//------------------------------// // Exterminators // Story: Expedition to the Cloudbreak Islands // by Starglider //------------------------------// The fourth day dawned, and most of the crew were again gathered on the upper deck for a meeting, led by a weary eyed Set Sail. “We’ve been really lucky, so far,” she said to the crowd, “We have a solid landing without anything directly menacing us, even if those... “chompies” are out there in the forest. We haven’t started a war or anything, and we haven’t lost anyone... else. But we’re low on supplies and stranded here, so if there are talking creatures living here, we’re gonna need their help. So uh, Summer you want to say what this troll you met wants us to do?” Summer Scribe nodded eagerly. "Of course, it's nothing we can't handle: we just need to take care of the chompies in the pit while he's watching, to get his friendship. It's practically a Win-Win!" In a more bashful tone the unicorn added "...oh, and rebuild the roof of his house. I Figure that's pretty much a given: not too hard, and we'd be making a good impression on our first contact!" "Or at least, a better impression on our first responsive contact... at least, better than what I did..." Azure Feather said, shaking her head slightly. She was still struggling to recover from magical exhaustion, but judging by the wings still attached to the unicorn... she was at least able to cast spells again. "Chompies?" She asked, tilting her head. "Awfully simplistic, but we're talking about the type of creature that sent me to the injured list three days ago?" She looks less than pleased as she concluded "They were only dangerous because of the pit and the ambush. Are those things causing trouble elsewhere now?" Reef Skimmer was standing at the edge of the group, staring up at the rigging and seemingly a bit distracted, but the mention of chompies was enough to draw him into the conversation. "A dozen of the beasts put two ponies in the infirmary, and from all accounts might easily have done worse. Now granted, they had the element of surprise, but the troll mentioned 'chompy pods'. We don't know what those are or how many chompies there are on the island. In short... caution is advisable." “The doctor’s right,” Set Sail said grimly to Azure, “If they sent you to the injured list, then they’re a problem. They’re blocking the path anyway, and not all of us have wings.” Turning to Summer Scribe, she added, “And maybe if we ask the troll, then he’ll tell us what a chompy pod is. It seems pretty reasonable that we could help him out." The pegasus sighed. "Plus we do kind of owe him for wrecking his roof.” Summer Scribe nodded in agreement. "Exactly: he helps us, we help him. And yeah, I don't think we should get too hung up on our first encounter; sure, the Chompies absolutely demand our fear and respect, but we were ambushed in un-co-operative terrain. With a proper fighting force and plan things will go MUCH easier." The captain turned back to Azure and asked “Anyway, how’s your magic doing? You’re casting spells alright again, I guess. Any more surges?” Azure shook her head. "No surges since the incident in that creature's house... my magic's fine, which is a relief... but for all the times I didn't want to use such a destructive spell, I do want to use something just like that on those darn things. I have my pride as one of the Lavender Blades... and they won't get the best of me twice." Never mind the fact that she still hasn't figured out why these surges are happening: it's become a case of making the best out of a bad situation at this point. Reef hung his head, looking a little sheepish "Now, I can't claim to be an expert on unicorn magic; far from it in fact; but I do know that horn surges can be triggered by certain workings." He'd read it last night in fact, in the one relevant book he had with him. Looking at Azure, he continued "So I can only suggest Azure Feather refrains from casting the spell she used on the previous occasions, at least until we can explain this. Perhaps your telekinesis alone would suffice to squash the beasts, or at least fling them away?" he suggested, not really sure what Azure's magic was capable of. "In any case I must say her physical wounds are healing up nicely... very nicely. Faster than anyone else on the crew even, by some margin! You're sure you, or indeed another unicorn, didn't cast anything to help that along?" Azure paused for a second, before nodding slowly. "Likely best, Doctor... apologies. I still do want another fight with the creatures. I've got my pride." she repeated, before turning her attention to the other point. "Magical exhaustion... I'll admit I feel better than I should considering it was just yesterday? Physically, though, you're right... I'm feeling pretty good, but I didn't cast a spell to speed up the healing. Did any other creature here...?" she asked, curious. “Maybe it was that spell that made her pass out?” a certain griffon hen called from the ranks, “But I don’t want to drag some dipsy unicorn’s