Upon reentering the river-crevice, they found themselves alone. “I guess they’re all at the festival,” Squirrel said, smiling pleasantly in the warm shard-light. One of the few things she really enjoyed about her travelling vacations were little spots of culture and occasion like this; admittedly, there didn’t seem like there was going to be anything grand about this – just a few evenings of farewell and good luck for the herd – but still. “Follow the sounds of cheer, then?”
“As good a plan as any,” Twilight nodded, leading the way down the walk. She’d been doing that ever since the swamp; it was kind of annoying to have a client – or whatever the two of them were – bump her off like that.
Oh well.
“Now remember – we’re just here for a bit,” Twilight reminded them. “My hooves are sore enough as it is, no nevermind all the added weight from shopping.”
“You could’ve left your gear back at the tent,” Squirrel said, feeling somewhat frustrated with the two ponies’ persistent paranoia. “Hidden it in a bush, like I did.”
“No chance of it getting stolen if it’s on me, and I don’t trust every good spot around here not to already be known about.”
“You could still get mugged and lose it that way.”
“Yeees,” Twilight drawled impatiently. “But at least then I’d feel like I’d’ve had some control over the situation. Now shush! The more we talk about it the more tired I feel.”
“Speak for yourself,” Rainbow said as she bounded past, wings out and gliding with each jump.
“Anyways,” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Let’s just get these snacks. If they even exist.”
“And chat up some of the locals too,” Squirrel hastily added. “See what things are like compared to Equus.” She knew she was being really unsubtle right now, but she’d found she’d taken a liking to the two. Somehow. “For that matter, are there any distinct differences? Besides the ‘princesses’ thing, I mean. And the tech. I know we had a landbridge once, at least.”
“Oh yes!” Twilight said, her tail swishing excitedly. “Scuffle! I hear it looks lovely, but just imagine it! A determined person could, with the right season and weather, practically walk across the Calise!”
“It’s only a few metres deep in most places, isn’t it?” Squirrel tried to remember what she could of the sunken Scuffle landbridge; she’d had friends that’d entertained the idea of crossing, their gear towed behind on a raft, but it never seemed particularly appealing to her – given the advent of long-distance airships, it seemed more a fete than anything else.
“Yep! The waters are supposed to be warm and clear and just filled with relics and tokens of expeditions centuries past!”
Squirrel tried to dredge up what she could of her friend’s plans. “Only warm when the sea flows more north than south; can’t remember what season it reverses in.”
“Spring, I think? That wasn’t really the focus of my studies. Where were we though? Right! The locals.”
They’d entered the agora by this point, Twilight presumably figuring they’d do best to retread familiar paths rather than wander back routes to find the noise. “Sounds like it’s coming from the green.”
“Then let’s hurry, slowpokes!” Rainbow called, bouncing back and forth across the little streams. “This way!” She bounded forwards, looking back over her withers to check if the other two were following.
“We’re coming, geez,” Twilight called back, picking up her pace. They’d chased her rainbow tail out of the agora and were well on the way to the green before Twilight spoke up again. “So: locals! There’s a herd not far from Sweet Apple Orchards, actually.”
“Really? Are they migratory?” Squirrel asked, curious. “I can’t think of any other race that so reliably is – I’ve always thought it unique.” Or mostly so at least – there were a lot of varied, semi-nomadic groups on the east coast.
Twilight shot her a surprised look. “Are there no buffalo on Avalon?”
“Bison? Nooot to my knowledge.” Squirrel had read about the cloven-hoofed race before, of course, but had never even heard of any on the continent, no nevermind met them.
“Really! Fascinating,” Twilight said, a genuine perk to her ears. “The buffalo tribes back home migrate almost continuously along an admittedly quite-complex route. I don’t believe any of our traditional deer herds do anything of the like, or at least not anymore.”
“I can’t imagine too many of them living in the towns like ponies. That never seems to be the case around here, at any rate.”
“Mmhmm! The demographics I’ve seen have most of them in smaller forest villages here and there – the ones near home are well up in White Tail, for example, bar the few in town.”
Squirrel nodded, pleased that at least some things were held in common between the continents – just as ponies spooked easily and gryphons were physical, deer didn’t much care for the hustle and bustle of cities. “I suppose it’s quiet enough topside here, once you get away from the docks.”
“Yep! Now let’s see what this thing is all about.”
