They didn’t find anything again, and it was rather unfortunate. They were all rather quiet about it and spoke not of their disappointment, but the way the air thickened around them like honey made it obvious that they were either way. The Conquistador and all his men secretly agreed amongst themselves that something inside their psyches made them hope that they could find it, that it was just in their grasp.
The stars were out once again, although faint. The sky was a deep blue, like the sea when it was nighttime. He and his men were well familiar with the odd feeling of the sea and its darkness during the night. They knew that not even Luna’s moon or Celestia’s sun could illuminate the staggering darkness of miles upon miles of water.
The sea was something that absorbed light itself, taking it in but not letting it out. It was home to creatures that would never see the light of day. It was an abyss. That was what the Conquistador thought flying through the sky must be like: there were indeed stars, but oftimes they seemed so far away he wondered if their presence even mattered at all.
His men were starting to chatter as they neared their camp and the village they were by. The locals here were friendly, but other than using a translation spell, they couldn’t understand them well. When they first trekked into the forest after they set up camp several days ago, they were suddenly weary, begging them not to go. Now the Conquistador’s stallions and he himself knew why they shared that sentiment.
But go they did regardless, coming back empty hoofed once again.
The bugs were—as always—ridiculously loud. They just didn’t seem to stop. The creepy crawlies were always out of sight; the Conquistador could never actually see them, though their loud noises made it clear that there were many of them, easily outnumbering any pony army in all of Equus. It was fascinating, how there were things so present but invisible at the same time—mirages, reflections, as if a hallucination.
Then he heard another noise, but this wasn’t from a bug. It sounded larger. It was a growl.
It all happened very fast, and it ended as soon as it started.
A roaring black panther came out from nowhere, suddenly lunging at one of the Conquistador’s men. There was loud shouting, and the unicorns quickly pulled the unfortunate fellow out of the jaws of death as he was put into an abhorrent shock. The Conquistador brandished his double-handed sword, ferociously standing face-to-face with the melanistic jaguar.
The black beast roared at them ruthlessly, the Conquistador holding his grip even tighter as a response. Fortunately, with a short growl—what seemed to be a snigger—the jaguar stepped back and quickly fled. And all was suddenly still, as if nothing had even occurred. Aside from the harsh breathing of the wounded stallion, the night was silent save for the bugs and rustling flora.
The bells rang, and their ringing could be heard from all across the treehouse complex. The chatter of guests could be heard; they held interesting conversations. They talked of the things they saw, the things they heard, great beasts that came from other dimensions, of large spaces, of shifting deities and animals.
They relived the battles they’ve won, the battles they’ve lost, the people they loved, and most importantly, themselves as individuals. And the once nervous energy that dominated the air was easily forgotten as the patrons took their veils and opened them, seeing through the other side for the first time in their lives.
The experience Ohteotl brought was strange, but it showed one one’s self without the obscurity of societal norms and internal boundaries, whether intentional or not. It was a night of strange revelations, both good and bad, like the return of a God to his men.
And then there was Feather Dew, who lurched over the edge of the bar area, vomiting harshly.
It was like a daze at first, like a dream, because he couldn’t remember much. He couldn’t even remember how he got off the hammock and found himself leaning on the edge of the wooden fences that stood between him and a rather large fall.
I really should have brought that bucket with me... He could only think of his regrets for a second before his stomach grumbled and he unfortunately started to vomit again. How can the pony stomach hold so much stuff, anyway?!
“Even my first time wasn’t this intense. What were you eating to hold that much stuff in you, a cow?”
“Oh, no.” He shook his head in denial as soon as he recognized her voice. It felt bad. It felt awkward for her to see him like this. It was kind of funny, though, and so he tried to play it off. “For your information, the buffet they had back in the retreat was quite good. I don’t recall myself getting five plates of delicacies yesterday unlike somepony else.”
And Feather Dew allowed himself to smirk a bit as the mare blushed slightly. “Hey! It was my cheat day yesterday! You know how good the ice cream here is with the exotic fruits and the cute, little umbrellas and stuff.”