unconscious body out of the middle of a battle!” “That dipsy unicorn is a member of the Royal Guard, Grennie,” Set Sail said, sending a stare her way, “She’s the best fighter we have, and the most powerful magic user. So please try not to antagonise her, okay?” Grenelda just folded her scaly forelegs. Another enthusiastic nod from Summer Scribe: "Yeah, we can't not take Azure. She knows what she's doing, and she's the best guardpony we've got here! She knows her own limits better than anyone else will, I'm sure." The hippogriff had been muttered something; to Azure, standing closest, it sounded like "Oh wonderful, another magical medical mystery." At Set Sail's words though his head comes up and he grinned (or at least, beak-gaped) cheerfully at her. "Quite, would be foolish to keep our only combat caster on the bench wouldn't it! Now, perhaps if we could swing past the troll's house on the way, as you say lend him a pony or two to help with the roof situation, he might let slip a little more detail on this pod business? One would be glad to assist with taking the thing down, erm..." Reef's gaze fell to the deck again "...if the Captain desires that is." “Yeah, anyone who thinks they can take a few bitey monsters,” Set Sail said with a glance to Reef Skimmer, “But before we fix his roof, we have to at least clear the path, so that’s what we’re gonna do.” To the crew at large, she announced, “The flyers are going to rendezvous with the troll, then our ground uh... creatures are going to approach the pit from the other side. Once we’re all together, we can... y’ know... see what he has to say.” Spreading her brown wings, and looking off toward the forest, the green kerchiefed temporary captain concluded, “I know we didn’t come here to fight things, but there might be even more danger on other islands. If we can’t teach these chompy creatures a lesson, only a matter of time before we run into something worse. But if we can kick their tails,” she looked around at the crew again, “Then nothing is gonna be able to stop us! That sound good?” A cheer went up from the crowd. “Then let’s get to work!” Set Sail declared, and the meeting was unofficially over, with most of the crew heading off immediately to continue repairs on the ship, or to prepare for the coming fight. A tall green troll named Abernathy walked with a purple pegasus named Cloud Cutter, the lady gryphon Grenelda, Azure Feather the butterfly-winged unicorn, a second pegasus, and the hippogriff doctor, Reef Skimmer. The only weapon the troll bore was an unwieldy looking club, but he seemed confident, when he said “Okay the first thing you gotta understand is that once a chompy pit has formed, it’s going to be making pods all along the edge of it." "Best strategy is to have someone or uh... a sheep in the pit, so you can see where the chompies are popping out from." he explained. "That’s what you flyers are gonna do so you can fly out quick. The rest of your crew can go along the sides, clearing away the brush and eliminating any pods. Once you’ve gotten all the pods...” he smacks his club into his hand, “Then I can take it from there. Sound good?” Reef Skimmer frowned. "And the creatures gestate inside the pods, you say? Do you have an idea of how big the population can get, for the one pit I mean?" "Alpha team draws out the enemy, delta and gamma teams fan out to take down the side threats, while you've got the main one once the sides are clear?" Azure Feather said to herself, apparently to make sure she's got the objectives of each squad clear. Hearing the doctor's question, she looked over and added "Doc's got a point. How many hostiles are we looking at?" The blue unicorn was stomping and pacing a little as they approached. Time for a second round with those creatures... “I’ve never counted, to be honest." Abernathy said. "Dozens, at least. Not nearly as bad when it’s just the one pod. But it’s easy to let things get this bad, when you’re the only one around to take care of it. They take a while to pop out though, and they’re slow, so if you keep on top of it, they won’t overwhelm you. It’s more them trying to wear you out. But that won’t happen, since we’re also taking them out at the source. Won’t take more than a half hour with you guys to help.” They approached the pit from the west, while on the east side a force had already gathered: Summer Scribe, Melonwater, two more tough-looking sailor-mares, and certainly not even the slightest sign of any creature able to set fire to anything and everything around them. “How did you guys get all the way over there?” Abernathy called out curiously across the pit, “You didn't cross the pit, did you?” "We jumped good!" Summer Scribe shouted... then giggled. "Just kidding! We walked here from our ship." She gestured behind her with a hoof. "It's YOUR team that flew over to you!" The little unicorn studied the terrain: indeed, there were no signs of anything hostile yet. But if she heard it right, the moment something sacrificial entered the pit, that's when the