//------------------------------// // Excursions // Story: Clear Skies // by Amber Spark //------------------------------// When I went back below deck, I found a pot of coffee ready to be injected into my bloodstream and Minuette passed out on one of the sofas just past the galley. Somehow, she’d ended up on her back with one of her forelegs twitching up in the air like some sort of huge blue cat. She’d even cocooned herself in three blankets. I poured myself a cup of the heavenly liquid and sipped. Then, I just stood there, watching her snore her head off. She even snorted occasionally, and that was always accompanied by a twitch of her navy and white tail.  Finally, I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I started to laugh. I laughed so hard I almost dropped my mug. Just seeing her passed out like that… or who knows? Maybe it was the euphoria that I didn’t have to go back to Vanhoover. Correction, that we didn’t have to go back to Vanhoover. Either way, everything was suddenly hysterical. It was my laughter that finally woke her from her catnap. She sat up with a jolt, looking around in confusion until her eyes landed on mine. I saw recognition dawn there and she went scarlet. Her ears flattened and she tried to burrow under the sheets to hide. “Thanks for putting on the coffee,” I said, lifting my mug in a little salute of my own. “It’s perfect.” “I didn’t sleep well,” she mumbled from somewhere beneath all those blankets. “I’m tired!” “Sure you are,” I replied with a smirk. “Well, I’ve got something to help that if you’ll come out.” “Not coming out until you stop snickering.” It was true. I hadn’t stopped snickering since she first woke up.  “I’m working on it,” I replied airily.  “Work harder!” Minuette snapped, her ears twitching in vague annoyance.  Finally, I got it under control and I raised an eyebrow at my traveling companion. With a huff, she eventually slipped out of her blanket nest/cocoon, only to trip on the edge and end up sprawling right at me. I managed to catch her in my forehooves at the last second while keeping the piping hot coffee from pouring all over us.  Then, we were an inch or two apart. I swallowed hard as I found myself staring into her dark blue eyes. I stammered something incomprehensible before she managed to straighten herself out. I quickly let go of her and took a few comfortable steps back.  “Nice save,” Minuette said, smiling at me.  I couldn’t meet her eyes. Not quite. And especially not with my cheeks burning. There were days I hated having such a pale coat. Namely, most of them.  Instead, I just nodded and guzzled my coffee. At least she was in her jumpsuit. Actually, wait, that didn’t help. Because that kept emphasizing parts of her that I shouldn’t be staring at.  I threw her a red scarf—it was trailing out from her bedroom’s hatch—and she caught it in her magic. “Come on, get dressed, because we have plans for today!” “Oh, did the mechanic already come by?”  Finally, I found myself able to look her in the eye as I nodded. “Yup! It’ll cost a bit, but she should get the Blossom nearly back up to her normal capabilities with some creative engineering. She’ll actually fly again!” Minuette cocked her head to one side. “Uh, didn’t we fly all the way here after the… um… run?” I flushed. “Well… yes. I meant fly like she’s supposed to!” “Oh, that makes more sense.” I glared at her, but she was the picture of cheery innocence as her magic worked the coffee pot and a mug, pouring an unholy amount of sugar into her coffee. Coffee was supposed to be bitter, for Luna’s sake!  “So, you said something about plans?” Minuette asked after her first sip. Now, it was my turn to be a little bit smug. “You know that spot we found with the broken trees?”  “Yeah.” Minuette nodded, her eyes slipping to the safe where we’d stashed the Waystone. “But you said the winds were too bad to get to it.” “At night,” I corrected her. “But now, it should be okay.” “But the Blossom still needs to be repaired,” Minuette pointed out.  Why was she suddenly coming up with all the problems? “What’s with all the naysaying?” I demanded, sitting down and putting my hooves on my hips. “You were practically frothing at the mouth to get down there yesterday!” “I’m… trying not to get my hopes up?”  And that’s when I saw it. Specifically, I saw it in her eyes. Somewhere inside, she was practically vibrating with excitement and eagerness. “Yeah, not buying it,” I decreed. “Drop the act, Minuette.” And, to my surprise, she did. Dropped it instantly. Instead, she leapt forward, now physically vibrating. “Okay, come on! Tell me!” I chuckled and smirked at her. “I’m thinking we rent a pegasus tour wagon to take us out to the spot. Then we look around a little... with that.” I pointed at the safe where the Waystone was in. “Worst case scenario, we get a little hiking in. I don’t usually like hiking, but I’ve never really been to the Equestrian Northwest before, so… might as well try it.” “And best case scenario…” she squealed, clapping her hooves together. “We find the treasure of the Cloudshark.” I shrugged. “I mean, crazier things have happened, but I’m not holding my breath. Even with all of this, I’m still having trouble believing there could be a six-hundred-year-old treasure just lying in the dirt.” “But there’s a chance!” Minuette said, bouncing up and down a little. “There’s a chance, Moony!” I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, yeah. There’s a chance.” She stuck her tongue out at me, then went back to the pot for a refill. All the while, I felt myself smiling. That seemed like a rare thing lately. At least… since I left Canterlot. Not a lot of reasons to smile a real and honest smile. But Minuette had a way of pulling it out of me.  