The alien forest seemed less dangerous, less menacing, with the chompies reduced to a manageable threat. A procession of creatures made their way down the path to the bridge, untroubled by the alien birdsong and strange cries from the jungle around them. Leading the group was the tall green figure of Abernathy the troll, followed by an assortment of colourful ponies and a pair of griffs. Melonwater and Cloud Cutter, the distinguished senior researcher unicorn Summer Scribe, the wary winged unicorn Azure and the burly sailponies who helped her with the chompies, the hippogriff doctor Reef Skimmer, still wearning ornate wing-blades, and the gryphon hen Grenelda.
It was not long before the group emerged into the cathedral-like space at the edge of the island, where the undergrowth thinned out and the trees grew even taller, their great boughs twisting high overhead, while tap roots plunged off the edge in their endless quest to grow from one island to another. Their guide headed straight for the iron gate at the entrance to the enormous hollow log, flourishing an oversize brass key. A swift turn, a click and the barrier swung open; Abernathy stood aside, giving a dramatic bow. “After you, little ponyzandas,” he said, gesturing at the open passageway. The tunnel sloped steeply downward, though the ridges carved into the floor prevented the travellers from sliding.
Summer Scribe had been enjoying another opportunity to take in the amazing view; clear blue sky, dotted with the hazy shapes of distant floating islands hiding among drifting clouds, all framed by the thick trunks of the giant trees. At Abernathy's prompt she returned the bow, smiling appreciatively at the troll: "Thank you very much, Abby!" Hmm, accuracy aside, 'ponyzandas' did sound pretty cute... Anyway! The little blue unicorn stepped confidently into the wooden tunnel.
Reef Skimmer was not as comfortable entering the confined space, particularly when he could easily fly down; glancing at Grenelda, it looked like the griffon shared his sentiment. He didn't want to be rude and anger the troll, but he hung back, letting the ponies enter first.
Azure nodded calmly to the troll as Summer entered the passage. "While that battle removed the obvious hostiles, that doesn't mean we're can drop our guard." She folded her butterfly wings tightly as she ventured into the toll bridge herself, keeping her eyes open. Goodness knows they couldn't afford her spending another spell on the injured list.
To begin with the wooden walls practically glowed from reflected sunlight, the air filled with twinkling motes of dust loosened by their passage, but as they continued the ambience shifted to a warm, quiet twilight. The only sound was the soft, echoing clopping of hooves on wood, emanating from everyone except Abernathy and Grenelda. It took several minutes to traverse the tunnel, the two griffs looking steadily more unhappy as they did so, but they persevered and came to the lower gate.
“Don’t worry, it takes the same key,” Abernathy said, his mood jovial as he opened the barrier from the inside. Soon he was leading his new associates out onto the mysterious second island. The area holding the bridge was a continuation of the forest above, with trees that grew even taller, their upper boughs joining to the roots that trailed down from above in a frozen arboreal waterfall. The upper island loomed over them, its rocky, mossy underside impossibly free of visible support, while the earth here was covered in ferns and shot through with exposed roots.
Near the entrance to the hollow log was a sign similar to the one above, with two rows of unknown runes above a series of pictograms. The key and coins were the same, but the house symbol was replaced by a bell and the arrow pointed to a dangling pull cord. Sure enough, looking up the ponies could see a large brass bell mounted one of the huge branches snaking overhead. “This’s what you pull to get the toll collector’s attention,” Abernathy explained, giving the rope a good yank and filling the air with a deep, sonorous tone. Demonstration complete, he shuffled to the front of the group and began heading down the trail; as with the upper island, the twists and turns of gravel path were soon hidden by dense jungle.
Happy to be outside again, Reef Skimmer had already moved away from the tunnel exit and found himself following close behind. At the mention of the toll, he asked "I was wondering, erm... Mister Troll, what entices travellers to pay 30 'gold' to visit your island, if the village is long fallen to ruin? I heard there's a quarry on the far side of the lake, is it still worked?"
Abernathy’s ears flopped even more and his shoulders sank at the hippogriff's comment. “30 gold used to be nothing,” he said morosely, “It was 30 for three, but still. I haven’t had a customer in... well, almost a year, but I think Jolene is just doing it to make me feel better.”
Azure was looking around, taking in the layout and checking for movement. The giant trees forming a living bridge between the floating islands... it was impressive, enough for her to say out loud "I can think of quite a few ponies back home who would love this place." Yet she still seemed tense at the issue of the toll, and the open question of what further threats might be lurking in the jungle. "What about hostiles?" she asked Abernathy, "I take it there's still going to be some creatures here that won't be too happy to see us."
The troll shook his head, saying, “There really isn’t much that goes on around here. Chompies, the occasional bush crawler. I think I’ve seen a leozard before, but they stay away from paths. Most of the dangerous critters are only active at night anyways.” He certainly seemed relaxed, clearly confident that this path wouldn't collapse into another chompy pit.