game would be on! “What are you... ugh, never mind. Let's get started!” Abernathy loudly declared. “Anyone who can fly get down there and start acting sick and vulnerable. But don’t hesitate to destroy them before they can leap at you. Everyone else up top, when you spot a place the chompies are popping out of, start clearing the brush towards it, and be ready for chompies to come at you too, when you get close. Pods are big... green and red ugly gourd looking things. Just cut ‘em to pieces or blow them up and the rest of their chompies will go with them. OK, go!” Reef Skimmer had just finished fiddling with the straps of his wing blades; not that he was confident they'd do more harm to the creatures than himself, but he couldn't disappoint Set Sail, now that she had set the expectation. "Perhaps one will be bait enough!" the hippogriff shouted, leaping forward, wings half spread. "No sense wasting fighters down here when they could be sweeping the forest!" He landed heavily in the dirt and stared upwards expectantly. Summer Scribe smiled and turned to her contingent. "Alright, you heard them: there'll be pods to bust all around the pit, as soon as the fight starts. Keep your eyes peeled and call 'em out when you see them!" The other ponies nodded (or in one case, saluted), and spread out to cover as much of this side of the pit as they can. Summer Scribe kept her eyes on Reef Skimmer, her horn charged up, ready to give covering fire for the chaotic start of the fight! Azure immediately prepared to follow Summer's lead, charging up a full-fledged blast, but stopped as she recalled what happened the previous afternoon. She wasn't keen on putting any friendly near the line of fire; especially not when the first creature in the Alpha team is the doctor himself! Instead, she thought about what Summer had said; something about her having... some windy element? The unicorn decided to try and channel a more restrained spell, perhaps a blade of wind, ready to fire when the fight broke out in earnest. For a long moment everything stayed silent and still, then a small green creature with two prominent eyestalks popped out of the undergrowth on one side of the pit, descending in a long slow arc into the pit in front of Reef Skimmer. "Chompies out!" Summer Scribe called out, keeping her focus on the imminent fight down below. 'It looks like the chompy is following a predictable arc,' she thought, 'so it should be a simple matter of geometry to aim a magical blast at the spot where it will land... and fire it off with just the right timing!' She aimed her horn and prepared to release her magic. Meanwhile, her three companions stayed alert for pods to smash! Down in the pit, Reef stared at the small green creature, fascinated. "Those really do look like modified thorns-" His musing was cut off as the creature dashes forward, coming directly at him. Forewarned of the threat, the griff took a step backwards, wings still spread and claws tensed, then pounced. The chompy's dim awareness seemed to register its entire vision filling with giant predatory bird, just as Summer lets loose with her bolt of magic. The hippogriff's talons struck the chompy, making it explode into green chunks, just as the unicorn's precise shot burned a neat hole through his pink crest feathers. Flush with adrenalin, the griff noticed the shot strike the ground nearby, but not the tragic damage it had wrought on his prized crest. Looking up at Summer, he shouted "Got it! And, erm, thanks for the assist. Do you see the pod?" Much as he wanted to see one for himself, Reef resolved to stay down in the pit for now, until all the pods had been located or he was faced with more chompies than he could handle. Sure enough as he waited for a reply, two more chompies popped out of different locations in the jungle, both landing behind him. Up on the rim, Summer saw the smoking hole in the doctor's mane-feathers and winced. Well, at least her aim was on point. She was about to apologise when she noticed the new wave of creatures, instead calling out: "Behind you! Take the one on your left, I'll get the other one!" With that division of labour established, she charged her horn for a second shot as quickly as she could. Meanwhile Azure Feather had found her horn could slice the air more like a blade than a cannon, its magic producing a sickle-shaped shockwave of compressed air which shot forward away from her, thin enough cut through the underbrush like a hot knife through butter. A broad swath of the jungle was cut down where it stood, clearing the ground between her and the now-revealed chompy pod. The attempts of the two sailor-ponies to clear it out just got a whole lot more efficient, leaves flying everywhere as they cantered forward and began to buck it. Azure couldn't help but smile a bit at the effectiveness of the new spell. Not only did it do exactly what she wanted it to, it didn't knock her out this time, either! Heck of a bonus, that one. But her attention soon shifted to her allies: particularly the doctor, and