//------------------------------//
// Standoff 
// Story: Expedition to the Cloudbreak Islands 
// by Starglider 
//------------------------------//

The worm-like abominations were the product of a magical-industrial accident three centuries past, the toxic blue slime lying dormant in the ancient factory's vats until its ill-fated reactivation earlier that day. Now at last the threat had been laid to rest; calm returned to the strange water park, nestled in its dome of magic, still pristine and tidy despite the terror of moments ago. The only motion came from the pleasant babble of the fountains and the sloosh of water streaming from the slides. 

Returning to a semblance of normality would not be so easy for the six creatures near the shallows of the central pool. The little unicorn mare, Summer Scribe, had the task of explaining how she had inadvertently released the worms, then how her group had fought to contain them, ending in their apparent defeat via the 'emergency flush'. However, the horrible creations were not so easily destroyed: the remaining 'animate magical waste' had merely been dumped into an underground stream, which ultimately fed into the labyrinthine pipework powering the water nexus.

“In retrospect,” Summer admitted with a nervous chuckle, “That’s probably why the original owners didn’t flush them out in the first place. Not one of my better decisions!” 

A brown pegasus known by the name of Set Sail, her flanks now covered in burns from the touch of the worms, could only stammer with disbelief and rising anger, as she realised that the horrific surprise had not been merely dangerous wildlife. “You... set those things loose?!”

“All I did was turn on the factory, to see if it worked!” Summer Scribe protested, “There was no way to tell it was all full of... squirmy things!”

Further discussion was precluded by Nutmeg's desperate cry for help. The kirin lay out of the water, next to a stallion whose head still lay cradled in her lap. This earth pony Nutmeg held was a terrible sight, with the fur gone from fully half his body and huge patches of skin eaten away to expose muscles and tendons underneath, lying in a pool of red-tinted water as his life blood leaked out.

“I can’t stop the bleeding!” Nutmeg called out, ignoring her own contact burns, and missing scales for the sake of her gravely injured companion, “Please, I... don’t wanna kill any pony!”

That was enough to snap a most peculiar creature out of his shock and despair, if only for the moment. Reef Skimmer forced himself to move however he could, clumsily half-slithering, half-crawling over to Gearshift's side. With wriggling blue tentacles where the hippogriff’s dextrous claws had been, he had to talk Nutmeg through the process of retrieving his saddlebags, unpacking the jar of green paste, and applying it generously to Gearshift. Nutmeg's cloven hooves shook as she did her best to follow Reef's directions, too full of adrenalin to remember her magic.

The doctor's voice stayed remarkably calm as he told the kirin not to panic, it would be fine, dressing here, bandage around there, now the patient was stabilising: see, the dermis was quickly regenerating. Acting captain Set Sail could only watch, hooves in her mouth, as the stallion's life hung in the balance. Summer Scribe rushed in to assist with her levitation, while Azure Feather took the jar and silently applied the paste to the lesser but still painful lesions on Nutmeg and Set Sail. At last the burning pain faded away and the immediate crisis was over.

“Okay everypony, let’s just...” Set Sail pressed a weary hoof to her forehead, “Let’s just get back to the copter. We need to get out of here before something... else goes wrong.”

“That’s a... very good idea,” the guardsmare Azure said, the mysterious jar of healing paste held in her horn’s glow. “Reef, are you able to fly to the dock? Doesn’t look like you want to walk.”

This prompted the discovery that Reef Skimmer had lost the ability to fly; despite his seemingly intact wings and several vigorous attempts to take off, all he achieved was whipping up spray and brief leaps that ended in him splashing back down into the water. This was enough to break the mutated creature's fragile composure and reduce him to a tangled, writhing, sobbing, pile. 

“It’s hopeless!” he sobbed, “I'll never fly again. Just leave me here! There's no sense in burdening yourselves with a hideous monster." The former hippogriff had gone back to staring in horror at the squirming tentacles emerging from the stumps of his forelegs. "How could I practice medicine now; even if I could control these... things... I'd just burn anygriff I touched!”