Frowning at the idea he might have undermined the pony's diplomatic proceedings by further depressing the troll, Reef remained silent. He focused instead of the surrounding forest, noting various new species of undergrowth he hadn't seen on his previous outings.
Bushcrawler? Leozard? More terms Summer Scribe didn't know, but she made a mental note to check them out later. Hopefully her first encounter wouldn't be another life or death situation! As long as they avoided wandering around the woods at night... Shaking her head, the little unicorn looked all around, eyes wide open in awe and interest. There's nothing immediately new to see, as such, but her mind churned with all the possibilities. The first island was exciting enough: surely there would be even more finds to come. "What's there to see down here?" she asked.
Smiling at Summer’s enthusiastic query, Abernathy responded “Oh, it's not far to the docks. I can show you those, and maybe a special little secret beyond them.” He gave the unicorn a little wink.
Summer returned the wink: "Ooh, I love secrets! I can't wait!"
As Azure spent more time with her crewmates it had become clear that for one, Summer Scribe was far and away the team's best diplomat, and thus, it was best to let her do the talking. Secondly, Azure was not the only one who could be trusted with the safety of a team. Nodding softly at Abernathy in thanks for the information, Azure adjusted her pace to draw alongside Reef Skimmer. The hippogriff had dropped back to the middle of the group and seemed more interested in the foliage around them than the path ahead.
In fact the griff was so absorbed in the frond structure of the colourful giant ferns, he didn't notice the winged unicorn's approach until she was right next to him. "Azure! How are you holding up? I confess I missed most of the battle back there, not much of a view down in that pit you see, but I trust you avoided further magical mishap?"
Azure couldn't help but smile at Reef's inquiry. "Not going to lie...." she started, before staring ahead, choosing her words carefully. "Haven't felt this good since we landed on the island. The battle was a good one: all hostiles defeated, no casualties, no magical mishaps to report, and... I'll admit, you definitely showed promise. I suppose it comes with the territory, being part-eagle and all, but still..." She trailed off, still smiling before adding a quick note. "Remind me not to get into a fight with the resident doctor, hmm?"
"Oh, not at all, don't mention it..." Reef said, looking away. "One has a basic proficiency of course, which is to say we hippos might not be quite the hunters griffons are, but any officer of the Queen's Navy must demonstrate and maintain a certain level of martial prowess..." Feeling suddenly self-conscious, the big griff pulled his wings in right, as if to try and hide the still-unused wing blades strapped there. Looking back to Azure, he said "...which is to say, I appreciate the compliment, coming as it does from a true expert in the field of combat."
Was that a hint of a blush around Azure's muzzle? "You're too kind, doctor." was all she said, as they made their way deeper into the jungle.
The troll led them around another bend and the group found themselves skirting the southern edge of the island, the trail offering glimpses of the sudden drop-off and open sky beyond through the trees. Soon enough they were at the promised docks, which were what one might expect to find on a lake or coastal village, not bordering a headlong plunge into the abyss. Weathered hardwood planks, nailed to rough wooden posts, driven deep into the island’s soil or pinned to the exposed rock.
“This is where ships are supposed to dock,” Abernathy said, walking onto the creaky structure, “So you probably should move yours down here. Can’t be easy docking your ship to the side of an island. It’s free for anyone to dock, just glide right up and hitch your ship at these dock hooks here. And uh...”
Rubbing the back of his head, Abernathy added, “I did say you guys paid your toll by helping me with those chompies. So you won’t have any trouble getting back to the upper island. Not that I could imagine anyone wants to these days. But you know the drill. Dock here, come up to the uh... ‘Blissful Pastures’, and you can hunt your weight in sheep.”
Summer Scribe peered at the docks, before tentatively trotting onto them and looking out into the open, cloud-spotted sky. It was a moment of serenity, the homely feel of the old docks and the warm wood underhoof combined with the still amazing vista of the Cloudbreak Islands all around them. Floating rock after floating rock, separated by many kilometres of open air, going on for who knew how far!
At Abernathy's suggestions she... had to bashfully rub a hoof behind her head. "I don't know if we can do that so easily, just now... We'll have to check in with Nutmeg. To be honest our ship is not exactly airworthy at the moment!" At the mention of hunting sheep, she pulled a face, before noticing and hiding her disgust. "Well, we don't... err, we MOSTLY don't..." glancing at Reef and Grenelda for a moment,"...eat other animals! But if there's good grazing material here too, that'll be more than enough for the bulk of us!"
“Oh, sorry if I scared you,” Abernathy replied, his face showing concern for the little unicorn, “You definitely don’t see anyone docking here who isn’t interested in anything but sheep. My father used to say, at any rate.”