He chuckled at that, finally feeling his stomach at peace from the hell he experienced only minutes ago, still leaning on the fence. “Well, you seemed to be having a better time than I am. How’ve you been?”
She put a hoof on her lips as she chuckled, as if remembering something. “The name’s River Moon, by the way, but you can call me River. I forgot to tell you when we first met.”
Feather Dew was suddenly embarrassed at the fact that he didn’t formally introduce himself to her. “Ah, my name is Feather Dew, but most just call me Feather.”
She nodded. “So, Feather, to answer your question, I’ve had the usual experience tonight. You know, meeting with the elves and the aliens and stuff.”
Feather blinked. “The what?”
“Aliens, duh. That’s what I see whenever I take it. I see some flashing patterns and stuff, and then I meet the aliens.”
“That’s... a blunt way to put it, I suppose. How do you even know they’re aliens, anyway?”
She chuckled. “Aliens mean anything not of this world. Aliens don’t necessarily mean weird grey looking things that come out of UFOs. What did you see? I bet you saw some really crazy stuff since it was your first time.”
Feather Dew looked out into the forest canopy, barely seeing a thing through the black treetops. Even Luna’s moon and stars seemed to only help a bit in illuminating such an expansive blackness. Feather tried to remember what he saw.
He couldn’t recall much. He did remember falling and falling, and he remembered the pulsating energy of molecules. Feather remembered feeling strange from the touch of grass, from the touch of all living things in the world.
Touch. He somehow remembered touch, a caress so gentle he wondered if it truly came from a mother’s love.
“I can’t really remember much of the details, but I remembered what I felt.”
She sat down beside him, as he did too. “Yeah, there’s a lot of that. Strange, isn’t it? You get to retain your feelings but not the memories.”
“Yes, that’s exactly what it’s like! It was just so odd. It really was like being out of my body while seeing inside of me at the same time.
“I remember feeling like I was falling, then I felt the vibrations of... things? Living things? All things? It felt strange to touch the ground. Then I remember...”
He truly remembered what he saw. That eye. It was red, and it conveyed an emotion he didn’t truly understand. What was that? Who was that?
“You remember?” River Moon prodded him. She was now giving him her undivided attention.
He shrugged it off instinctively. “I... I’m not so sure. I can’t really explain it. But I feel it. It’s like I was being... watched? Is that the best way to describe it?”
“I don’t know if that’s the best way to describe it if I don’t know what it is, chief. But I do kind of understand what you’re saying.” She looked up. “C’mon, it’s like two in the morning and we should really be headed back to the retreat by now. Don’t want them to get worried about us now, do you?”
Feather did like the view. He too liked the wind up here, but in the end, he had to relent; it was getting late, after all. “Yeah, we should go.”
With River Moon taking the lead, Feather Dew turned his view from the jungle treetops. He could only make it two steps before the wind came back with a low whistle, sending a chill down his spine. He froze as the adrenaline suddenly coursed through his core, through his limbs. He felt the heartbeat pulse in his hooves.
It’s like I was being watched. An eye. I saw an eye.
Am I being watched?
He left before anypony could even answer.
The grass tickled his neck and it made him quiver. It made him shiver at the thought of odd spiders and centipedes crawling on his back, entering his ear and coming out the other side. It was a ridiculous thought! But he thought of it anyway because of the way the soft but sharp blades of grass rubbed his neck and back.
What time is it? He didn’t even notice any clocks being used out here, and it was no wonder. The ponies here lived such simple lives; it was as if time didn’t matter to them. He heard that the ponies here didn’t even care for the portions of their ingredients when they cooked; all that mattered to them was how it was cooked.
In retrospect, it must have been a good life. Sometimes the world out there could be moving so fast, too fast. Large metropolitan areas were gaining steam in their developments and general populations, but there wasn’t anything wrong with taking a step back, right?
