers of the tube held fast, tying into several knots as the Hex embedded upside-down in the rich, muddy soil.  Light. The sun shone right into Granite’s eyes from the window, lighting up a blue sky dotted with calm, wispy clouds.  For a moment, Granite forgot that he was on an island shooting into the sky. All he could see was the sky.  How often he had told himself he never needed it, ignoring his instinct, only to feel complete ecstasy every time he returned. Ponykind was meant to be under the sun, not under the waves.  Unfortunately, his moment of bliss could not last, for the increasing acceleration of the island was starting to be painful. It wasn’t anywhere near as bad as some of the island elevators he had been on in his life, but the metal edges of his suit were poking into his limbs with enough force to be mildly concerning.  The pressure of acceleration lessened, allowing Granite to breathe. “Well, boys,” he said, attempting to stand up in a pile of three other suited ponies. “Let’s go exploring.” “Wait for it,” Sparkler said. “Wait? Wh-” The island’s deceleration began in earnest as Granite started to feel lighter. It didn’t reach the point where he felt like he would leave the ground, but it was certainly disorienting to feel no heavier than a cat.  “Ah, right, island probably isn’t calibrated to… whatever it is you and the Admiral are always on about,” Granite mused.  “Gravity,” Sparkler answered. “It’s an acceleration and any upward movement will assist or counteract t—” “Uuuuugh,” Wiffle muttered. “Science…” Sparkler tapped her on the helmet with her hoof. “Get used to it, physics like this is the way of the future! A—wait a minute, you two were educated, you know what gravity is!” “Yeah. I just needed to stop you from going to explain-town.”  “...Great…” Sparkler grunted.  The light feeling in Granite’s stomach eventually ended, indicating the motion of the isle had ended at long last.  “Can I open the door now?” Granite asked. “Yes, yes, get on with it.” Granite moved to the hatch - currently residing in the ‘wall’ rather than the ceiling—and threw it open. On the other side, there was grass. Vibrant, green grass that had no right to exist under the ocean, but somehow managed to survive to give this new land a green carpet dotted under the wet, luscious trees covered in bright flowers and dripping leaves.  He hopped out. The ground was exceedingly muddy and adhered to his suit’s legs, but he didn’t care. He was in the air. With a swift twist of his helmet, he removed the offending barrier so the salty breeze of fresh air could make it to his nose. He took in a sharp breath, getting a mixture of sea smell with mud, foliage, and what was likely the pollen of some flower he couldn’t identify.  He sneezed, but he loved it just the same.  Sparkler popped her helmet off as well to free her hair, though Wiffle and Lob kept theirs on.  “It’s a jungle,” Sparkler deadpanned.  “Yep,” Granite said. “So, first order of business, radio…” He poked his head back into the Hex and found it still sputtering static. “Second order of business, Rook. She said lower elevation, so we’ll need to follow the land a-” “I’ll just find her,” Sparkler said, sending out a magic ping. Instantly, her confident smile was replaced with a look of horror. “Magic interference.” “How bad we talking?”  “I can sense the three of you and a few fish that got stuck in that puddle over there. Anything further out is… fuzzy.” “Jams radio, jams magic, just our luck,” Granite muttered. “Going down the old fashioned way it is!” He glanced around, looking for the steepest slope he could find. This task was mildly difficult given how flat most of the jungle was, but he was able to locate a small slope and set out. His suit was ridiculously heavy and even with it’s hydraulic assistance it was difficult to move in, but it gave him some protection from the ever-present mud so he opted to suffer the added strain. The rest did the same. Shortly after they began their journey, they started to hear a rhythmic clack from somewhere nearby. Clack clack-clack clack clack-clack-clack clack clack-clack clack.  “That’s a pretty clear pattern,” Sparkler observed. “I know what it is,” Granite said with a laugh, turning sharply to the left and following the sound. It took all of a minute to come to the shore of what appeared to be a massive lake where Rook was busy smashing a rock into a much larger rock embedded in the shore.  “Hey!” Granite called, waving. “Glad you could make it!” Rook glared at him, dropping the rock unceremoniously into the salty lake water. “Ouch, don’t shoot the messenger, I didn’t know this was going to happen! Islands don’t move!” Rook let out a series of sharp grunts in a mockery of Granite’s comment.  “Aww, you two are sooooo adorable,” Sparky jabbed.  Rook picked the rock up again and threw it at Sparkler, missing by a mile. Sparkler stuck her tongue out.  “So, boss, what now?” Lob asked.  “Well… let’s see…” Rook facehooved and pointed at the far side of the lake.  Granite’s jaw dropped.  There, situated atop a rocky hill in the midst of the jungle, was a stepped pyramid of a brilliant golden sheen, reflecting the sunbeams brilliantly in all directions. Massive amounts of moss and lichen grew around the edges, but somehow the golden shimmer was rendered all the more impressive. At the very top of the pyramid rested four curved spikes angled toward the center. It was almost as if the ancient structure was designed to hold the sun itself. “What are the chances the magic interference is coming from that?” Granite asked. “Pretty high, I’d say,” Sparkler said.  “Then it looks like we have our mission. Raid the temple, stop the interference, and get back to the Algol.” He grinned. “Been a while since I’ve done anything on land!” He excitedly tapped the ground with his suit hooves. “Can’t wait to see what this jungle throws at us!” Rook stared at him, jaw hanging open.  “Yes, he’s insane,” Sparkler confirmed. “You’re the one who decided you liked him before even having a conversation with him.” Rook started looking for another rock to throw.  Her search was interrupted when a nearby tree fell over and smashed into the ground next to them, sending splinters everywhere. A black, furred thing pulled itself out of the tree’s canopy, demolishing many of the trees branches with an excessive arrangement of deep red claws. As it arched its back, it revealed a tail that ended in a serrated blade that appeared to be made of metal. The soulless, blind, bloody eyes of all wyrd creatures were present on its angular face, the blood streaks dripping into its multiple rows of pointed teeth and angular whiskers. The creature itself was not blind, however. Situated between its two useless spheres of gelatin was a singular, slitted eye with a white iris that sparkled like diamonds.  It looked right at Granite.  “...Is that a cat?” Granite asked, unsure what to make of the thing.  The “cat” answered his question by attacking, extending its claws to lengths over a foot long. Coming at Granite from both sides, it went for his exposed neck.  ~~~ At the edge of the newly floating jungle, the Admiral heaved herself over the rocky outcropping and onto a flat, rocky surface mostly devoid of mud. She flopped onto her back and breathed heavily, taking several minutes just to regain some stamina.  Climbing up a rope that long was hard enough. Climbing up a weaved hose that had no proper hoofholds was much, much worse, even with her wings. She was so glad she decided to ditch the armor when she had. Even with its enhancements she might not have been able to climb all the way with it on.  She knew she needed to get up. Needed to go find Sparkler and rescue them from… whatever it was they needed rescuing from.  That could wait. Charging into the jungle right now wouldn’t help anypony. She was here, and that was what mattered. Just her, a harpoon gun, and… that was it.  Meanwhile they had a submarine, several suits that could function as armor, and possibly even Rook.  With a pained groan she put her hooves over her eyes. They were better equipped to survive up here than she was. She didn’t have anything on them aside from her wits.  ...Which included being raised in a jungle not unlike this one.  Okay, so maybe my coming here wasn’t pointless. She took a deep breath. I’ll just… get to it in a minute.  Letting out a deep sigh, she allowed her mind to wander and body to rest.