Reef vaguely heard the pony being squeamish about something, as he poked around at the so-called 'docks'. Was this really it, just a couple of rotting jetties? He spread his wings and rose up into the air to get a better view, but nothing further could be seen; no warehouse, no dockmaster's office, not even coal bunkers, just a couple of piles of rotting boards that might have once been crates. Folding his wings, he landed and walked up to Abernathy, trying not to stare at him too intensely lest he have another emotional breakdown. "Must confess, can't quite see why one would build this out here, what with the lack of facilities and all. If it was built by the villagers, or by your family for the benefit of griffs taking on, erm, provisions... why not just build it on the same island to start with?"
Looking at Reef, the troll asked sceptically, “If you put the docks on the upper island, then where would you put the bridge?"
It was Azure's turn to look towards the ground and away a bit. Yeah, some creatures really had no idea how to drive an airship, and she was the first name on that list. Too bad she didn't tell anyone. At least she knew where the ship should be instead of... well, wherever it was now. Not that Reef didn't have a point...
“Anyway,” Abernathy said, shaking his head with a bemused expression, “My father guarded this island for most of his life, and so did my father’s father. It’s been in the family a long time, but they say we, err... acquired it when the villagers left. Without them to tend to the sheep and cut back the forest, it was... pretty inevitable it was gonna get like this. I do my best, but the rest of my brothers could care less.” He sighed, saying in conclusion, “Sometimes I wonder if they’re right.”
Reef snorted and huffed at this nonsense: these creatures clearly had no idea of how to construct proper dock facilities to the standards of the Queen's Navy. He left Summer to continue with her diplomacy, idly poking at one of the ruined crates with a claw.
As it became clear there were no new hostiles to be found here, Azure Feather gradually relaxed, idly looking at the surroundings for anything of interest other than the docks. She supposed with a few days and a lot of sweat the pegasi could tow the Harmony down here, but there didn't seem to be anything that warranted the effort. Though Abernathy did say he had a secret to show them...
Summer Scribe pondered: this sounded like a good opportunity to figure out some of the history of the place. She turned to Abby and asked: "Guarding it against what, exactly? Is there some threat in particular you're worried about? And more to the point, why DID the villagers leave? Did something change?" ... ... Uh, oh! "...and you mentioned a secret??"
"Well, uh..." Abernathy's eyes were downcast, as he thought over his sad predicament. He'd rather talk about something more positive: "Yes I did, didn't I! Follow me..." He beckoned with a finger and headed for a second trail leading from the far end of the docks, choked with undergrowth and almost invisible until the troll pointed it out. Without hesitating Summer trotted cheerfully after him.
Reef Skimmer and Melonwater shared a knowing look, before following themselves. Grenelda and Azure Feather brought up the rear, still wary of any beasts that might try to attack the researchers. Not wanting to spend the afternoon watching Summer dig up more ruins, the three sailponies who'd helped with the chompy fight took their leave, heading back to the Harmony.
Despite the jungle's enthusiastic efforts to reclaim the path, Abernathy knew exactly where to go, leading the ponies slowly upwards until the trees began to thin out again. The path ended at a pair of substantial stone pillars, each twice the height of the troll, curving to form a circular aperture through which the group could enter. Though weathered and half-obscured by vines and leaf litter, it was clear the pillars were intricately carved and inlaid with a complex pattern of glass and crystal. Brass forms emerged from their outer surface, circular and toothed like stylised gears. Perhaps there was once a gate barring the portal, though if so all that remained now was a few shattered pieces of crystal that crunched underhoof as the group entered.
Inside was a sizeable clearing, once again positioned on the edge of the island such that it was bordered on three sides by dense undergrowth and one side by open sky. A few trees had managed to penetrate the space, their canopies dappling the ground with alternating light and shade. Abernathy made his way right to the edge, ducking and weaving around strange metallic shapes poking out of the earth. “This is the best view on the island,” he said fondly, gazing out at a whole sea of islands of all sorts of strange shapes and colours, quietly drifting to and fro in the distance. “We're looking directly west: you can see the sun set over all of the Skylands.”
"Oooh..." Summer Scribe gaped, in awe. She took a little spyglass from a saddlebag, floating it in front of one eye and peering out into the distance. "It does look awfully pretty from here! Thank you!"
In truth though she was more interested in the clearing itself. Packing the scope away again, she trotted around the strange artefacts, peering at the engraved metal-work. In many areas the dirt had washed away to reveal a regular surface of gleaming ceramic tiles. Over here was a row of giant metal discs, half-embedded in the ground, over there was a forest of fluted pipes, reminding her of oversized speaking tubes. A little further and she found what seemed to be two halves of a stepped pyramid, knocked over and out of place, and beyond that was a haphazard pile of gleaming golden rods and mismatched gears, half-hidden by ferns growing up between the parts.