The greens looked much the same as they did scant hours ago, but down by the riverside several bonfires were blazing, their light flickering as the crowds occasionally passed in front. A pair of long tables had been setup, but Twilight couldn’t make out what was on them from this distance. All in all it looked rather comfortable, much like the festival nights back home, only here there couldn’t’ve been more than a hundred present all told. “Well, this is cozy,” she said before giving Squirrel a preemptive swat with her tail. “And don’t say it.”
“Wasn’t going to,” Squirrel snorted. “If we get split up, we can just meet back up at the tents whenever, eh?”
“Sounds good.” Twilight slowed down, letting the other two overtake her as she took the chance to veer off to the right, intent on checking out the docks first. There wasn’t actually much to do here – it wasn’t their going-away festival, after all – but she was still curious about the size of this place, and hadn’t had a chance to check it out earlier.
She was still curious about the mana-cables, too.
The wooden slats creaked beneath her as she stepped up onto the dimly-lit scaffolding built out upon the scree. She could make out water flowing languidly through the gaps, while a few passageways were bored into the face beside her.
The docks were pretty simple: just a triplet of piers jutting out into a widened section of the Sul. She could make out the silhouettes of people working on a pair of long, low barges that were moored here, resting like two great whales amongst a school of smaller canoes and cats.
Wandering out onto the nearest pier, Twilight stared up at the stars, or what few were bright enough to be seen this early. Almost the same as home, she mused, taking note of a few familiar constellations. Just... off to the side a bit. She’d always been fond of stargazing, and found it one of the scant few benefits of their grounding. Admittedly, being only a couple thousand kilometres from home meant there wasn’t too much difference in the night sky, but she enjoyed it nevertheless.
So distracted was she that she almost blundered straight into someone laying on the dock edge. “Shoot!” she exclaimed, hopping quickly to the side. “I’m sorry – I didn’t see you there!”
“No kidding,” the short figure said, craning her neck to look up at her. “One of these yours? ‘Cause if you’re drunk and trying to get aboard I hardly need you stumbling into the river and drowning instead.”
“What? No!” Twilight insisted, blushing as she realized she probably seemed just that. “I just wanted to check out the docks while I was in town and got distracted by the stars.”
“Ah, of course,” the doe said, an amused smirk on her face. “Stargazing. Definitely.”
Twilight sighed, intending to just turn around and forget about this when the doe stopped her.
“Oh I’m just teasing,” she said, tapping the boards next to her. “Sit! Where’re you from?”
It’s dark, I’m a visitor, and a strange doe wants to chat above inky waters. “Just passing through with a couple friends,” Twilight said as she remained standing. “We thought we’d check out the festival before we did, though. That’s where they are now; probably looking for me too.”
The doe’s smirk didn’t falter. “Smooth. Real subtle-like – I definitely won’t bite you now. And it’s not a festival – more of a goodbye with a few dinners.”
“Uh huh,” Twilight demurred, wondering if she was maybe jumping to conclusions here. “Well, I suppose that fits the air more. Are you heading out with them?” she asked, hoping to cover her awkwardness.
“Me? Nah,” the doe shook her head, the beads tinkling gently on her snub antlers. “I’ve been on them before, but the town’s homely enough for me these days. Besides, I like working the orchard.”
“Really! I’ve found the tea in these parts quite pleasant,” Twilight said, thinking back on the several different brews she’d tried back in Hurricanum. “Do you grow them or....?”
“Tending and harvesting, mostly,” the doe said, looking off in the vague direction of the tea terraces. “I like the scent, and it gives me plenty of time to chat with friends or just enjoy the quiet.”
“It sounds nice when you put it like that,” Twilight said, sitting down on her haunches. “Oh! While I have your ear, I do have to ask – what’s with all the resonance cables strung throughout the tunnels?”
“Those?” The doe shuffled around a bit to better look at Twilight. “We have some narrow tunnels that the water rushes through quick-fast. A couple of little dams and we can skim just enough mana for the ships to have a charge.”
“I guess it’s obvious when you put it like that,” Twilight admitted sheepishly – she really should’ve thought of that herself. “I can’t imagine you can generate all that much though.” Water-based siphoning, however common the method, was notorious for how little mana one could gain from it.
“These ships don’t have much citrine to worry about,” the doe shrugged. “But really now – where are you from? You clearly didn’t take a ship here.”
