//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6: The Third Temple 
// Story: Daring Do and the Tears of the Clouds 
// by TheLegendaryBillCipher 
//------------------------------//

Yearling carefully picked up the two gemstones and set them in a small, empty treasure chest on her desk. She waited a minute, and when the gemstones didn’t seem to react to one another, she shut the lid. Fortunately, the pirates had plenty of such containers to spare.

Yearling nodded to the captain as she and Elytra departed the ship yet again, heading for the southeastern island.

Much like the first island, dark clouds hung about the raincloud-shaped island. They seemed even darker, especially without the occasional flashes of light. Once they entered the clouds, a steady patter of rain fought against them.

They arrived at the structure on the island, set above the angled streams that made it seem like the island was raining from above. A stone awning hung over the door, and what appeared to be a small fountain was set into the door itself, yet no water poured from its spouts and its basin was dry.

“Shielded, just like the other doors,” Elytra remarked. Somehow, her wings remained sturdy enough to fly in the ongoing downpour.

“Guess we need to fill the fountain,” Yearling replied. “Be right back.”

She soared skyward, her goggles keeping the rain from her eyes as she looked around for a suitable nimbus cloud. Finally settling on one, she took up a large puff of the cloud and carried it back to the door.

Holding it just above the fountain, Yearling gave it a smack with her hoof. The cloud rumbled, and a steady stream of rainwater flowed from it, down the fountain’s spouts, and into the basin.

The fountain, in turn, gurgled to life, as streams of water sprouted from the various spouts like growing stems. A raincloud symbol flashed white just below the fountain after a few seconds of water action, and the door ground open.

Yearling waved away the nimbus cloud as she and Elytra flew inside. Their eyes settled on yet another plaque just inside the entrance, which Yearling translated:

"This land is a land of monsters, and the dragons are a constant threat from the west. We pushed out magic to its limits to find a way to protect our home, but then, a miracle happened. Four gemstones, born from the clouds like drops of rain, condensed and fell into our hooves. We call them thusly, the Tears of the Clouds. They hold power over lightning, snow, rain, and wind. They will be sufficient in keeping our homes safe, and, though we do not like to think of it, they could be a means to repel the other tribes."

“I suppose this was all a fort then,” Elytra remarked. “The Pegasi felt the need to defend themselves.”

“But how did they make the gemstones appear?” Yearling pondered aloud. “They feel like Pegasi magic when I touch them, surely they had to have made them.”

“Perhaps they didn’t want it to be replicated,” Elytra said, turning towards the altar in the back. “We have one more of these temples to go. Hopefully we’ll have our questions answered inside it.”

Yearling reluctantly nodded, and flapped to the altar in the back with her thoughts racing. Setting on this altar was another teardrop-shaped gemstone, blueish-gray in color. As Yearling picked it up, the surface felt damp to the touch, though there was no water on the surface of the gem. A tingle spread through her wings.

“Let’s hurry and set these with the rest,” Yearling said, stowing it away.

Elytra nodded, and followed Yearling as she flew from the temple. A glint of something caught her eye and she squinted into the gloomy skies. 

“Daring!” she called, pointing to some nearby floating debris. “I think I see something moving over there!”

Yearling halted, and followed her point to the debris. After a few moments of squinting at it, she frowned.

“You’re probably seeing things in this rain,” she called. “There’s nothing on these islands. Let’s just hurry up and get to the last temple.”

As Yearling continued on, Elytra frowned at the debris before following on again.