his predicament in the pit. "Doc, two on your six, watch it!" Much as she wanted to help, she had to leave that to Summer: every creature's got their role to play, and it was clear her magic was best employed helping to find and destroy the chompy-spewing pods. Hearing the thumps but not certain exactly where they landed, the hippogriff took heed of the calls from above, flapping hard and taking to the air. He hovered in the exact centre of the pit and twisted around to see two chompies staring up at him. Would they leap up at him, a couple of metres off the ground? Was one of the unicorns going to blast them or should he pounce on them? Should he just clear out of the pit? Reef hesitated for a second, as he realised his crest feathers felt funny and wondered exactly what Summer had done, before her instruction clarified the situation. The chompies leapt up at him just as Reef folded his wings for a dive; his claws now too low, he lunged with his beak and slices into the one on the left, the unwanted morsel exploding into green slime. The big griff slammed into the ground, knocking lose the second chompy which had latched onto his right side: it tears away along with a mouthful of grey contour feathers. Reef squawked loudly, spitting out gunk that tastes of rotten cabbage, and whirled on the remaining chompy, glaring at it with murderous eyes. His revenge was forestalled by Summer's magic bolt zipping down and striking home: the beast exploded in a brilliant burst of glimmering blue. There are already three more chompies inbound though, and one on the edge of the pit that hasn’t quite made it in yet. Meanwhile Azure’s efforts at clearing the jungle have revealed a second pod: like a weird spikey gourd twice the height of a pony, flexing oddly as a chompy rockets out of the orifice on its top. This one arced upwards on a trajectory away from the pit... and directly at the winged unicorn. Summer Scribe's eyes dart around between waves, as the rest of her team continue their mission with newfound ease, thanks to Azure! She notices the new chompy pod disgorging another combatant: ech! "Second pod's over here! Let's smash it good!" she shouted. The unicorn refocused her efforts, treating the plant creature to a full-power magic blast, thinking 'let's see how well it holds up to THAT!' Seeing the pit filling up and their doctor at risk of being surrounded, the griffon Grenelda leapt into the pit, landing with her back to Reef Skimmer as she shouted "Here they come!" Azure's fight was going much better than her first encounter, but it was far from over, and to see the Chompy rocket out of the pod, heading straight for her... she nodded. If there was a time to see what her new spells could do, it was now. Focusing her magic into more of a bullet than a cannon shot, she planted her hooves, aimed carefully, then released the energy. Sure enough, the spell did just as she asked, forming into a swift bullet that blasted the Chompy apart in mid-air, leaving only a few fragments to rain down just short of her position. "Not sure even a stew would help with these blighters!" Reef shouted back at Grenelda, his beak open in a grin. "Looks like I ended up taking the first bite after all." His ear tufts pricked up as the two griffs heard the distinctive spurt-whistle sound of more chompies incoming. "Good, good, the more we draw down here, the less there are to mob the ponies!" As far as anyone could tell, Cloud Cutter had disappeared; certainly she began the fight standing near Azure and the troll, Abernathy, but in the first few seconds of the engagement no one saw her. That changed as a trio of chompies burst from the undergrowth and charged straight towards Summer, distracted by first the pit and now the pods. The purple pegasus materialised out of nowhere; perhaps not literally, but it certainly seemed that way to Summer Scribe; and made two quick, precise slashes with her wing blades. Chompies burst, splattering her with green goo, but her expression remained blank and unfazed as she effortlessly dodged the clumsy lunge of the third creature before stabbing it with a blade, turning it into another pile of plant entrails. The chompy pods proved tougher than their progeny by far. Summer’s magic blast definitely made the thing burble violently, but it continues to extrude chompies like clockwork. Azure has somewhat better luck: her new magic technique keeps going after destroying the chompy and thumped right into its parent pod, while the two other ponies on her team ran up and bucked they thing for all they were worth. Seemingly trying to defend itself, it spat out another chompy to land right next to them, but a quick kick from one of the pegasi exploded it like a watermelon. Azure fired off another air-infused blast at the nearest pod, then glanced over to see how Summer's team was doing, just in time to see Cloud Cutter's display of fighting skills first-hoof. "Not bad! Scratch three more, let's see what else is hiding in there!" Charging her magic, she shot several more cutting