He grabbed the cup of beverage by his side, giving it a light sip and setting it down carefully on the grass. It was a rather exotic taste, but from what he gathered it was quite simple. It’s called Caldo de cana, if I’m not mistaken. It was made from running peeled sugar canes through a pressing machine, and its taste left the impression of fireworks of sugar in his mouth.
He let out a relaxed sigh and placed a hoof under his head, supporting it and looking at the stars. Absent-mindedly, he started to count how many there were, connecting dots and letting the constellations come to him. I don’t come to the constellations; they come to me.
“I didn’t know where you ran off to after we returned. I thought you got yourself into trouble!”
He scoffed, not peeling his eyes away from the heavens above. “I can take care of myself, y’know. I’m not that far away from the retreat.”
He heard her harrumph and lay down next to him, presumably looking upwards as well. And Feather really expected her to say something to him—anything, really. But it seemed she shared his sentiment: letting the silence get to them and allowing themselves to rest.
Feather Dew looked to his side and saw her eyes dance as she traced the stars; they seemed to be a bit confused as they moved around quite erratically.
“I can teach you,” he said simply.
River Moon turned at him. “You can teach me what?”
“I can tell you don’t really know what you’re looking for, am I wrong?”
She shrugged complacently. “Yeah, I guess you could say that. I didn’t really look into astrology and stars and stuff.”
“I think the word you’re looking for is astronomy, but that’s okay. I can show you the basic stuff first.”
She smiled rather peacefully at that. “Where can we start?”
Feather pondered at that for a moment. Where do we begin, she said. “I think the first thing we do is to look for the northern star, and to do that we need to find the Big Dipper.” He scooched a tad closer to her and pointed up to a cluster of stars. “See that group of stars over there, the one that looks like a frying pan?”
She nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I can see that. It does actually look like a bent frying pan.”
“Okay, so we found the Big Dipper. We’re gonna look at the edge of the frying pan—the side without the handle—and we’re gonna make a line that crosses the two stars that make that edge called Dubhe and Merak. D’you understand what I’m saying?”
River took a moment but then she agreed. “Yeah, I see it now.”
“Then we extend that line going up until it hits Polaris, the northern star. Do you see it?”
“Yeah, I do see it now. That is quite a bright star.”
He nodded. “Yes. That’s Polaris, the northern star. It’s very close to true north and travellers use Polaris to determine whether they’re going the right way or not. I see it as a basis for finding other things in the night sky.”
“I have heard of ponies using the stars for navigation, yeah. I wondered how long it would have taken to figure all this stuff out. I know we have Princess Luna and all, but still.”
Feather pondered at that thought and came to agree with it. It must have taken quite some time for the ancients to figure out astronomy, yet alone teach travelers to use it in their sojourns to distant lands. He wondered how they even discovered these methods in the first place, how many times they’ve failed.
“It must’ve taken a long time, yes. It’s crazy how ponies from back then had this knowledge—most especially those who knew not of the princess—yet alone try to see if it actually works.”
“I can imagine some ponies have died out in sea or in the middle of the desert trying outdated techniques; that’s why we know this works, y’know.”
He blinked. “Because they lived.”
It wasn’t a question. “Because they lived indeed.”
They gazed out into the heavens once again. It was a perfect night to look at the stars, for there weren’t even clouds out to stifle the view. And this particular evening was interesting: the sky had the slightest tinge of blue across its expanse, like it was fashioned in tweed.
“Are you okay? You seemed to have a bad time back there.”
Feather was surprised by the question, though he calmly turned his head, meeting her eye to eye. “I’m fine. It was a bit of vomiting, you know, the usual.”
River snorted. “This was your first time doing this and you call it the usual?”
“Well, that’s what you said!”
“Whatever. You were just tripping out of your mind like... bonkers. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone look that crazy while they’re high.”
Huh. “You saw what I was doing?”
She scoffed. “No. I just saw how much you vomited and how you were swinging on the bridge like a maniac.”