“Hurricanum,” Twilight hedged – it was technically true, after all. “But our airship floundered some ways north of here; hence we’re hoofing it back. Or ‘canoeing it,’ as of tomorrow.”
“Found a boat here, eh? Lucky – I know Channel doesn’t normally have much to spare.”
“We were fortunate, yes,” Twilight agreed. “You know, it was lucky we even found this place at all – Nestle wasn’t on any of the maps I’d gotten.”
“Meh,” the doe shrugged again. “We weren’t worth mapping not long ago. One of the rivers went oxbow a year or so back, so now the cross-basin trade ships pass by us on the way east, and not... wherever they did before.”
“Not particularly interested in trade then?” Twilight wondered, as it seemed strange for the doe to not even know what stops the town were replacing.
“I like tea.”
“So we’ve established.”
The doe chuffed. “Tea, friends, good food – it’s not like I need anything else, so why stress? The ships went somewhere before, and now they come here until a river goes all wonky again. Simple.”
“I don’t think I could manage like that,” Twilight said, kneading the ground contemplatively. Just making do with work and friends? Sure, the latter were great and all, but she didn’t doubt ennui would wreck her given enough time.
“Not the first to say that, but hey, whatever works for you, eh?”
“Mmhmm,” Twilight hummed, turning to stare out at the gently flowing river. With the sounds of the not-festival drifting around the bend, accompanied by the dull knocking of boats against the pier, she found the whole thing rather... peaceful.
While Twilight was splitting off for the docks, Rainbow was instead making straight for the nearest of the loaded tables – she was here for the food, after all, and with a little luck nodeer would notice her having a nibble.
Squirrel tailed close behind. “Going to eat yourself sick?”
“Cuts down on food tomorrow,” Rainbow said, distracted by the pleasing aromas wafting over to them. “Plus we totally have, like, a diplomatic duty to eat stuff here.”
“Good ol’ cultural exchange, eh?” Squirrel said, her eyes boring into the back of Rainbow’s head. “Is that why you’re here?”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Rainbow stopped dead, glaring back over her withers.
“Well, you hardly seem like a diplomat,” Squirrel persisted. “Twilight, sure, but you? I’m not trying to ruffle your feathers or anything – I’m just curious.”
Rainbow whickered, taking a deep breath before responding. “Sure. ‘Cause I sound too dumb for diplomatic stuff, right?”
Squirrel’s ears folded back uncertainly. “I didn’t say that.”
“Then what did you say?”
Squirrel took a half-step back. “It’s only that you’re very, uhh, ‘casual’? So it seemed odd that you’d be part of a stuffy equusian embassy – that’s all.”
Rainbow nearly laughed even as she puffed herself up – not because of what Squirrel had said, but simply because she’d never expected her to be so flustered. “Riiight,” she said, calming back down. “‘Casual.’ I’m here for Twilight.” Mostly true, but she didn’t really feel like getting into the Elements and how that’d pulled her into boring politics.
“As a bodyguard or a... you know?”
“Geez, knock the blush off your face!” Rainbow smiled and laughed aloud at how abashed Squirrel was being. “As friends, if you know what those are. I’ll keep her safe too, sure, but she needed someone to tag along with her that wasn’t just there ‘cause it’s their job, and I had some vacation time saved up, so... here I am!
“Oh, and I wanted to try out the food, too.”
“Food and friends, gotcha,” Squirrel said, not entirely meeting Rainbow’s eyes. “So you two aren’t...?”
Rainbow swatted her with her tail. “Wow, one-track mind, much? If you’re done with your fantasies let’s go get some food.”
“I was just curious!” Squirrel insisted, walking alongside Rainbow as they continued onwards.
“Yuh huh.”
“It was a reasonable conclusion!”
“Yuh huuuh.”
Squirrel could only sigh.
Despite Rainbow’s best efforts, Squirrel wasn’t keen on letting her long out of sight. “I’m not leaving you alone here, Rainbow.”
“Five minutes? Can’t you just give me five minutes?” Rainbow whined, pausing in her attempt to stuff an entire wrap into her mouth.
“And have you get into some bizarre argument ending in a hooffight!? Not a chance,” Squirrel insisted – there was just no way this mare wouldn’t find some way to stir up trouble. “And chew your food! I don’t need Twilight setting me on fire because you choked to death.”