Set Sail knew she wasn’t a very good leader, but she didn’t know how to comfort the writhing mass of sorrow Reef Skimmer had become. And there was Summer Scribe just looking blithely at Reef as if she had no idea what her actions had wrought. Hovering above the group in less than a good mood, the pegasus explained in a very curt tone: “Everypony, please. Just wait here. Don’t move anypony who’s injured. I’m going to bring the ship in close. Then we’ll... figure out how to get everyone on board.” She gave a sharp look at Reef Skimmer, as if challenging him to contest the 'everyone', but he was too busy trying to hide from his own tentacles to pay attention.

“Captain, the ship can’t take the load!” Nutmeg said anxiously, “That copter was already struggling to hold seven of us, the cart and all our equipment. If Reef can’t fly, how are we going to...?”

“It'll be fine, we just need to take two trips!” Summer said, trying to reassure everyone. “Eh-heh, just so as long as those... gill-men don’t find us here, in their sanctuary... though it's not like we broke in, right?” she concluded, rubbing a nervous hoof behind her head.

The acting captain flew off without taking any more input, leaving Nutmeg still sticking close to Gearshift, doting over him worriedly, while Azure trotted to and fro, checking each nook and cranny to make sure no worms had survived. Reef Skimmer flopping messily into the water and began to moan about how trying to rescue him would only put the entire crew in dire peril and how it would be better if he lived in the bubble forever, while Summer Scribe tried desperately, and unsuccessfully, to think of a way to make things right again.





It was a short flight up to the high plateau at the other end of the island, and Set Sail was soon gliding down to land on the deck of the Second Chance, still parked on the cracked mossy, flagstones of the abandoned wharf. “Cloud Cutter, are you here?" she asked "I need you to pilot the ship somewhere.”

The empty-eyed purple pegasus crawled out from below deck, barely making it to her hooves, delicately keeping her weight off her messed-up leg. Seeing Set Sail’s look of horror and desperation, Cloud Cutter didn’t wait for the captain to respond before explaining. “I can’t stand on this leg,” she admitted, not wanting to look at the twisted thing. “It hurts,” she said, almost as if trying to convince herself of that, “I... there were worms. Monster at the convent. It was a factory not a convent. I had to get as many worms as I could, and they—I waited too long, and they... hurt me. I’m sorry.”

Set Sail ended up having to fly the former drow copter, following Cloud Cutter’s verbal instructions. Fortunately the purple pegasus’s basic knowledge of how to fly a ship now included not leaving the throttle fully open constantly. The aircraft buzzed over to the gleaming blue water domed mystery, and shakily, but without leaving too much of a mark, settled down right in front of the entrance.

The trip had given Set Sail plenty of time to think about the peculiar blue flesh that had attached itself to various pieces of Reef’s body, and what it might do to the wooden hull of their ship. She walked into the dome, announcing briefly “Cloud Cutter's hurt, she's in no state to pilot. I'll fly the copter: I need to take Reef Skimmer first, along with anypony who can fly, in case something... happens to the ship while we’re transporting him.”

This sent Reef Skimmer into another tirade, rolling around about how terrible this was, and how his miserable life wasn't worth risking the destruction of their only working aircraft, and so on. “Reef, please!” the captain said, flying over to the distressed... whatever he was, “I need you to calm down. We’ll get you back to the ship, and then... see what we can do, alright?”

Nutmeg still had tear streaks on her cheeks when Set Sail marched in, standing up from where she’d been sitting with the recently revived Gearshift, the poor stallion still slipping in and out of consciousness. “Are you going to be okay without anyone watching the engine?” Nutmeg asked critically, still not really willing to leave Gearshift’s side, but she has to try, “If it overheats again you could—”

“Do any engineers here know how to fly?” Set Sail cut back, startling Nutmeg to blushing silence. “I’ll be careful,” Set Sail assured the kirin, trying not to take her frustration out on innocent creatures, “Cloud Cutter already told me about the throttle. I got the ship here, didn’t I?”

