Cross roads of fate
Special thanks to Alexstrazsa for editing the story.
The unlikely group slowly emerged from their slumber, just as the sun did. Vinyl was the first to open her eyes, but she didn’t get up just yet. She laid there, without moving a muscle, and stared at the glowing orb as it began climbing above the horizon. Soon, it was passing over the islands large mountain. Of one thing, she was certain: No matter how harsh nature could be, its beauty was like no other.
Her legs felt numb and she sighed quietly as she tried to get her body to move. Her mind had been well rested and she replayed the songs of the previous night, grinning widely as one of her greatest loves, music, was able to stay in her life. Even better, they were refreshing melodies. Vinyl had already started formulating her plan to get the human reveal more of his kind’s music.
The second one to wake up was Octavia. She nuzzled against a patch of warm and fuzzy fur as she opened her eyes. Her gaze met with Vinyls, who first had a casual expression, then a smirk. Octavia blushed, knowing well enough the unicorn and the meaning of the grin on her face. After a bit more nuzzling, she quietly greeted Vinyl. “Good morning, Vinyl. Feeling better today?”
“Ah yeah, heh. Still feel like a rag, but loads better.” She flopped her head back on the sandy ground and closed her eyes, not that she was sleepy anymore, but just resting. Just then, an idea came to her mind. “Hey Octi, care to give me a massage?”
Octavia raised her eyebrow, followed by a rolling of the eyes. “Fine... because I know how taxed you are. But don't get the wrong idea, I don't swing that way, and never will.”
Vinyl just chucked at the remark and simply added, “You never know Octi... you never know.” When she finished, there was an even bigger grin on her face.
Octavia sighed and got up, then shifted over to Vinyl’s back and began massaging her. The white mare drifted off into a land of pleasure, sighing as her stiff and numb muscles were kneaded and prodded. Octavia smiled and shook her head, watching how Vinyl melted under her hooves. Then, her sight went to the early morning scenery before them. It was like a painting, masterfully crafted by one of Canterlot’s finest artists.
It took some time, but Octavia finished the massage and Vinyl felt almost fully revitalised, and as a sign, she sported a healthy blush on her cheeks. Octavia smiled at Vinyl got up and stretched her legs, then trotted to the supplies and returned with some fruit and water.
“Thanks Octi, you're wubtastic!” Vinyl cheered, grateful for the care and the breakfast. “Celestia be my witness, I’d kiss you right now… Hey, maybe I will!”
Before Octavia could protest, she was met with a kiss on the cheek. She shook her head and frowned, but couldn’t help but let a smile escape. “Vinyl...”
Vinyl chuckled and grinned widely, blushing all the same.
“If you could kindly go in the ocean and cool off, I’d appreciate it.”
“Aww... you’re killing the moment!” With a fake frown, Vinyl turned around and started trotting towards the waves.
“Yes I do, I do.” Octavia replied, making Vinyl stop in her tracks, turn around, and give a playful smile. After a moment, what she just said sunk in, and Octavia could only facehoof. “Just get in the water.”
Vinyl couldn't hold it back and broke out in laughter.
Trixie and Dave woke up to the noise and stretched out, then gave questioning looks to the two musicians. Octavia shook her hoof as if to say ‘Don’t ask’ and rubbed the back of her head with the other. Meanwhile, Vinyl rolled around in the sand not too far off, howling with laughter. Dave and Trixie shared a look, then shrug.
Octavia then looked to Trixie. “Trixie, would you like a massage?”
Dave chuckled quietly behind Octavia as he realized why Vinyl rolled in the sand. Trixie caught on as well, but it didn't bother her. Her body was sore and begged for mercy, and she wasn’t about to turn down Octavia’s offer.
“Yes, please. It would be very good.” She glanced towards Vinyl, who finally began to recover. “And I won't misinterpret your intentions like a certain other unicorn,” she added, rolling her eyes.
“I wonder if I could get a massage too,” Dave said, prompting both mares to look at him.
Octavia answered with a warm smile, “Of course. You more than deserve it, considering the effort you put in to save both our hides.”
Trixie nodded in agreement.
“But mares first, as they say.” They then heard Vinyl choking on laughter, unable to contain herself. Dave barely could contain laughter of his own, as the antics of the ponies were both hilarious and adorable at once. Octavia gave the second facehoof of the morning, and eventually gave up and laughed as well. The day had started in high spirit.
“I guess I better get used to being looked at like a murderer because I like meat.” Dave sighed. Octavia patted him on the arm with a hoof as her other two friends had entered the ‘freak out’ stage of learning Dave’s carnivorous tendencies.
“Try not to take it out on yourself too much. We’re just different in that way.”
“Trixie thinks she will be fine with it...” She grimaced, rubbing the back of her head. “...but on one hoof, she does not want to see the ‘killing’ part.”
“Dude... that's just so not cool,” Vinyl chimed in, frowning at Dave.
“Hey, I was totally cool earlier!”
“Well yeah, that is still totally cool, but eating meat isn’t.”
“Sorry, oh mighty Wub Wub Queen.” Dave gave her mock puppy-dog eyes.
Vinyl rolled her eyes and waved it off. “Just try to be civil... Well, as civil as you can.”
“Yes, mother,” Octavia said, with a snicker.
“Hey, I’m nopony’s mom!”
“Yes you are!” exclaimed two mares and one human in a perfect unison. Vinyl dropped back to her haunches in surprise, blinked, then cursed under her breath.
“So... what should we do, besides getting more food. I personally don’t wanna stay on this rock forever. The warm weather and scenery aren’t enough to make up for the trouble we’ve been getting in, and we’ve only been here for two days.”