Summer's voice was uncharacteristically quiet with wonder: "Say, what's all this..." She looked at Abernathy with an infectious smile. "Ruins? Some kind of ancient device? I bet Nutmeg would love to see it, whatever it is!""
“Oh that? That’s just some junk that’s been lying around here for ages,” the troll said with a shrug, looking over to the unicorn heading over there, “It doesn’t even work. You find a lot of those here and there on the islands, all broken. Just more of those ruins left behind from the old days.”
Summer Scribe shook her head. "Ruins aren't trash, they're important archaeological discoveries! Who knows what they were for or what they do or why they were put here..." she had to stop to catch her breath "...until someone investigates, right?" She stroked her hoof over a pipe, gave a cylinder a gentle tap, and peered at the pile of parts to see if they might fit together.
Following Summer's lead, Reef Skimmer wandered among the mysterious machinery, stopping to peer inside the open-ended tubes. Their original function remained a mystery, though they now seemed to make a fine home for nesting birds; fascinating birds indeed, those curious structures on their heads were almost like...
With a loud SQUAWK! a plump bird popped out of the tube, cream underneath and dark blue on its wings and back. The hard, shiny crest on its head really did resemble a propeller, particularly once it started to spin. Reef Skimmer jumped back, claws tense and wings spread as the bird dived at him. SQUAWK! the hippogriff's call was even louder, and momentarily stunned the odd bird. Squawk? it said. Squawk! Reef replied enthusiastically. The bird flapped about for a bit before settling onto the top of the pipe, warily eyeing the colourful quadrupeds now surrounding its nest.
Azure performed her customary scan for threats; predators could be hiding in the ruins, even the machinery itself might pose a threat... but everything seemed quiet and still, at least for now. "Nutmeg... yes, this looks like it would completely be of interest to her..." she began saying, before being caught off guard by the sudden bird noises. It seemed they were actually nesting in the pipes; she supposed they made a fine home, from a bird's point of view. It was an interesting specimen, with that odd spinning crest, and the winged unicorn was rather curious, though readied her magic just in case it did prove hostile... before being completely startled at the even louder noise from the hippogriff.
Azure shook her head at the display. Was this one of those 'screeching contests', supposedly a cherished cultural tradition among griffs of both species? Ouch. She backed up a few steps, subconsciously putting some distance between herself and the annoying sounds, and as she did so a ceramic tile under her left hind hoof sank down with a distinct click. Everycreature's eye was drawn to the centre of the clearing, where with a faint hum and a soft glow, a large golden disc rose from a socket in the ground and hovered passively in pace, a metre above the ground.
“Oh, you figured it out!” Abernathy declared, walking up to the ponies combing through the ruins. “That’s the only part that works. You can read it if you walk up close to it. You have to hold down the switch though.” the troll said to Azure, glancing at her hoof still on the pressure plate.
Summer immediately cantered over to the thing, her eyes as big as saucers, arriving just in time to see a holographic display spring into existence atop the plate. It showed a glowing red square surrounded by more of the native runes. "Awesome! What does it..." Summer began to ask, but as she stared at the runes they seemed to shift and reform, becoming Equestrian letters that clearly spelled out the enigmatic phrase, "SYSTEM ERROR". Through all this the propeller bird remained completely and entirely unimpressed.
Summer Scribe huhed and squinted at the message. "It's in Ponish! I mean... the letters, they're Equestrian now. It must be translation magic! But... Sees-teem Error? Does that mean... it's not working?" She grinned from ear to ear: if this site was even partially functional, that still made it the most exciting thing they'd found so far. "But that means it did work once... and perhaps it still COULD? Probably take a long time to figure out, but... I bet for Nutmeg it'd be a cinch." At this point her tail was swishing briskly back and forth.
"Why would adding a spice make it work better?" Abernathy asked in honest confusion.
"No, no, Nutmeg Inferno! She's our chief mechanic, and... she's pretty overqualified for her position," Summer Scribe admitted. "I bet this is exactly the kind of thing she'd love to sink teeth into!"
“Oh, there are even more of you?” Abernathy asked curiously, “with even stranger names. But yeah, she sure can try... though this thing has been broken, like forever. If these ruins could be fixed, you’d think someone woulda fixed them by now.”
Reef Skimmer looked over at the floating artefact. Curious, but... nothing further seemed to be happening. Well, as least Summer was happy; in any case the unicorn was much better qualified to investigate such things than him, and if she couldn't divine its purpose maybe the chief engineer could help. He returned his attention to the bird. "Aren't you a pretty one?" The griff stuck a claw into a saddlebag; it came back out with a slice of something juicy stuck to a talon "Could I interest you in some jungle apple?"
