//------------------------------// // Unumbryo // Story: Adjacent Adventure // by Merallakos //------------------------------// Words on the screen hovered in front of Zipp’s eyes. The Capricorn is a roving platform designed to aid ponies in exploration of environments otherwise to hazardous for prolonged exposure.  It is divided into seven interior sections with four cabins on the right side and three on the left. The cabins on the right side are dedicated to inner workings of the vehicle, while those on the left are primarily made with the housing of the crew and supplies in mind. The frontmost cabin on the right side is a zephyrglass canopy which houses the steering instruments. The document continued. Zipp lowered the tablet. “You’ve been working on this manual for three days now?” “I mean, obviously not all of that.” Z.Z. bounced as the Capricorn powered over a particularly large bump. “But, when I have freetime.” “Cool,” Zipp hoofed Z.Z’s tablet back, swinging off her hammock. “What time is it?” “It’s seven.” Tomas called from the cockpit. “Same time you always wake up.” “Where’s Sweets?” Zipp asked. “The radio, I think.” “I’ll remind her it’s her shift now. Where are Marbles and Grease?” “They’re doing their… thing.” Z.Z. stared sideways at the ground. "Still?” Zipp crossed her forelegs. “I really thought they’d have it out of their system by now.” Atop the observation deck, Marbles and Grease were chanting. Grease carried the bulk of the chant with tribal vocalization, while Sweets added accents and percussion with a set of bongos. Together they did not drown out the mechanical noise of the tracks as much as they augmented it. As the Capricorn rose from behind a hill, an escarpment loomed into view, stretching far into the northeast. The terrain dipped before meeting the escarpment, leaving a good mile of downhill coniferous forest. From the top of the hill, a small alpine village could be seen spread in the trees against the escarpment. Already at the southern entrance of the village, a small, colorful crowd could be seen accumulating. A few more acrobatic ponies flapping up into the air for a better look. Two older ponies detached from the crowd, heading up the dirt road to meet the vehicle. As they closed the distance, one of them pointed at Marble and Grease, murmuring something under the noise of the tracks. The other one, a stallion, batted a medallion hanging from his neck, shrugging. Then he actually caught sight of Marble. He gasped, galloping up alongside the Capricorn. "Marble?!" The Capricorn slowed as the two very squishable ponies came up along side it. Sweets popped open the sidepanel of the cockpit so she could shout at them if need be. As the vehicle slowed, Marble softened her drumming and she smiled in recognition. "Hey, Dad! Hey Mom! Look, I'm a drummer!" "Look, Tina!" Marble's dad pointed up, "Our daughter's alive!" "Tuna we saw her just the other week!" Tina exclaimed. She looked up at Marble. "Is your captain Zipp or whatever on board?" "What for?" Marble asked. "The mayor wants us to speak with your captain." Just then, the rear door popped open, Zipp poking her head out, "Hey, Mr, and Mrs. Tuna! Come on in! Zipp and Tomas quickly pulled the townsponies aboard into the small back cabin. The back cabin was currently serving as a storage area, filled with various supplies held in place by multi color netting on all sides, leaving only a small tunnel through. "Welcome aboard, Tina, White tuna," Zipp greeted as they moved towards the middle cabin. "Hey, Zipp." Tina returned, looking around at yet another cabinful of supplies and the cockpit. "Where's the captain of this thing?" "Well you're looking at her," Tomas gestured at Zipp. "Woah!" Tina's husband, Tuna, smiled. "Zipp, How'd you manage that?" Zipp shrugged. "I uh, came up with the whole idea for this thing?" From the cockpit ahead Sweets made something between a laugh and a hack. "Anyway," Tina said, "you heard this spiel before, but I gotta give it to you again, just to make sure you know what you're gettin' into. You might want to get Marble and that other fella down here so they can hear too." The roof hatch behind Zipp suddenly opened. "Did someone say my name?" Grease slid down the ladder. "Yes," Tina said. "There's something you should hear." Tina walked into the middle cabin and sat down. "Before y'all go headin' off to who-knows-where, there's something you should be aware of. The route you're on will take you through the Blackstones. "Now I know that might not seem important, but let me explain–" "Ponies who go through" Tuna raised his eyebrows, scowling, "don't come back."  Grease shot Zipp a look. One that said, We know all this already. Sweets on the other hoof was staring with rapt attention to Tina and Tuna through one of the mirrors in the cockpit. "Well," Tina corrected, "Not exactly. More like, sometimes ponies have been known to disappear after headin' through the Blackstones. And it's not a myth. It's happened." "That said," Tuna continued, "it doesn't always happen. Just sometimes. Leading theory is if you go through them an even number of times you won't disappear. Go once or thrice though..." "Granted, no one's been stupid enough to test that theory yet." Zipp swallowed, rubbing the back of her neck, "Actually I did." Tina raised her eyebrows, "'Swear I told you not to do that." "Well... I did." Tina sighed. "Guess it's too late to stop ya. We took down the gates as soon as we saw you coming... But just to be clear, y'all know the risk, don't you?" "We'll be back," Zipp assured. Zipp noticed the Capricorn slowing down again. "Sweets?" "Oh, uh, we're uh," Sweets popped a stick of gum into her mouth, "we're getting close to the village." The village was Unumbryo. The northernmost town in the Pegasus Kingdom before the ruins of Craturhuld. The village was built almost as much into as it was beside the massive, granite escarpment that overshadowed it. The first section of the town was built on one of the slopes leading up to the granite cliffs. It was a series of Tudor style cottages scattered between elder pines. Steep dirt paths wove up down the hillside, creating passages from