Nutmeg frowned at that, but had to agree.

“Just leave me here!” Reef protested again, but Set Sail was having none of it.

“We’re not leaving you behind,” she said flatly, “Get on the copter, and don’t... do anything, and we’ll get you somewhere safer than this death trap.” A pause, before she added, “That’s, uh, an order.”

“And if I destroy the copter?” Reef Skimmer asked with unprecedented insubordination, though understandable given his situation.

“We’ll leave the cart here,” Set Sail assured him, “If something happens to the ship, I can bring a few pegasi back here to get everypony else to safety. Just... try not to be... acidy?”

“I can help fly the cart,” Azure said, coming up behind Set Sail.

Turning to blink at her, Set Sail blushed saying, “Oh yeah, you have that wing spell!”

“Yeah, 'that wing spell',” Azure said unamused, “I just need a rest, then I'll be able to cast it again.”

“I’ll remember that, thanks,” Set Sail said, then hurried over to Reef, still afraid to touch him, but telling the whatchamacalit, “Well? C’mon!”

After several attempts Reef managed to pull himself up onto the foredeck. Cloud Cutter never left the ship, but Melonwater was all too hasty to leap bodily off the side the moment he saw Reef’s gooey blue tentacles squirming up over the railing. Fortunately Reef didn’t see the earth pony's horrified face, though he certainly heard the panicked girly screams coming from somewhere off the bow.

As the rotors spun up, Nutmeg stood by the ship, mane tossing wildly in the downwash. “Wait," she called up to Set Sail, "we need to check out that factory before we leave, to make sure it’s safe!”

“Just don’t let Summer Scribe touch anything!” the captain shouted down to the kirin.

“Got it! No touchy!” Nutmeg called back, giving a two finger salute (the only kind she could make) as Set Sail pulled her head back and focused on steering the strange aircraft. Thanks to Cloud Cutter’s accurate and if vaguely spooky directions, the Second Chance wobbled only a little as it rose up into the air, before skittering off across the afternoon sky.

With Gearshift vaguely mobile, Nutmeg and Summer helped walk him out of the mysterious water park, before something silly happened like the door regenerating and trapping them inside. By this point Summer was big on the whole 'helping in any way at all remotely possible' thing. They left him in one of the small, abandoned buildings near the entrance, with Melonwater to watch over him. Then the three mares made the trek up the narrow cliff path, reaching the factory and once again making use of Summer’s shiny ancient ID card to convince its golem caretakers that the kirin was also a guest.

Of course Nutmeg Inferno was eager to see the factory, and Summer Scribe was happy to show her, both eager to forget the events of the water park if only for a moment. Azure stayed with Summer though, just in case. The blue and blue unicorn understood the need for somepony to be a wet blanket, contenting herself with watching the kirin’s journey of discovery.

Soon an amazed and overjoyed Nutmeg was dashing through the pipework, springing up stairs and dancing along the catwalks, inspecting every pump and valve, though she was careful not to activate anything. She was initially entranced by the golems, though they turned out to be something of a let-down; despite appearances they were powered by inscrutable alien magics rather than technology, only one of them having any mechanics at all and that only for secondary functions. The machine shop was a delight though; surely those drills and lathes would only need a quick overhaul and lube job to work again, and oh look at all these spare pipe fittings!

The other two tired of watching Nutmeg’s childlike glee after a half hour or so, and retreated out of the main factory entirely. “C’mon,” was all Azure said in explanation, as she led Summer over to the smaller buildings and shacks still standing all around the complex. Soon the two unicorns were turning the place upside down, methodically searching through the offices and back rooms for anything of use; coinage, interesting artifacts, intact paperwork that might shed light on what had happened here. Finally, something to do that Summer Scribe was trained in!

It was sunset by the time Set Sail arrived at the factory, flying straight in and demanding to know where Summer Scribe was 'right this instant'. The nearest gear golem informed her that guests did not have access to the employee roster. It also warned her that the control room was a restricted area to guests, for some reason. The pegasus just... folded her wings and backed up from the fiery thing, until she was outside of the main building, and noticed the other two still going over the rest of the complex with a fine toothed comb.