“It would serve you right,” Rainbow grumbled, slowing down to chew. “Besides, it not my fault if some people need a good bonkin’ from time to time.”
“How in the world the two of you even made it this far I’ll never know,” Squirrel groaned, massaging her temples.
“How could we not? We’ve got me!”
“Oh yes, how silly of me to forget.” Squirrel shook her head, staring off into the dark. “Can you see Twilight at all? If we’re heading back we might as well go as a group.”
“Haven’t seen her yet.” Rainbow leapt straight up with a pump of her wings, getting just enough height to pirouette a few metres above Squirrel’s head before coming back down. “Nah – no lavender. Still at the docks maybe?”
“Maybe. We should probably find her.”
“Geez, now who’s the paranoid one?” Rainbow said as she nevertheless lead the way.
“I hardly need her getting spooked and setting someone else on fire, either.”
“I guess it is dark out there,” Rainbow agreed.
The pebbles slid and crunched underhoof as they passed out of the firelights. They’d snuck a bit of food, but otherwise hadn’t much felt like mingling – they didn’t know anyone here, after all. “So,” Squirrel said after a time. “What do you do, anyways?”
“Didn’t we just talk about that?”
“No, no – I mean, you said you’ve got vacation time saved up, right?”
“Are you... surprised I have a job?” Rainbow asked, bemused. “‘Cause like, wow, I’ve got a job, ya know.”
“Oh for goodness sakes – I know that!” Squirrel scoffed. “I mean, what do you do? Postal service? Courier? Mail?”
“Aren’t those literally the same things?”
“Are they? I hadn’t noticed.”
“I’m a weatherpony,” Rainbow said, lightly jabbing Squirrel with a wing. “Sweet Apples is an orchard-town, remember? Gotta keep it rainy when the trees need it, and not when they don’t.”
“Kind of – not enough pegasi around these parts for a dedicated weather service; not anywhere I’ve been, at least. Does it really help all that much?” Squirrel was curious here – plants seemed to do alright to her reckoning with natural weather, but she was also quite well aware that nobody really tried to force plants to grow where they couldn’t do well on their own, either.
“Yep! I don’t really know myself, I guess – I’ve only ever been there as a weatherpony, ya know? But all the old farmers say their stuff grows way better since Sweet Apples got its own weather team.” She paused to race up the flight of steps leading up to the dock’s walkway, great, hollow thunks resounding with each bound. “Right!” she continued, impatiently waiting for Squirrel to plod up after her. “So... weather! What about you? Got a job?”
“Yes. Obviously.”
“Being a mean hobo doesn’t count.”
“I’m not a hobo,” Squirrel rolled her eyes. “I’m a cook.”
“... a hobo-cook?”
“Dangit Rainbow – I’m trying to be friendly here!”
“... hobo-friendly?”
Rainbow squealed in laughter as she darted forward, dodging Squirrel’s half-hearted swipe. “Just a normal cook, Rainbow!”
“Wow, cranky Squirrel’s a cook? For some reason I thought you’d be something different.”
Squirrel caught back up to walk alongside her. “I can do other stuff,” she said, feeling suddenly defensive. “My skills just don’t travel well – so when I moved to Wanderbelle for a bit, the only job I could get was in cooking. I like it, anyways – it does travel well.”
“I guess they’re always hiring cooks somewhere, huh? And I can totally do more stuff than weather, too,” she added, a touch defensive herself. “I’m just... not, right now.”
“Fair enough; I mean, you’re technically a bodyguard right now.”
“Exactly!”
“Just like I’m a chartered guide, I suppose.”
“Sure – a lousy one,” Rainbow snorted, darting ahead again to keep out of reach.
“You two’d still be stuck in Cherry if it wasn’t for me,” Squirrel said, catching up to Rainbow, stopped as she was at one of the jetties. “Or blundered off in to the swamps and died.”
“Meh – we’d have worked something out,” Rainbow shrugged, jerking a wing down the pier. “Found her.”
Squinting, Squirrel could just make out Twilight’s coat and jacket in the dim moonlight, seated down amiably next to somebody. “She found someone to chat to, it seems.”
“Not my fault noone here has anything interesting to say.”
“How would you even know? I’ve been with you this whole time and you haven’t said a thing to anybody here.”