The bird tilted its head left, then right, before suspiciously hopping closer to the hippogriff's proffered gift. He was so engrossed in his ornithology that he didn't notice Summer trotting up behind him, and she had to nudge him to get his attention."Hey, you know, why don't we bring Nutmeg here... right now? It's not like we have anything more pressing to investigate: this is about as interesting as it gets!"
Reef stared at Summer for a second. This was his first chance to observe a native vertebrate up close and... well, he did owe the mare for her help in the mess yesterday. His expression softened from annoyance to a smile. "Capital idea, happy to help, if you wouldn't mind just taking over here? Now here's another apple..." he said, tossing it at Summer for her to catch in her magic, "...and here's a sketch book: dorsal, ventral and a naturalistic pose would be ideal... best of luck!" the griff concluded, taking a few running steps and launching into the air before she can respond.
A befuddled Summer watched Reef fly out of sight, off the edge and back around over the trees, before realising that a much smaller avian is staring at her with a rather less friendly manner than before. SQUAWK! Hurriedly she set the apple down and fumbled with the sketchbook a few times before laying it out. "Guess I'm on birdwatching duty then!" she said, chuckling nervously.
A slightly longer flight this time, covering the length of both islands as the hippogriff made his way back to the moored airship, but within half an hour he was gliding down to land on the main deck. First order of business was to update the Captain on the results of the chompy fight; he was happy to report complete success with no casualties; then brief her on what they'd found on the second island.
“Are you kidding?” was Set Sail's immediate and eager reply, “We have to get her over there, right away! She’ll be thrilled!”
She accompanied Reef Skimmer, hurrying up into the engine room, finding Nutmeg right in the middle, tinkering with some kind of crane or mechanical grabber. “You won’t believe it," the pegasus enthused, "Doctor Skimmer says they found some kind of incredible machine! And it’s way too big to move. He wants you to come take a look at it! Right, doc?”
"Oh certainly," Reef said, "Which is to say, Summer Scribe is doing her level best, but it seems this find requires more in the way of mechanical insight." He concluded with a slight grin "Not to mention, to expedite the investigation, a hippogriff skilled at pulling carts."
“Oh. Um...” Nutmeg began, anxiety creeping into her expression as she turned this over in her mind. The kirin stood up, shook out her crimson tail and said, “Yeah, that’d be... fine. It’d probably make the crew feel better if... somepony came with me. Is that okay? They get kind of nervous, if I just vanish on them, you know? Plus two heads is better than one.”
Reef stared at the kirin, his head turned to one side and beak half-open. "Oh I do understand, my renditions of traditional hippogriff sea shanties are an acquired taste after all. The cart fits two so feel free to bring somecreature else to entertain you, perhaps with a more up-to-date singing repertoire!"
"Yeah, erm, well..." Nutmeg stammered, not sure how to respond to that. Eventually she settled for a relieved "Thanks! Hold on just one sec, okay?” Traipsing off, she hurried across the engine room, to exchange some quiet words with a certain purple-maned orange stallion, the one with three gears on his hindquarters. Then some less quiet words, in which Reef made out “C’mon! It’s just across the island.”
Finally the two of them came trotting back to the hippogriff. “I don’t know if I introduced Gearshift?” Nutmeg said, gesturing to the earth pony, “He’s as sharp as I am. So let’s go do this thing.”
“Hi, I uh...” Gearshift said with an awkward smile and a hoof wave, faltering a little under Reef's disapproving gaze. “Just need to get some um, supplies, yeah. Be right back.”
As he scurried away, Nutmeg smiled sheepishly saying, “Sorry, he’s a little shy. But when hoof comes to shove he’s one of my best ponies. Is your cart ready?”
"Cleared for take off, but you'll have to share the centre of gravity this time." Reef said, still frowning.
The return flight took a bit longer: true, there was the heavy cart with its two passengers, but perhaps it hadn't been strictly necessary to swoop down through the gap between the islands and perform an aerial slalom through the waterfall of trunks and roots. Be that as it may, the trio passed the rickety wooden piers of the docks and were making their final approach to the drop-off near the artefacts. A number of sounds filled the air... lots of high-pitched squawking, punctuated by the occasional much louder screech, along with zapping and thumping. Flashes of coloured light briefly shone through the trees, as Reef's apprehension grew. Finally the landing site came into view; occupied by a dozen ponies, one griffon, one troll and about sixty highly agitated plump little birds.
The entire clearing at the island's edge had been invaded by the pinwheel-crested menace. Well, considering that they've been living here longer than the ponies have, it's probably the other way around. Regardless, these bitter birds were earnest in their determination to drive everyone out of the area, or off the edge of the island, or both. They hopped and darted everywhere, sharp crests a spinning blur as they tried to drive off the equines, buffeting, biting or clawing every creature in sight.