beams into the jungle, looking for more pods. More chompies were descending in lazy arcs, but a quick, silent pass by Cloud Cutter slashed two apart while they were still in mid-air. The one-and-a-half predators in the pit handled the rest: Reef pouncing two more to bits, while Grenelda tore through five of the mindless green monsters in a flurry of beak and claws. Meanwhile Melonwater had been watching Summer's attempt to take out the pod and had an alternative suggestion, shouting “Here, use this!” as he hefted a sizeable rock into the air. Summer had been totally focused on the effect her magic was having on the pod;. much to her detriment, as she was caught totally off guard by the chompies! When Cloud Cutter burst into action and dismantled her attackers, she could only gape, both at her own lapse of attention and at the swiftness of it all. "Thanks for the assist, Cloud Cutter!" Summer whirled around, anxious to spot any further assailants... before her frown turned to a grin as she saw her team members were are already on it! Turning back to the pod, she grabbed Melonwater's offering in her field and telekinetically hurled it at the source of her frustration, grunting with the effort. The rock smashed into the already-damaged plant, bursting it into tatters and scraps of vegetable matter. “Nicely done! It looks like there are five pods left!” Abernathy called out from where he stood, up on the edge of the chompy pit. "Five targets left..." Azure muttered under her breath as she noticed, much to her disappointment, a single decent spell won't do the trick on its own today. Or at least, not without risking severe magic drain and unconsciousness again. She spread her wings and flapped into the air, getting a better look of the battlefield from above. With the locations of the remaining hostiles scoped out, she selected a target and began unleashing a steady stream of wind blades, cutting deeply into the pod. 'A decent bucking, or for that matter magically accelerated boulder, should finish it off,' Azure thought. "Next target!" she shouted, hoping some creature would follow her lead while she concentrated on softening up another enemy. His body still pumping with adrenalin, Reef Skimmers's gaze flicked rapidly from one moving target to another. Ambush tactics, swarming, surrounding their prey, targeting weak points... it seemed like there was a real danger of being overwhelmed. The hippogriff leapt into the air and brought his wings down as hard as possible, deliberately avoiding the usual mass-lightening. Instead of the usual gentle breeze of a hovering flyer, the full force of his six metre wingspan drove air down into the centre of the pit, blasting the chompies back and causing Grenelda to crouch and flinch, her feathers tossing about in the wind. Foes thus incapacitated, however temporarily, Reef closed his wings and dropped with a thud, smashing an overturned chompy under a claw and instinctively grabbing another in his beak... before realising too late what he was doing. The thing burst, and once again the hippogriff was gacking and spitting out foul green goo. Heeding Azure's call, the Summer-Melonwater Large Rock Collider sprang into action, smashing the weakened pod with one well-placed shot. And so it continued, with Azure's wind blades softening each target up for a telekinetic boulder to smash, All the while Cloud Cutter’s eerily silent death on four hooves mopped up the chompies spat out by the pod's futile attempts to defend themselves. Soon the ponies had cut a swath all around the edge of the pit, and only one pod remained, battered and bruised. Feeling playful at this point, Summer swung the last rock in a high arc and stuffed it into the orifice at the top of the pod. The thing strained and convulsed, trying to push out one last chompy, before exploding into pulp. She shared a high-hoof with Melonwater, delighted at their success. Down in the pit, Reef Skimmer and Grenelda were similarly elated, having ripped apart the last of their adversaries, but were soon squawking in alarm as they felt a tremor in the ground beneath them. “OK! Everybody out of the pit! Now!” Abernathy shouted from the overlook. The two griffs immediately lifted off, pumping their wings and climbing out of the pit. Summer started into the pit, wondering what would happen. Turning to Cloud Cutter, she began "Do you think..." but the purple mare had vanished, apparently swallowed by the earth oh no wait there she was, alighting calmly next to Azure Feather. How did she do that? Azure would indeed follow the green creature's order: keeping back from the pit, rounding up the other ponies and leading them over to regroup with Summer and Melonwater. Professional as she was, she couldn't keep a smile off her face. Watching the entire team just fight as one true unit... oh, this felt like home again... As progressively stronger tremors shook the ground, the floor of the pit seemed to be rising, no, bulging upward, until the dirt bursts open and showers down all around it. A