He allowed a solemn expression to grace his face. “You saw me cross the bridge?”
River Moon shuffled from her place, setting a hoof under her head. “Well, yeah. I saw you cross the bridge through the windows after the second round of drinks. You paused and then you were swinging so bad I was about to come up and help you, but you sped off and so I decided to just let you be.”
Feather Dew didn’t know how to feel about that. “You were about to help me?”
She let out an expression that said well, duh! “Of course I was about to help you, why would I leave out a friend like that?”
He didn’t even think of smiling at that, and yet he did through instinct, proudly. “I didn’t know I would be earning a friend I could get high with, but now I realize this trip really was worth taking.”
River Moon put a hoof over her muzzle and gave a lighthearted giggle—not a slight chuckle at a witty remark, but a sweet giggle. “This is definitely a trip worth taking, Feather Dew, but I wonder if you think being high off your mind was worth it.”
Feather knew that that was merely a jest, but he seriously considered it. Was it worth taking in the brew and seeing those things, feeling those things? It didn’t feel as if he was being thrust into something new because he was already familiar with some of the things he saw, and yet it was a completely new point of view.
That’s valuable to have, and that’s sort of the point, he said, and he repeated his thoughts to her.
“What’s valuable to have?”
“To have a point of view,” he explained, and further, “I saw many strange things, and yet I know that it made sense in an odd way. It’s all so very odd because it was like a dream. I retained my feelings but not so much my memories.”
“That is a good way to put it, yes.”
“And I also felt my... sensations being taken to the next level. It’s like one of those insects that can’t see; we know how to perceive this world through sight, but when you look at those insects it’s like, these guys just can’t imagine what it would be like if they were to suddenly gain the ability to see stuff.”
“Good analogy. You seem to be a smart one, not kissing your flank or anything.”
He made a sound with his lips that imitated the exhale of a balloon. “I’m not that smart. I should really tell myself to stop caring about that stuff, anyway.” He didn’t intend to sound that sad, but he was! It didn’t feel good at all.
River Moon and Feather Dew held a pause together for a moment until she spoke up again. “Hey, it’s okay. You’ll eventually find your peace with that. I barely know you, y’know? But I can understand that there are some things you’d rather live without.”
And Feather Dew allowed himself to breathe again as he gazed at the moon, contemplating on her words. “Thanks, by the way. Not just for saying that just now, but for being with me through this trip we’ve had.”
“It’s no problem, bro. I just like tagging along with anycreature I can tag along with. Who knows? Maybe I can finally have the adventure of a lifetime.”
He giggled a bit, ruffling the feathers on the tips of his wings. “An adventure of a lifetime?”
She clapped her hooves together. “Well, yeah. You know, it’s like those stories of finding the lost city of Maretlansis or the haunted tombs of ancient Pharaohs in the Valley of Kings.”
Feather Dew was slightly taken aback. “Those tombs are haunted?”
River Moon allowed herself to smirk slightly, looking as if this was the moment her whole life was leading to. “If you’re ready to get into it, well, it’s gonna be a rabbit hole so deep you’ll wonder if you’ll end up on the other side of the planet.”
Feather Dew resisted grinning as the insidious idea planted itself in his brain. He feigned shock, stating, “the planet is flat, though...”
“WHAT?!” River Moon practically erupted; birds from the tree canopies jumped out and flew away. “You believe Equus is flat?!”
He went into crisis management mode as her shock didn’t seem to subside. “I was only joking, of course I believe Equus is round! That’s the craziest thing to believe, like, ever. It was a joke.”
River Moon crossed her hooves and pouted, although from his position, he could see her concealing her small smirk. Then she chuckled, and Feather allowed himself to chuckle as well at his own brilliant impromptu.
The two leaned back on the grass, and Feather Dew started to count the stars in the heavens above once again. He wondered if there was any god watching over them at this very moment. If there was, then he would thank him for making the clearest night sky the both of them had ever seen. As for their wonderful conversation? They only had to thank themselves.