Enmeshed in confusing combat were Azure, Summer Scribe, Abernathy the troll, Melonwater, Cloud Cutter, and the griffon hen Grenelda. The birds were giving the griff more space than the others, probably because of her own sharp beak and claws, but they still dove at her from every direction and the hen looked about ready to take flight. Cloud Cutter was having a harder time of it, flapping around trying to buck off the two birds on her back. Melonwater had scurried off to hide behind a skewed stone plate sticking out of the ground, peering over its edge to see if any birds come his way. Abernathy was running around waving his hands over his head to ineffectively shoo the birds away.
"By Novo, a whole colony!" Reef Skimmer exclaimed. Looking back over his shoulder at Nutmeg and her buddy Gearshift - both looking shocked by the chaos below - he shouted "Can't land in that! I'll take you back to the dock, such as it is, it's a short trot." He began a banking turn away from the island, as hard as he could without risking somepony falling from the cart.
'Gaah!' thought Summer, 'worst of all, I didn't even get my sketches finished before they attacked!' Said sketchbook now hastily stuffed back into her saddlebag, she was doing her best to take the birds on a wild chase around the ruins! Diving and leaping under and over branches and bits of machinery, occasionally hefting up a rock or chunk of something and tossing it behind her! "Shoo, birds! You won't be chasing off THIS pony!"
The angry avians back-winged and squawked in their pursuit of the agile unicorn, attacks disrupted by the flying debris. Summer managed to get far enough away to turn and face the things coming at her, but they weren’t even slowing down in their approach, save for one unfortunate specimen who was wobbling towards her with a bent propeller. Still, she perked up as she saw sees Reef and Nutmeg fly past: perhaps reinforcements would turn the tide! "I'm coming!" she yelled out, whipping a quick burst of magic behind her to keep the birds at bay as she began galloping towards the gateway, heading for the docks.
Trying to defend a group of ponies and creatures from a small pack of Chompies was one thing. This was entirely another. Initially driving the first few birds off with minor wind spells, Azure Feather shook her head. There were dozens of hostiles already and yet more seemed to be arriving from the jungle. She needed cover if she was going to do anything good in this fight. Quickly searching for something such as a rock outcropping, or anything she could use for ten, or fifteen seconds of focus... there!
She blasted her attackers away with a sudden burst of wind blowing out all around her. Path cleared, she galloped to the skewed stone plate jutting out of the ground, only to find a young stallion crouched behind it. “Hey! Get your own hiding spot!” Melonwater hissed.
"Tell you what," Azure quickly replied, "You stay behind me and I'll get us both out of trouble. You kick me out and we're both in this terrible situation together. Your pick." She surveyed the battlefield: too many friendlies around to risk a major spell. If she tried to clear the entire flock with one blast... there's no way it wouldn't hit her own team and that went directly against her primary objective. Giving it a few more seconds thought, she instead continued on her last course of action: sniping unsuspecting hostiles with a stream of rapid-fire spells.
An ear-splitting screech cut through the air, momentarily stunning the hostile avians. Distraction achieved, Grenelda leapt into the air, straight towards one of the buzzing birds. Seeing its doom approaching with outstretched talons, it desperately tried to get its bearings and escape, but it was too slow and the griffon snagged the plump creature in her claws. Seconds later she was back on the ground and had finished it off with her beak. This time she'd definitely be trying something new for lunch.
By this point Cloud Cutter had managed to eject her attackers, though the fact that both birds were lying stiff and motionless to either side of her didn’t bode well for any others that would get that close. She didn’t press her advantage though, just standing there with a distraught expression as more birds flocked to attack, heedless of the fate of their comrades.
"Must be nesting 'round here, or they'd be gone by now." Grenelda shouted angrily. The purple pegasus was fine of course, she was competent, it was the unicorns she was worried about, either they were going to get pecked to bits or they'd start firing off freaky magic and do more harm than good. Maybe both. The smaller one was galloping around... oh she was retreating, back down the path. Sensible, but that still left three ponies enduring the feathery assault. Maybe a different strategy was needed.
Reef flew the cart back to the docks as quickly as he could; a quick emergency landing and Nutmeg and Gearshift were scrambling out. Following behind Nutmeg was her trusty giant wrench, hovering in her magic as she scanned the area for usable materials. “We need live branches, bendable!” she called out to her orange companion.
“Got it!” Gearshift called back, galloping across the dock while Reef uncoupled himself from the cart. Gearshift went to shimmy up the nearest tree, breaking off branches that tumbled downward. Nutmeg in the meantime went and started pulling down long vines with her wrench, breaking them off with her teeth to drape at her feet.
Reef Skimmer watched Nutmeg doing... something, for a second, wondering if he could be of assistance. Most likely not, he thought: the kirin mare and pony stallion seemed to be working seamlessly together and stopping to explain to him would only slow things down. "Straight down there, can't miss it." he shouted as he shook the last strap off, gesturing towards the overgrown eastern path. "Do take care!" With that he leapt back into the air and headed back around the edge of the island towards the clearing, flying faster now the cart is sitting parked at the dock.