Gearshift and Melonwater were both back on the copter by the time Summer, Azure and Set Sail managed to pry Nutmeg out of the factory and the four of them headed back down the cliffs. They carried scraps and sheaves of delicate, ancient documents held firmly in Summer’s preservation spell, not to mention saddlebags holding a fair amount of native coinage. Azure and Nutmeg followed behind levitating several crates of the magical soda, and soon enough everything was loaded onto the Second Chance. The mood was light on the second trip back; everyone was concerned for Reef Skimmer of course, but Set Sail curtly informed them that the first trip had been 'fine' and there weren’t any huge holes melted in the ship, so it seemed like he was in no imminent danger.

The flight was uneventful: Melonwater and Gearshift sat quietly at the bow, watching the night sky, while Azure kept a hoof on the aft harpoon, and down at the engineer's station, Nutmeg and Summer chattered excitedly about the implications of discovering the factory. An hour or so later, Set Sail was guiding the whirring craft over Blissful Pastures, the larger island casting a moonlight shadow over the lower landmass. She was eager to see the comforting bulk of the EAS Harmony, the great airship still moored to the distant side of the upper island. 

However as she brought the copter down for a landing in the meadow, Set Sail's relief turned to horror: standing on the deck of the Equestrian ship was a tall, humanoid shape. It was that lanky, two-legged troll - Abernathy - facing off against a small group of crewponies led by the expedition's two griffons. The creature was gesturing with one hand, while in the other he hefted his devastatingly effective 'shotgun'...





'What a day!' Summer Scribe thought. One incident after another: from the monster dog to the factory, then the water park. Poor Reef...! And Gearshift! And even Cloud Cutter... Plus Azure's magic burnout and Melonwater spooked out of his wits. And to think that she set this whole chain of events into action! I mean, you accepted a certain level of risk and consequences when you broke open an archaeological site... but when it happens to someone else, you couldn't help but feel responsible! 

'Well, maybe it'll all turn out OK still.' she tried to reassure herself. It was inevitable they'd poke around in the factory, so they'd have to deal with it sooner or later, right? They would find a way to fix Reef... or failing that he could figure out how to use his new body. They had the magical soda to experiment with, and with Nutmeg's eager help she should be able to figure out what the factory was doing... So it's not like today was totally fruitleeee- wait why is Abby here why does he have his shotgun out

The little unicorn followed the captian's gaze and gawked with. "Why now? Why at all?" she cried out! "What's he doing? He's not going to hurt anypony, is he?"

In a panic, Set Sail left the copter without a word, flying straight for the troll before he opened fire on somepony! Nutmeg Inferno was forced to grab the yoke in one hoof and pul the throttle closed, shouting, "Go on, I got this! Stop him, before he hurts someone!" The aircraft cruised down towards the meadow, coming in fast but with less force than its first landing.

Azure Feather shook her head, just wanting the day to end. She knew she had to be ready at all times to fight, and there was Abernathy raising hell and... she was exhausted, with no wings and minimal magic. Racing off on hoof, she was silently cursing herself the entire way as she would be very late... just hoping she wouldn't be too late to rescue any creature in danger... but why did Abernathy seem so hostile suddenly?

Summer was also wishing for a pair of wings right now, as she galloped just behind Azure. "Couldn't wait one more day, huh?" she bantered, before sighing. From the bottom of the gangplank, she couldn't see what was going on with Abby, but it was the only way onto the ship.

"Thanks Gustus, but I couldn't have done it without your help." Abernathy was saying. "Now take care, all of you, I've gotta get back- woah! Hey little ponyzandas, what's got you spooked?" he cried out, ducking and covering his head with his arms as he saw a pegasus apparently flying straight at his head, while a unicorn charged up the gangplank, horn aglow. 

"Captain, great to see... hey wait... oh yeah look it's not what you think!" Gustus shouted. Next to him Grenelda screeched with alarm, looking around to see if any enemies followed the ponies in, before realising they were talking about the troll.