quivering green column of eyes and teeth thrusts upward and towers over the Equestrians, its side dotted with swollen blisters that burst to reveal yet more chompies. From its many mouths issued a deafening, discordant roar. Calmly, Abernathy pointed his club at the horror, and with a deafening boom and flash of light half the abomination sheared off in an explosion of green gore. With another explosion from the troll’s club, the central section shattered into mulch, and the infernal column toppled over, deflating like a wilted vine. Club now held over his shoulder, he looked over the edge of the pit, at the dirt sifting off the walls like falling sand, already softening the sheer edge of the cliff. A single surviving chompy leapt at him, and he just kicked it back into the pit, declaring, “That’ll do it, I think. Nice job, everyone! Just clean up the last few chompies, make sure they have no chance to root, and this road will be passable again.” Summer Scribe's eyes widened as she falls back in a panic, terrified by the huge, monstrous thing that had emerged from the pit! This kind of eldritch horror would take a whole army to fig- aaand it's gone. What? What? She came to, shaking her head and looking around, as if worried that her senses were deceiving her. "D... Did Abernathy just take that thing out in a single hit?? Why did he even need help if he can do..." She looked down at her own hooves, briefly feeling like a very small and meaningless pony. "Huh? I mean, uhh... H-happy to help!" she said, sweat foaming on her coat. “It took two hits,” Abernathy clarified for Summer, “And I only have two shots before I have to reload. Not so great against chompies. I always save the shotgun for last. You just saved me a heck of a lot of time, trouble, and chompy bites.” Still airborne, Reef Skimmer hovered over the remains of the pit for several seconds, stunned by the sight of the huge animate plant. "Some variant of Tatzlwurm?" he muttered, before coming to his senses and realising there are hardly any chompies left. "Good show every... creature! Good show all around... And bravo, Abernathy, bravo there!" he shouted down. "Now, would one of you unicorns mind bagging me a specimen or two? If you can pick it up without popping, that is." Azure Feather actually seemed afraid for a moment as she saw the gigantic animate plant rise from the pit... only to see it absolutely torn to shreds by Abernathy himself. Wind seemingly completely out of her sails, she stood there for several seconds, as it starting to dawn on her that maybe... maybe she's not as good as she thinks she is? Legs trembling for a moment, she finally came to her senses as the doctor asked his question, and she shook her head clear of her previous train of thought. "Can give it a fair shot, Doctor." she admitted, as she started to look around for any more of the darned creatures. Summer Scribe, still gobsmacked, was roused into a sense of purpose by Reef. Brought back from the brink by a newfound connection to life! "Oh, sure, getting on it now!" She paused, as the hippogriff landed next to her and her eyes went to the still-smoking hole. "Apologies for nailing your crest!" she quickly added, lowering her head. "Tactical mis-co-ordination. I'll be better prepared for your fighting style next time now that I've seen it!" She saluted, then trotted off to help Azure capture and/or splat the remaining chompies. Azure managed to levitate one chompy without too much trouble, though the other ponies seem very intent on squashing all the rest for some reason. It sort of pinwheeled its little limbs in the air, gnashing its teeth mindlessly in her general direction. Reef frowned, raising a claw to feel his pink-striped crest feathers; in the commotion he'd almost forgotten. Instinctively he glanced at Grenelda, who'd just landed next to him, before remembering that griffons didn't have crests to speak of, and she probably wouldn't care. He did note that she looked rather attractive, eyes still ablaze with wild intensity and claws glistening with chompy juice. Shaking his head, he glanced over at the ponies and spotted Azure's floating catch. "Ah, a fine specimen, thank you." the hippogriff congratulated her as he trotted over. "In here, if you wouldn't mind." he said, taking a collapsible cage from a saddlebag. Azure didn't waste any time, shoving the plant creature into the cage with... some restraint? It's clear from the frown on her face as she places her enemy in the cage... still alive... that she has no love for the beasts. "There. I hope that's the last we see of these things." she concludes, before looking back to Abernathy... hmm. Maybe she'll figure all this out at some point. Reef snapped the cage shut and wrapped it in a sheet, causing the creature inside to fall dormant as it was left in darkness. He tied the bundle to his saddlebags and that was that. Meanwhile Summer had spotted a single chompy, half-buried in the dirt and struggling to free itself, and picked it off with a precise bolt of magic. With no more