cottage to cottage. The second part of Unumbryo was composed of several rising tiers of farmland. The fields grew upon natural pillars of rock which hugged the cliffs and each other. A series of canals, waterfalls and aqueducts fed the crops, all delta-ing down from an orange roofed building located midway up the cliff. beneath the farms and cottages, there was a fissure-like lake, It was big enough to warrant one small dock and a couple fishing dinghies, but not much else. At it’s narrowest point, it was crossed by a wooden bridge. “Wow,” Marble said from the floor of the Capricorn’s cockpit, “it’s even prettier the second time around. Look at that side profile.” Sweets spared a glance down at Marble and found she was reviewing photos of the Capricorn. The vehicle was all tank on the bottom, with an angular body on top. The original plan of hot pink paint had been toned down to white with pink and purple accents. “Is now really the best time for that?” Sweets’ tone was slightly disbelieving. “Look at that bilateral asymmetry,” Marble nodded approvingly. She cooed, “Inverted front windshield, all glass canopy, visibility that totally isn’t limited by the engine nacelle.”  “Marble, you are in front of the ride height lever. Please take some photos, or get off the floor.” Marble snapped a low angle, capturing Sweets’ shadowed, ornery face in front of the morning-kissed cliffs. “Why’s everything stuck to the walls?” Grease asked, pointing at the plant filled balconies. “Keeps us out of the wind, hail and lighting,” Tina replied. “The Storm, right?” Zipp asked. “Does it have an actual name?” “Mostly we just call it the Storm. Some folks like to call it ‘Cerberus’ Teeth.’ Heard one stallion call it ‘Garados,’ but he wasn’t from around here.” Tina shrugged. “Take a right here, Sweets. We just want to get to the Watermill where all your friends and food are at.” The stop at the Watermill was a brief one. Thunder, along with a couple other ponies, met with the crew of the capricorn to perform last inspections and load up all remaining supplies. Before long, the Capricorn was finally underway, moving at a decent canter towards the cliffs. Zipp had allowed a number of ponies to ride in the tank for the ascent up the cliffs, including Grease’s friends, Thunder, and a couple village ponies who seemed adamant about seeing the interior of the Capricorn. Little had they realized that Zipp would simply stick them on the observation deck. The stone-built road up the cliffs was only barely wide enough to squeeze through. While the Capricorn had been designed with this road in mind, it did not make it any easier. Despite this, the atmosphere of the departure was fairly upbeat. Zipp remarked that the cottages of Unumbryo would likely be the last pony-inhabited structures the team would see for quite some time, and was met with cheers. “I’m looking forward to the Craterhold ruins,” Sweets explained. “And it’s so much more exciting being where nopony has been in centuries,” Marble continued. “Not to mention the fact that we’ll get to be completely independent,” Grease added. “Tomas would probably say something about the dirt,” Z.Z. nodded to herself. “I’m really excited for everypony,” Thunder said. The Capricorn drove up the last bend in the road before it turned into a split in the cliffs’ crest. Sweets pivoted the vehicle to face into the break. The road ahead was clearly less traveled, with grass sprouting through the cracks. A metal fence and gate had been moved to the walls of the pass. Tina and Tuna stood next to it. “Y’all that aren’t on the mission, get off!” Tina called. The ponies on the observation deck gave a round of “awwws.” Sweet popped open canopy panel, “What was that?” “Are Grease’s friends in there?” “Yeah,” said Thunder. “Well, this here’s the point to disembark!” Tuna hollered. The extras, including Thunder, all disembarked, standing behind Tuna and Tina. “Will you guys be alright?” Tuna asked to Sweets. “Probably,” Sweets answered. “We’re not scared,” Grease called through the window. “But we are prepared,” Zipp continued. “Though, maybe we should ask Tomas before we leave.” “We’ll just ask him when we get to the Blackstones,” Marble called. “So that’s consent from all you ponies?” Tina asked. The residents of the Capricorn made various affirmations. “Well, get along then.” Tina shooed the Capricorn. “See you in three months!” Tuna waved. A couple salvos of goodbyes were exchanged between the Capricorn’s crew and Tina’s group until the tank disappeared around another corner The first time Zipp had been through the passage in the cliff, she’d expected the road to quickly emerge from the cliffs onto the mountains, or perhaps a plain leading to the mountains, leading to Craterhold. She was wrong Which was weird considering Gostir’s account of the passage was very detailed, and Zipp had gotten to the point were should recall most every single one of those many details. Yet still, part of her still wasn't expecting it to actually be real somehow. The ill traveled road quickly turned head onto into the escarpment through what once might have been a ravine. The cliffs on either side slowly closed over the road until there was no way up. Within the subterranian section, the road forked. As planned Sweets took the right side, diving into a mossy limestone tunnel then coming to a larger cavern with a limestone monolith inscribed with a modest number of names. Past the Chambe of the Lost, the moist caverns joined into an entirely pony made tunnel, completed with a subterranean stream running in a gutter along the road. Sweets pointed the yellow spotlights of the Capricorn down the tunnel, but it seemed no matter how long she stared forward, there was always an inpenetrable blackness ahead. “I didn’t realize you weren’t kidding when you said the tunnel was long,” Sweets said. “When will we get out?” “Hmm… How fast have we been going?” Zipp asked. “We’re going around eight miles an hour for the straights, uh, slower for the corners.” “We’ve been going for about an hour or a little more," Zipp calculated, "so probably… another thirty minutes.” “Phew!” Sweets exclaimed. “This is a long tunnel!”