The directions proved redundant as a few minutes later Summer Scribe appeared, barrelling in out of the jungle. Smiling in relief as she saw Nutmeg and Gearshift, she skidded to a stop next to the kirin. "Hey, nice to have you out here!" the unicorn said, curious as to what they were up to but glancing anxiously back into the forest in case any of the birds had followed her to the docks.
“Just help me tie these up,” Nutmeg said curtly to Summer, not even looking the unicorn’s way as the kirin stepped around the branches, dragging them into position.
"You got it, boss!" Summer was quick to help out and good at following directions. With her magic added to the effort, the rickety device was soon lashed together, and they were ready to move out: she lead the two engineers back down the path, racing through the woods with their hastily assembled contraption in tow. Though once they were in motion, Summer couldn't help but ask: "So, uhh, what exactly is this thing?"
Azure’s blasts were effective at knocking the birds right out of the air, once, twice, and then the rest of the flock regrouped and swarmed her, closing in on the stone slab she was crouching behind, which offered no protection from flanking attacks. “Oh no!” Melonwater shouted in alarm; the stallion was still cowering next to Azure, though now he was looking desperately for somewhere else to bolt to. Cloud Cutter had vanished again and for some reason the griffon was stalking around the perimeter of the forest instead of coming to their assistance.
Shaking her head and sighing, Azure called out "Should've guessed these birds were smart... stick close, I'll clear them out!" She channelled more power into her horn, muttering "This might not be a great idea, but it's better than nothing..." With a decisive nod, she shouted "Let's see if the wind answers now!", shaping the magic into a whirlwind with Melonwater and herself in the eye of the storm. Melonwater grabbed Azure in a bear hug, screaming like a little filly as the birds dove for the kill. Azure’s airburst went off, sucking up the birds and whirling them around as for a few seconds a tornado ravaged the clearing, bouncing feathery bodies off tree trunks and metal pipes. Stunned and confused, the propeller birds milled about but showed no sign of leaving.
Reef Skimmer came in hot for a landing near the edge, trotting to a stop. His first impression was chaos, even more complete than what he'd seen earlier: a mass of avians flapping and spinning around, half-concealed by billowing clouds of dust whipped up by the miniature cyclone, branches strewn everywhere, with Azure and her friend hunkered down in the middle. He could try to pick the birds off one by one, but he wasn't exactly an agile or experienced hunter and in any case it would take too long. Instead he tried something they might understand; hunkering his chest down, hindquarters in the air, wings spread to full span and tilted to face the birds. His tail feathers stuck up in the air to complete the threat display, before an even louder screech filled the air. 'If that doesn't spook them' he thought, 'maybe it will get them focused on me at least.'
Indeed, every propeller bird was drawn to the sound of Reef’s mighty squawk. They had no idea what was going on, but they beheld his resplendent display of fearsome aggression and dominance, and collectively decided what had to be done. The threat was clear. Ignoring the other creatures now, every last one took to the air and flew straight at the monstrously large bird of prey that had just invaded their territory, claws outstretched.
'It worked!' Azure thought '...but it isn't going to be enough... far from it in fact.' Cursing under her breath at the stubborn persistence of the little hunters, she returned her focus to defending Melonwater, even if it meant getting herself scratched and clawed multiple times... before an ear-splitting screech filled the air and the two were suddenly left alone. They'd all flown off... to attack the doctor, of all creatures! "For a medical worker... he sure as heck can fight." she muttered. "Stay safe!" Azure called out, before spreading her wings and preparing for aerial combat. No way was she leaving the medic to fend for himself against these birds! "On my way, Doc!"
While some part of Reef's mind had allowed for the possibility of complete success, the sight of a hundred or so little feathery bundles of pure rage heading straight for him did stun him for just a second. The plan (or wild notion, to be honest) had been to turn around, fly away from the island and outrun them, but by the time he'd done that they'd be on him. Instead he galloped forward, directly towards the path to the docks, taking two flaps back into the air before pulling his wings in and trying to dive under the onrushing wave of beaks and sharp crests. He could only hope they wouldn't react in time and fly over him.
Azure found herself in the enviable position of being behind a bunch of birds who did not know that she could fly. They squawked in complete surprise as she started knocking birds out of the air left and right, hitting them from behind. Having dived down and covered his head with his claws, Reef didn’t have the opportunity to see this precisely, but he did see hear the squawking, and he did glimpse, peeking through his talons, the hooves of two ponies and a kirin trotting into view.