Who knows, maybe Minuette was exactly what I needed on this little trip. She wasn’t part of my plan, but I kinda liked having her on board. After all, I was willing to go tromping down a mountainside to look for some centuries-old buried treasure that probably wasn’t there pretty much just to make her happy. Minuette downed the last of her coffee and put the mug in the sink. She flipped on her bright red scarf and beamed at me. “So, what are we waiting for?” I smiled even wider. Who knows, maybe this might actually be fun. Stranger things had happened.  We’d managed to finally make out of Blossom with some of the gear we bought yesterday in our saddlebags, as well as heavy coats to stave off the cold wind wandering around the town. It might have been overpacking, but Minuette promised she could do a dimensional bag spell, so we could always shove stuff in there if we needed to.  We’d stopped at another diner, had a quick bite to eat, and then asked for directions for the pegasus tours. Any tourist attraction city, especially one in the wilderness, had at least one team of pegasi that offered aerial tours of the surrounding landscape. I’d heard it was a profitable business since all the pegasi had to do was keep the wagon in good repair and fly around. Maybe it was a little like being a taxipony?  It was about ten in the morning by the time we made it to the ‘Canter Basin Airtours’ building on the outskirts of town. I spied a small landing strip behind the small one-story structure with cute little decals of flying pegasi all over the windows to either side of the door. “I already love it,” Minuette declared. “Just by itself, this’ll be fun!” “I doubt it’ll compare to the Blossom,” I informed her with a smirk. “But it’ll get the job done.” I opened the door and let her step in first. We found ourselves in a small room that seemed to be both a reception area and a waiting room. Various Wonderbolt show posters were scattered over the walls between pegasus-eyed photos of the Canter Basin area. The entire place had a homey feel, made entirely out of wood with a thick rug beneath our hooves.  It looked like a tourist attraction, but at least it looked like the good kind of tourist attraction. Behind the main counter was a petite pegasus with a dappled gray coat and a dark blue mane. She cocked her head at us as we entered, looking surprised. I couldn’t blame her, since it was definitely off-season for tourists. She put away the book she’d been reading and sat up on her stool that put her at eye level with us.  “Welcome to Canter Basin Airtours,” she said with a vaguely awkward smile. “What can I help you two with today?” I stepped up to the counter. There was a large topographical map of Canter Basin there, with numerous routes suggesting tour paths in different colors. I studied it briefly before spotting the approximate area we wanted to go. “We’d like to charter a flight to a specific destination,” I explained. “Can you do that?” The mare frowned. “You mean, just drop you off somewhere and leave you? At this time of year?”  I glanced at Minuette, who just shrugged. “Yeah, pretty much. And then pick us up later in the day.” The mare jerked backward. “Uh… that’s… yeah, that’s not normally what we do. Especially now. I mean… sometimes, but… you know what, let me ask.” I expected her to hop off her stool and trot through the door in the back wall to ask somepony else. Instead, she suddenly hollered with a voice so loud it left my ears ringing as I staggered back a few feet away from her. “Hey, Swift Glide!” the mare called. “We’ve got a special request! Get your shaggy flank out here!” It was amazing that a pony so small could make that much noise. I rubbed at my ears a little as Minuette stepped up beside me, looking a little dazed.  There was some grumbling in the next room and a few thuds. Eventually, the door banged open and a shaggy, snow-colored pegasus stallion about my height trotted into the room. His mane was a mass of lopsided brown and blue curls. He projected an absolute air of confidence around him, especially with the heavy brown flight jacket that reminded me of an old-style Wonderbolts off-duty uniform. “Jeez, Nebula,” the stallion—Swift Glide, I guess—groaned. “I keep telling you, one of these days, you’re gonna deafen somepony with that yell of yours.” “I haven’t gotten any medical bills yet,” Nebula said with a huff.  “And if you get one from me?” he grumbled, rubbing his own ears. I had the feeling he’d been subjected to that yell far more often than was medically healthy. “Then you’ll end up paying it anyway,” she said with a smirk, jumping into the air and giving him a kiss on the cheek before spinning over his head to stop on the other side. “And you’d grumble and love me even more.” The big stallion—to my surprise—blushed, rubbed his cheek, and took the spot Nebula had previously occupied. As if the last exchange had never happened, he looked up at the two of us. “Sorry about all that. What’s the special request?” Since Minuette was too busy making little ‘awww’ noises, I took the lead again. I highlighted our desired target on the map with my magic. “We want to charter you to drop us off here, leave, then come back just before the evening winds pick up.” “Huh.” Swift Glide rubbed his chin with a frown. “You ladies know it’s mid-Autumn, right? Sometimes it’s hard to tell since we got mostly evergreens up here. Weather’s unpredictable. We don’t like dropping off ponies during the off-season and you two don’t seem the seasoned hiker type, no offense.” “None taken!” Minuette declared for the both of us, which wasn’t strictly true. Still, I let it drop. “Still, we need to get out to that area today,” I insisted. “We’d take our airship, but it’s undergoing some minor repairs.” He cocked an eyebrow at us, his expression suddenly stony. “Which airship? The big one or the small one?” Well, I’m guessing somepony had an encounter with Snappy and her two misfits.  “Small,” I said a second later. “The Wandering Blossom.” He breathed a sigh of relief. So did Nebula, who was now hovering on his right.  “The custom Bright Bow 7S, right?” he said with a hopeful smile. Minuette and I both nodded, though of course, she took a moment. She didn’t know the Blossom like I did. “That’s the one,” I said. “Why… do you ask?” I didn’t really need to ask, but it was polite. And I was trying to do a little more of that. I wasn’t exactly sure why, but I was doing it. I mean, it couldn’t hurt, right? “I thought we’d seen the last of you treasure hunters,” he said. “I’m pretty sure that snow last night was meant to run you all off. The town’s had… a lot of issues with them the last few days.” “How do you know we’re—” Swift rolled his eyes. “Your accent pegs you both as being born and raised in Canterlot for most of our lives. Both of you are overdressed in those Skyclip Harnesses… oh, and there’s a shovel sticking out of your marefriend’s bag.” I turned around and realized that yes, the spring-loaded shovel had snapped open withou— Minuette had gone red.  I spun back around, going scarlet myself. “She’s not my marefriend!”  “N-nope!” Minuette said, shaking her head desperately. “Nope! Not at all! Just old friends!” “Where do you get off saying something like that anyway?” I shouted at him, my cheeks feeling even hotter as I practically climbed the counter.  Nebula cackled faintly at the stallion’s sudden embarrassment. Swift, to his credit, held up his hooves in surrender. “Sorry, sorry! I assumed and that was stupid. When you live a life like mine you… tend to sometimes see things that aren’t there.” “Yet,” mumbled Nebula with a little smirk. When I shot her a glare, she was conspicuously looking in the other direction.  “We’re not a thing,” I restated. “Just traveling… traveling companions.” I swallowed the lump in my throat and wondered why I was getting so annoyed about a stupid assumption. “Okay, I was trying to take a nap, but all I hear is yelling!” said the voice of another mare, who entered through the same door Swift Wind had come through. “What’s the problem, darlings?” “Just, a miscommunication, Jade Sea,” Swift said. “Swifty’s shipping senses activated again for no reason,” Nebula said with a smirk directed toward Swift. “I swear he should have been a matchmaker.” The newcomer was another pegasus with a teal coat and a mane of purple, pink and blue. She actually wore a full flight suit that fit her perfectly. In fact, she looked vaguely familiar as she smiled at us before leaning up to give Nebula a kiss on the cheek… and then gave Swift the same? Swift reached out a wing and Jade Sea snuggled under it. These ponies had no problem with public displays of affection at all. “Wait a…” I mumbled to myself. What was going on here? Nebula was too old to be their daughter. And the kiss Nebula had given Swift hadn’t been one of a friend or… Minuette let out a gasp, dropped to her haunches and put her hooves to her mouth. “Oh my goodness!” “What?” I asked, feeling a little out of my depth—and a little annoyed that Minuette had apparently put a hoof on the oddity before me. “What is it?” “They’re a trio!” Minuette squeaked, beaming at the three of them. Swift blushed, but Jade just chuckled while Nebula rolled her eyes.  “At least she didn’t call us a herd,” Nebula said, her wings fluttering a little faster. “She’s too cute to buck out the door.” “Nebby, be nice!” chastised Jade Sea, though Jade looked maybe two years older than Nebula.  “Wait… you’re… all together? Together, together?” I said, scratching my head. Every one of them nodded and seemed to be waiting for my reaction. I flopped to my own haunches and tried to process what I was seeing. Relationships were… well, I wasn’t very good at them. Especially romantic ones. Canterlot was a very traditional city, especially Upper Canterlot. Despite my best intentions, high society had played a pretty strong role in how I developed my worldview. For them, I knew that male-female relationships were considered to be ‘the norm.’ That wasn’t to say that same-sex relationships were shunned, but more considered to be ‘daring’ or ‘avante garde,’ though they’d been around since before recorded history.  Relationships involving three or more consenting adults were far more rare, at least in Canterlot. I’d met one or two groups like that in Vanhoover and had never known what to think. Not that it was necessarily bad… it was just… it would be like the sun rising on its own. Just… hard for me to comprehend.  And even before my ultimately disastrous attempts at romantic relationships, it was the one thing I had never studied, not even during my self-imposed exile from the world of friendship. After that exile had ended, I’d never studied polyamory. I never thought I’d need to. I’d been right. Mostly.  “I… sorry.” I sighed and rubbed my temples. “Like you said, we’re from Canterlot and it’s just… weird.” “Weird how?” Nebula demanded. Jeez, chip on the shoulder much? “I’ve never been able to make a single mare happy,” I blurted out. “How the heck are you supposed to make two ponies happy at the same time?” Jade Sea laughed, a melodic and rather beautiful laugh while Swift watched her fondly. She was only a few inches shorter than him and she fit under his wing perfectly. “Lots of grace and understanding,” she answered smoothly.  She almost sounded like… her. Almost.  “Anyway,” Swift said, mercifully yanking the conversation back on topic. “These two ladies want to head out to the west ridge about three miles north of the Watchmare.” “In the middle of Autumn?” Jade frowned and looked down at the map, where my magical spot still lay. Then she let out a low sigh. “You’re hunting the Cloudshark, aren’t you?” I shared a look with Minuette. She shrugged at me, then unexpectedly leapt to the forefront of the conversation with a simple “Yup!” “I won’t even bother to ask why you think it’s there of all places,” Jade sighed again, this time with a shake of her head. “I’m guessing they’ve already told you why it’s a bad idea?” “Yes, ma’am,” I replied, offering a shrug of my own. She cocked an eyebrow at me. “I’m probably a year older than you. Can the ma’am and call me Jade.” I smirked. I liked this mare. “Sorry, Jade.” “That’s better,” she huffed, her eyes dancing. “So, here’s the deal, ladies. As long as Swift is on board, I’m willing to fly the two of you out there. But the weather’s been getting wilder every day, and earlier in the afternoon, too. If the winds pick up too bad or we get rain or snow, you’re going to get picked up and we’re charging triple.” I blinked a few times. “Something we’re missing here?” “It’ll take us about three hours to fly out there,” Swift said, tapping his hoof on the spot on the map. “Three hours back. That’s assuming decent winds. But storms out here are nasty, wild things.” “All pegasi in Canter Basin are required to be part of Search and Rescue,” Nebula said, her voice a little somber while it lost a fair bit of her snark. “We sometimes get idiots who fly out in late Autumn or early Spring. They get trapped by floods or windstorms. Had a stallion get hit by a lightning strike last year.” Minuette’s ears were practically pasted to her head at this point. “If you’re trying to freak us out…” I began. “We’re not trying to freak you out,” Jade replied coolly. “We’re trying to tell you that it gets dangerous here around winter. This isn’t one of the places where Cloudsdale delivers snow days on a silver platter. The winter we get is straight from the Frozen North. And you’re coming in at the beginning of it. It’s been eighty years since there was a death because of the storms, but we’ve had ten cases of frostbite in the last five years, four of them from around this time of year.” I glanced again at Minuette. We both were alpine unicorns, raised on the massive peak of Canterlot. We knew a little about cold, but we had lived in the city where the living avatar of the sun dwelled for most of our lives. I suspected that changed matters. I thought Minuette might finally back down and admit that this was a bad idea.  “So… can you try?” Minuette asked hesitantly.  Three pairs of eyes slid over to me, waiting to hear my response. I sighed, rubbed my face with my hooves and shrugged again. “What she said.” Jade raised an eyebrow at the two of us, then eyed Nebula and Swift.  “Yeah. We can try.”