“Well there’s your answer, isn’t it?” Rainbow said, clopping heavily towards Twilight. “You scared them all off.”
Squirrel hesitated. “I don’t frown that much.”
“You totally do. You glare, too. Hey Twi!” Twilight had been watching them as they approached, only now giving them a nod.
“Dash, Squirrel,” she smiled at them. “It’s getting late, isn’t it?” She stood, stretching catlike before giving the doe a friendly nod. “Thanks for the chat, Crennel. Good luck!”
The doe waved her off with an amused look. “Yeah, yeah – off you go, Twilight.”
Twilight joined the other two as they made their way back up the pier. At least the evening wasn’t a total waste, Squirrel mused as they took what looked like a shortcut, heading into one of the tunnels. Hopefully meeting a few friendly locals would help Twilight relax more – she was far too quick to think the worst of things. “Have fun?” she asked after a bit.
“Mmhmm!” Twilight said, looking immensely pleased with the evening. “We chatted a bit and stargazed some – they have different constellations here! I mean, the stars are the same, but the symbology! The mythology! I’ll definitely have to find a book on the subject once we get back.”
“Ah, good,” Squirrel said approvingly. “I’m no good with stars myself – if you don’t count a few for navigation – but it’s nice someone was a little outgoing tonight.”
“I’m outgoing!” Rainbow said, indignant. “I just didn’t wanna talk about boats and tea and stuff!”
“Well, look at Twilight – I bet she didn’t expect a stargazing discussion this eve.”
“Not in the least,” Twilight chimed in.
“See? For all you know there could’ve been someone here that liked talking about, I don’t know, cow-tipping or napping or something.”
“Yes, because those are my hobbies,” Rainbow drawled. “I hardly saw you trying to strike anything up! Heck, there’re probably, like, a dozen people here who get lost in swamps for funsies – you could’ve shared tips.”
“It was one time! You’d still be in there without me – don’t deny it.”
“I’d’ve flown out.”
Squirrel gave a theatrical gasp. “And left poor Twilight behind? Scoundrel!”
“As if! I’d’ve carried her! Somehow. We’d’ve made it work!”
The stream burbled merrily beside them as they turned into the main tunnelway, Nestle’s main river-entrance not far ahead. “You seem chattier than usual,” Twilight opined, interrupting the two’s banter. “It’s nice, I mean – just surprising.”
Squirrel’s shoulders hunched uncomfortably before she straightened back up. “I suppose I was mostly irritated with you two at first – a pair of dumb tourists in over their heads, you know? But you did alright in the swamps.” She shot Rainbow a smirk. “That’s ‘you’ singular, not plural, by the way.”
Rainbow swatted her with her tail.
“Anyways! You did well enough in the swamp, Twilight, sooo yeah.”
“Smooth.”
Squirrel settled for giving Rainbow a sharp poke.
“Well, I for one think it’s nice you’re opening up a little,” Twilight said, resolutely ignoring the two mares’ attempts to jab one another. “It’s quite mature.”
“Thank you, Twilight. I’ll see you safe to Beech yet – ow!”
“Ha! I win!”
“For goodness sake’s, Dash – do you have to prod everybody you meet?”
“...no?”
Twilight couldn’t seem to think of anything to say to that, and it wasn’t until they’d left the caverns that she spoke up again. “This was nice.”
Squirrel nodded contentedly. “Not quite as... festive as I’d hoped, but yeah, it wasn’t a bad evening.”
“Food was alright,” Rainbow shrugged. “I think it was a potluck though, and those are always kinda iffy.”
“I, umm, actually forgot to eat,” Twilight said sheepishly, mussing her mane. “Good thing we’ve got plenty for the trip.”
“Eating right before bed? Tut, tut.” Rainbow teased her. “And we’ve got to get up so early, too.”
“I’ll sleep just fine, Dash.”
They were well approaching their tents, set up in a little copse; Squirrel veered off to retrieve her hidden packs from the dense bushes she’d tucked them in.
She breathed a quiet sigh of relief when she found them still there – despite what she’d said earlier, there was a chance they’d go missing, and she’d’ve been more than a little upset if they were. Hatchet, compass, flint... yup, all here.
She rejoined the other two good-naturedly bickering with one another, but chose to ignore them, instead crawling right into her tent, dropping her panniers next to her, and going to sleep.