“Trixie seconds that. This place,” she paused and shuddered, “It just doesn’t feel right.”
“It's like the Everfree forest back home, but on steroids,” Vinyl added.
“Mental note, avoid the Everfree forest if I ever get near it,” Dave said.
Vinyl giggled. “You coward.”
“What?”
“I'm no coward, mom.”
Vinyl’s smile evaporated.
“I just don't enjoy fighting monsters and other unknown abnormalities, even if it's well within my capabilities.”
“We are getting way off topic here,” Octavia interrupted. “As for what to do, it’s simple. We need to sit down and go through all of our options, rationally. We need to determine how difficult or risky things will be.”
“Something along those lines, yeah. We’ll get somewhere,” Dave said. “It’s best we set up more than one plan, as you were onboard a ship, and a rescue operation seems likely to happen. My people may look for me as well, and as matter of fact, in six months time we had plans to put satellites in orbit.”
“What are ‘satellites’, and ‘putting in orbit.’ Could you elaborate?” Octavia asked, cocking her head to the side.
“Satellites are special machines, mainly built for global scale telecommunication, but some are built for observation, measuring, mapping, and even military purposes. As for orbit, you see the moon or the sun in the sky, right? The satellite would be up in the sky, very high above the ground, and making a trip across the horizon regularly.” He gave a quick explanation to the ponies, who nodded in understanding.
“And they could see us stuck here... Now, that's an awesome trick!” Vinyl said, perking up.
“Haha, yes, but I’d need to connect to the satellite, and I kinda lack the equipment to do that at the moment. Of course, I could probably make something, but it would be a crude design and the operators might not even notice it.”
“Then maybe Trixie could send a scroll asking for help. Trixie isn’t sure if she’ll be able to bridge such a distance, as sending scrolls from such lengths through the mana space requires powers of an Alicorn.”
“I’m new to the whole concept of magic, but can't you make a magical battery that stores magical energy so you can access it when have enough to send the message?”
Trixie thought long and hard about the option, while all waited patiently for her answer. “Trixie thinks it's possible, in theory, but she isn’t sure she can pull off such complex magic weaving. She would need a magic storage unit, a crystal... But the problem is, such storage is dangerous. It can explode without warning, or turn the magic back on the user.”
“Hmm. Let’s put that one on the backburner for now. If we can help it, we shouldn’t risk blowing ourselves up. The transmitter I suggested is less hazardous and can be more safely controlled. Though, we shouldn't bury it fully. We can attempt if if we’ve made precautions and are prepared.”
“Absolutely. Trixie wouldn't want herself or any others to become a smoking crater.”
“What about making a ship?” Vinyl butted in, raising a hoof energetically. The others began to ponder the simple suggestion. “I mean, that’s like the most easy way to get out of here, other than waiting for a cupcake to land in your mouth.” Dave laughed at the remark, but nodded.
“That's very true, but it’ll be quite a challenge as well. I don't think any of us are sea hardened, and a ship that doesn’t fall apart in its first storm isn’t easy to make. Plus, we’d need to take enough supplies with ourselves, like food, water, and navigation.”
“Trixie can handle navigation if it comes to that. She is quite adept at using Luna’s night sky.”
“Well, it seems we may not be that lost after all.” Octavia smiled and looked to her companions, and they returned the gesture. “Nonetheless, we first need to find a better camp. Somewhere safer, if there is even such a spot on this island.”
“Well, we can always clear out a section of the forest. The cut down trees can be used to build a fort not far from here, but that’ll likely take months to finish and give one heck of a job to each of us. For that matter, I’m more familiar with such operations, as we had to set up our first base on an island a year or so ago and I had been present.”
“That is marvellous! And I cannot argue with that... Let us do it step by step and around our current camp, so there’s no need to travel along with the work we’ll have to do.”
The four of them agreed on jobs to do, then they set out to work. First, they ventured into the forest to gather more fruit and haul a decent amount of water back to the camp. Dave even got to quench his hunger for meat with Trixie’s help, though she was quite displeased. She helped catch a smaller flightless bird in her magic until the human did what had to be done.
After stocking up, they began clearing out the jungle near the camp. They started with the bushes, which went fairly well, especially after Vinyl grasped how to create a sonic blast. Trixie was correct in her assumption that being a musician, she would get the hang of the spell quickly. While the unicorns worked on the clearing, Dave and Octavia did the cleaning.
They stockpiled the cut down vegetation a bit further down the beach as to Dave’s suggestion, for it would make perfect firewood material once dried out. It also acted as a potential hiding place for animals, and none wanted a surprise attack from the said pile. By the time the sky turned orange, they all were all exhausted, but had finished off a productive day. Food and a better camp were underway, but best of all they didn’t get into any trouble, which for they all were grateful to the deities out there.
“Well, today was fun,” Dave said as he lazily laid on the sand, looking up the sky.
“Aw yeah, now with a twenty-percent cooler Vinyl!” Vinyl grinned maniacally, happy she mastered a new spell, and finally not feeling so defenseless in the wild. The others chuckled at her comment.
“Oh Celestia, I don’t think I’ve ever felt this tired,” Octavia added.
“Haha, we all need some good R&R, but let’s take that after we finish the forest clearing. One day, just laying around.”
“Trixie likes that idea.”
They all sighed, thinking of sunbathing and relaxing for a day. For a while, the four of them just watched the night sky, but then Vinyl spoke up.
“Hey, D, you have any more music?” she asked, looking towards him.
“Of course I have more. Let me think of something. Hmm... this’ll be good.” With a press of a button, the music began playing from the small device. To the soft music and low crackling of firewood, the group drifted into sleep.