Hanging onto his back, Set Sail grappled with Abernathy furiously, unable to get him in a headlock because her arm is too short, but hooking a hoof under his gun arm shouting, "Everypony get to cover! I can't hold him for long!" In the background, Nutmeg managed to pull the copter up into a landing flare; it coasted to a gentle halt.

Azure wasn't quite in a talking mood, there could have been creatures in danger, allies, and she had no idea exactly what was going on... that is, until they reached the ship... and the only sounds of battle was the captain wrestling with the troll. "...Did diplomacy win out or something?" she wondered out loud as she made her way up to the deck...

"Get it off, get it off!" shouted Abernathy, dropping his shotgun, which is fortunately not loaded, and twisting and turning ineffectively.

"Captain, hey, hey now, leave him alone! He's friendly!" Gustus said, grabbing at the pegasus's flailing hooves in his claws and trying to pry her off.

Summer Scribe was close behind Azure: "No weapon sounds... but shouting. They must be in a standoff!" She raced up the gangway and leapt onto the top deck, calling out "What do you want, Abby? There's no need to shoot anypony!"

It took both griffons to extract the captain; Abernathy sat there panting for a moment before Bluebell trotted over to him and asks "I'm sorry about that sir, are you ok?"

Set Sail  stared at Abernathy in shocked realization for a second, before quickly turning away and attempting to hide behind her own wings, as her face turned beet red, the mare stammering, "I-I-I didn't uh i-it's uh b-b-been a..."

By this time Nutmeg Inferno had arrived, charging up the gangplank with her oversized wrench held in her green magic's  aura, shouting, "Alright, who wants some??"

Sprocket's voice rang out from near the railing, where she'd been watching the copter land. "Hey Chief! Guess the Second Chance held together then! Where's Gearsh.... hey hey hey no you missed the action, Chief, no need to swing that thing around!"

Azure seemed calm, until... "Oh, sweet Luna... not the wrench! Nutmeg, we don't need to use that!" she cried out, and as brutal as that shotgun Abernathy was using looked, she knew the wrench could be even worse!

Abernathy's face brightened when he saw the cyan unicorn. "Oh, Summer, nice to see you again!" he said, still sitting on the deck. "You missed all the excitement. Or, well..." he looked at the pegasus, hiding behind Gustus, then at the giant wrench, floating in the air in front of his face "...almost all of it."

Summer Scribe blink-blinked, the tension draining out of her as she leaned back, looking flummoxed. "You're not here to fight us? Err, ohh, nice to see you too, by the way! Sorry, it's been one of those days." She bashfully rubbed behind her head with a hoof. "So, uhh, what is up? I feel out of the loop."

Realising they weren't being invaded, Nutmeg immediately floated the wrench behind her as if to hide it, blushing sheepishly and looking around at the others. "Eheheh... so you're uh... someone friendly." she said to the troll. "Great. Didn't know we had a giant... uh... you... around."

"I am so sorry, Mister Abernathy," Set Sail cut in, rubbing her hoof into her forehead. "I just saw you had that shot-gun staff and just... it's been a long day."

"This troll saved our sodding bacon, that's what's up!" Grenelda broke in. "The drow were here. A little while after the captain dropped Cloud and that monster off. Landed down at the dock, good thing Comet Tail was picking some gear up from the second island..." she gestured with a wing at one of the crew-pegasi "...or we might not have spotted 'em in time."

"Yeah, friendly, that's me..." Abernathy said, waving the kirin and pegasus off "...it's alright, you ponyzandas must be on edge, with the drow after you and all. Did you really have to steal their copter?"

Adrenalin rush over, Summer Scribe was sagging with exhaustion. "The drow came by again?" She fell into a heap on the deck. They couldn't be in two places at once... "Well, I can't thank you enough, Abby. Sorry for jumping to conclusions... So, umm, as you can see, the drow are a REAL problem for us, and we don't know how to deal with it yet. They won't listen to reason!"