enemies to be found, she trotted back over to Azure. "Reload...? Shotgun...?" Clearly some kind of heavily weaponized native tech... She'll have to investigate this lead further later! "You saw that weapon Abby used, right Azure? Imagine if we had something like that." She grinned! Azure, still reviewing the battle in her mind, was somewhat surprised by Summer's approach. She turned to her friend, saying "I saw what it did; not so much what it was. Hmm." To Summer it looked like something was bothering the other mare, but as Azure shook her head slightly, it seemed like it a discussion that would have to wait for another time. “I don’t even want to know how many of these things are on the island,” Abernathy was lamenting, with a frustrated sigh. “It’s so hard to get rid of them once there’s an infestation. You think you got ‘em all, and then the ground’s collapsing under you into another chompy pit. But at least we got the one blocking the path." "I know what you mean..." Azure replied, echoing his sigh. "They seem just like a species from back home... except meaner. And lots of teeth." She gave a weak chuckle. "We'll see if there's more, though. Goodness knows we're not headed back home for some time yet." she noted, but managed a smile. "Now that I've figured out a little more of this place, though... I think we can hold our own here. At least for now." Abernathy looked thoughtfully at the winged unicorn, then her smaller wingless friend. "Though... I’m still curious why some of you went all the way onto the other side of the chompy pit." he asked. "Didn’t you come from your ship, down at the docks?” Summer nod nodded, gesturing again for reference. "Yep! Like I said, we unicorns and earth ponies walked to the near side and Azure and the others flew to the far side. You've not got wings to fall back on, so I can see why you'd have a problem." "The docks are that way," Abernathy informed Summer, flinging a thumb over his shoulder. "And your ship is that way?" he pointed forward, down the trail toward the meadow and crippled airship. Summer nodded again. "Yeah: it's not going anywhere any time soon, it's not flightworthy for the time being. Why?" Meanwhile Reef had been studying the caged chompy intently. "Fascinating, a new class certainly, possible a whole new phylum." he said to nocreature in particular. Confident now that it was safely contained to be studied at leisure, he flapped over to the remains of a pod and started picking it apart, teasing out the various vegetable structures. “You’re not supposed to park on this island!” the troll said, stomping a clawed foot in aggravation, “It’s private property! Don’t you know you’re supposed to use the docks to... wait-a-sec. You didn’t come from the lower island?” At that Grenelda stopped preening the green goop out of her feathers and stared at the spindly biped. It seems to be angry at the unicorns; she wondered if this was going to get ugly again. If so she'd have to get that miniature cannon away from him... "Nuh-uh." Summer gestures way off into the distance, waving her hoof. "We're from Equestria: far down below! We had to pierce the Storm Wall surrounding the Cloudbreak Islands to even be able to get in here. This is first contact for us!" She beamed! So proud to be ponykind's representative to a new species! “Then that means you didn’t bypass my bridge. Oh, this is wonderful!” Abernathy said, instantly cheering up and flashing a big, gap-toothed smile, “I thought you bypassed it because you didn’t want to pay the toll. Have you even been to the lower island?” Sweat began to form on Summer's brow again. "No, we haven't..." she said uncertainly, looking down the path behind Abernathy. Hopefully he wasn't going to demand they pay the toll for real now? She didn't know how long it would take to dig up 'thirty gold' in the village ruins or if it was even there to be found. “Come on, let me show you around!” the troll said, excited, “I’ll give you the grand tour!” Then he went jogging off back towards the tree-bridge. At that, Summer perked up. Apparently he was making good on his promise and more. "This could be a source of vital information about this land!" she exclaimed, turning around and cantering after Abby. "Coming!" she shouted, not seeming concerned about whether anypony else will follow or not. It was right then that Reef Skimmer trotted up to Azure, saddlebags bulging with gelatinous lumps of plant creature. "You know, this orange part really is quite pleasant! Would've even have realised if I hadn't got distracted and licked my claw there, and... erm, where are they off to then?" Azure lifted her head; she'd fallen into silent reflection again. Shrugging, she replied "I think Summer's really become our diplomat... she seems to have made friends with the green creature. That's a good thing for all of us. As for where they're off to... I think I heard them talking about a tour?" She slowly turned to look at the two forms, disappearing down the path into the forest, before nodding quietly in approval.