“Herd them all together!” Nutmeg called out, as she, Summer Scribe, Gearshift galloped through the pillars that formed the entrance to the clearing. Trailing behind was an odd, spiderwebby ball of leaves and vines, held in Nutmeg’s glowing green magic. Summer was grinning; it seemed the purpose of the odd device was about to be revealed. Seeing Reef barrelling towards her with most of the birds in tow, she grabbed a couple of stragglers with her telekinesis, pulling them back into the centre of the flock. Between her efforts and Azure firing wind blasts to each side, the hostiles were pretty tightly bunched together near the centre of the clearing.
Having ploughed rather clumsily into the earth, Reef struggled back up, looking behind him to see a literal ball of birds tumbling and squawking and bouncing off each other, small wings buzzing as they regrouped to come at him again. Lacking any further plan at this point, he galloped towards the exit. Distracted by the birds, he saw Nutmeg Inferno and Summer Scribe just in time to avoid running them over, twisting sideways and crashing into the undergrowth near the entrance pillars.
As much as Azure was liking her sneak attack revenge bird after bird, it was time to finish this off. The hippogriff was out of the picture, but the propeller birds were corralled and Nutmeg seemed ready to launch her... giant ball o’ sticks? Azure banked to the side, flapping clear as the kirin hurled her device towards the flock. It had no trouble beaning one right in the beak, which triggered an explosion of motion, the tightly bound mass springing into a frenzy of whip-like branches that closed around the whole bunch of birds, inverting and expanding the sphere into a misshapen but tightly tangled cage.
The whole mess crashed to the ground; unfortunately a few lucky birds had escaped the trap and they seemed even more incensed, spinning around it enraged, dive-bombing every creature in the vicinity even though they were woefully outnumbered at this point. That was when Grenelda returned, shouting something like “Hey bean-heads!” as she flew in. Her exact words didn’t really matter, so much as getting the enemy's attention, because she held in her claws a thickly woven nest of brown sticks and twigs, in which several large, blue eggs were nestled.
Every propeller bird still free to do so made a beeline for the griffon, squawking and screeching, but she easily flew to the edge of the island, and just... tossed the nest over the edge. “Have fun with that,” she said in amusement, as the last of the birds dove over the edge in pursuit of the falling nest. At last, there was silence. At least until Abernathy ran in with a fishing net, shouting, “Hold on, ponyzandas, I’m coming!”
Summer Scribe was left gawking at the kirin's ingenuity. You could make something that precise out of just a bunch of twigs and vines? She didn't even know what they'd been working on! She offered Nutmeg a high hoof. "That was AWESOME! I'm speechless!"
“Well uh, thanks it’s... I mean it worked, so... yay?” Nutmeg said to the unicorn mare in her face, backing up as Summer raised her hoof as if to strike. Looking nervously between Summer and the cage of angry birds, she added, “I don’t know how long it’ll hold.”
Abernathy addressed that by throwing his net over the bird cage, securing it a lot better, before saying, “Thanks for that. I didn’t even know the buzzer beaks were nesting around here. They get very territorial when they feel their eggs are threated.” Folding his arms, he added, “Which is a shame because their eggs are really tasty.”
Having seen Nutmeg's trap neutralise most of the hostiles, and Grenelda finish the job by throwing what Azure assumed was these birds' last nest off the island, the unicorn closed her wings and landed heavily. Sighing, she remarked "You creatures can fight better than some of the Blades..." A weak chuckle followed before she looked around at the rest of her team. "Every creature alright? That was rougher than I thought it would be..."
Grenelda was still looking over the edge, seeming satisfied with what she saw down there. Melonwater was crawling out from behind a rock. And Cloud Cutter was still nowhere to be found. “I’m alright Azure,” Melonwater said, walking up, “But your Blades must be pretty terrible at fighting if I can do it better.”
After a fair amount of rustling and cursing Reef Skimmer pushed his way back into the clearing. To say his feathers were ruffled would be an understatement: they were pointing in every possible direction. His wings were trailing bits of vine and his crest and tail were completely tangled with leaves and twigs. Still full of adrenalin, he was panting with break wide open. Staring at the instant cage of squawking birds, then Nutmeg, Summer and Azure in turn, he could only say weakly "...good show... everycreature." before sitting down heavily and staring into space.
Summer Scribe tilted her head... and then shook it. "No, no, this isn't an attack! This is, uhh, how to demonstrate it..." She waved Azure over to help. "Like this! See?" Summer giggled as Azure gave her a slightly stiff hoof-bump. Now, since things seemed to be calming down... she remembered what was happening before the avian assault. She turned to the two engineers, looking positively giddy. "Oh! And you know why you're out here, right?" she said, waving a hoof towards... The Machine.
Nutmeg gave an excited squeal, and bounded over to the strange artefacts they’ve discovered. Gearshift followed after, saddlebag full of tools in tow, as the red-ruffed kirin darted about the ruin, saying “This is... but what’s this? And is this really a... what is this? Oh wow, this is actually a...”