She thought for a second. "Oh... this is about the copter?" Well, taking that wasn't her decision, not that the drow were likely to make a distinction. "I think we kinda had to, after they attacked... at least we've got a better way to get around now."

"If you think they gave us a choice, you're crazy!" Grenelda said, puffing up self consciously, "They came right at us! What were we supposed to do, let them put us on their dinner plate?"

Azure Feather sat on her rump, greatly relieved that there wasn't a fight brewing after all. She nodded to Abernathy, then tilted her head at Summer's assertion. "Seemed to be the best choice at the time. Justified, I think, by how the mission went today. Without that little ship, we never would have gotten everypony - everycreature - back home. I can't, uh, say things went perfectly over there, either, though we found some useful supplies..." She gave a quiet sigh, shaking her head. Reef's situation was preying on her mind, to say the least.

"What... did you say before, Grenela?" Set Sail asked uncertainly. "Who landed down at the dock?" 

"Oh yeah, you should've seen it Captain." Gustus explained, clicking his beak in satisfaction. "There was a whole mess of those drow, not just the little buggers like the prisoners, they had a big one as well, size of a minotaur. Abernathy here faced them right down, standing proud all on his own, right in front of his bridge."

Summer beamed proudly as she imagined Abby courageously taking a stand in her head (the mental scene possibly a little embellished from reality). "Ooooh, wow, go Abby!"

"Oh it was no big deal, I couldn't let them cross without paying the toll could I?" Abernathy admitted sheepishly. "A thousand gold pieces each, special rate for angry drow."

"And then they were like 'stand aside, troll' and he was like 'it's just me and my three brothers in perfect sniping positions'," Grenelda enthused, "and that was when Gustus fired the crossbow bolt into the tree right next to the big one's head... great shot by the way Gusty..." the griffon stopped to take a breath, "...and Abernathy levelled his shot-gun and was like 'so what's it gonna be, scum' and that's when they backed down!"

"I'm pretty sure I didn't use the word 'scum'..." the troll muttered. Set Sail's mouth dropped open.

With the situation explained, Nutmeg calmed down and retreated back down the gangplank, heading to the copter to see about getting Gearshift aboard and in a nice comfy bed.

"And we've seen what that device can do... well fought, all of you." Azure congratulated them. "And thank you, Abernathy. Glad to see..." The wingless unicorn soon turned away, her fatigue made clear by a wide yawn. "Glad to see we have an ally like yourself. Apologies... few of us are in good shape after that mission..."

"Woo-hoo!" Summer Scribe cheered: at last some good news! "You guys are awesome, Abby, Grenny!" She trotted over to Abby. "Can we rely on you to lend out a hand should they attack again in the future?" Maybe that would help them all sleep a little more soundly, having a native who knew the terrain on their side. Her ear pricked at the sound of Azure's yawn: oh yeah, it was getting late. Without all the adrenalin to keep her going... she was about ready to fall over.

"Heh, yeah I guess I've picked a side now." Abernathy answered. "Look it's dark and I've gotta get back, but, uh... keep in touch, alright?"

"With a friend like you? Would never dream otherwise!" Summer Scribe managed a little bow, before eliding any further responsibility with "...Okay, I need to go fall over and sleep. Sleep and fall over." With that she excused herself.

"...aaaand that was pretty much it captain," Gustus concluded. "Comet Tail and Silver Frost snuck back round to the tech place while that was going on, hid all our stuff so the drow wouldn't know we were there... we watched those idiots stomp around the lower island for a bit before they took off in their copter. So how was your day?" 

"..." was Set Sail's response to Gustus's question, as Nutmeg came up the gangplank hauling a very injured Gearshift, saying, "Hey now that the doctor's fused with those giant weirdo wiggle worms, who do I take Gearshift to? He almost got eaten alive by the things, then my weirdo reaction after Reef turned me into a fish really messed him up, so he needs a serious check-up. Oh and can someone go get all that cola we brought back?" Bluebell bustled over to help and the three disappeared below deck, leaving the captain to try and explain the situation to the crew.