//------------------------------//
// Twists and Tickles  
// Story: Maiara and Exploration 
// by Fluttering_Ashes 
//------------------------------//

When I awoke the room was dark, the sun had yet to rise. I let out a sigh, rolled out of bed, and made my way out the door. The dining area was still being set up for breakfast, but a few things had been laid out. I grabbed a gray pastry from a bowl on the table, when suddenly a very familiar man stepped up next to me. “Morning dad!” I said, without looking at him. He didn’t move.     
“Dad…?” Slowly I looked up at his face. His usual kind bearded face was mangled with bits of flesh missing. One eye was gone, and the other was milky and had a worm sprouting from it, his jaw dislocated in a soundless scream. 

“Oathbreaker!”  cried the monstrosity as I quickly backed away, backing right into the Chieftain. His eyes glowed a fiery red, his mouth pulled back impossibly wide revealing a set of sharp pointy teeth. “Betrayer!” I didn’t know what to do, suddenly I felt so small and scared. I curled up on the ground, hiding myself from the monsters. When they didn’t attack me, I thought I was safe….thats when the muffin started staring at me with its golden criss-crossed eyes. “Derp!” 

I sat bolt upright in my bed on the Exploration, covered in sweat, and breathing hard. I wiped the sweat from my forehead, got up, and started for the little doorway that lead to my bathroom. As I reached for the handle a man leapt out. His skin was quite dark, very tanned, and his hair was quite dark as well, though his face was clean shaven. Before I could even question his appearance he began to quite literally bounce around the room squealing “Ask me what it means! Ask me what it means!” 

I woke with yet another start, glancing around and finding my room, mercifully, empty. I sighed and slowly began to lower myself back down to the mattress...only to find the same dark skinned man laying next to me, grinning at me. “What a twist!”

I awoke with a loud cry, which earned me a shriek and a green hoof to the face. Oh thank goodness, this wasn’t another dream. The pony next to me was staring at me, her eyes at first wide with terror, then shifting to a look of sympathy, quietly patting my upper arm as I rubbed my aching jaw. Why did these ponies always go for the face! 

The two of us had been examining my book, it had been two days since I left my tribe and Lyra was still just as eager as she had been before to learn all about what she called “Human magic” She had dragged Bon Bon into my room at sun set last night and the two of us had been going over and over bits of the tribe’s culture, and the runes in my book while Bon Bon occupied my bed. Lyra had fallen asleep after a few hours, and Bon Bon had been asleep for hours already at that point so I had decided the floor would be good enough for one night. 

I quietly scribbled a translation rune on my chest as Lyra gibbered next to me. I ignored her for the most part, playing the activation song quietly on my flute. “Bad dream?” Bon Bon asked from her spot on the bed. I grumbled and nodded. “I haven’t been sleeping very well since I got here. “


“Ah that’s just airsickness! You’ll get over it!”  Lyra dismissed with a wave of her hoof. There was a very soft “Clonk” Sound as Bon Bon delivered a slap upside the unicorn’s head, not unlike a coconut being hit against something hard. “Ow! What?” 

“Lyra, Darling.” Bon Bon said, her voice laced with barely contained annoyance. “Why don’t you go see how breakfast is doing?”

“Aye Aye!” Lyra said, saluting the other mare and quickly rushing out of the room.
“Sorry about her” Bon Bon muttered as the unicorn’s hoofsteps retreated down the hall “Lyra means well she’s just kind of...dim when it comes to emotions.” The mare quietly slid out of bed and trotted over to where I was sitting. I didn’t look at her right away...I was too busy fiddling with my book. “Do you want to talk about it?”  Bon Bon asked gently “It’ll make you feel better” I let out a sigh.
“Its just...I’ve been thinking about my family lately…”I began slowly. I could feel Bon Bon stiffen next to me. I couldn’t really blame her, during our last ‘interview’ when they had brought up my family I seem to remember it not going well...Bon Bon had tried to get off the topic but Lyra...Lyra had ended up thrown from the room.
“I...I was just sort of wondering how my dad would’ve reacted to all this. The ship, me leaving, stealing my mother’s book…the betrayal…” I sighed again “I’m not really sure if he’d be happy or upset with me. I mean...he died a little after I reached adulthood and my mother...I never even got to know her. How would they have acted?”
Bon Bon placed a hoof on my shoulder. “I’m sure they would’ve supported you. That’s all any parent can do really, just support your child and hope everything turns out alright. But I’m sure no matter what would have changed if they were here, they would’ve kept loving you.” I couldn’t help but smile, jeez that was corny, but I supposed she was right.
“Thanks Bonnie” “You’re welcome, now come on lets go get breakfast!” I froze...in the two days I’ve been here I’d always had breakfast here, in my room. I still haven’t met any of the other crew, save for my fleeting introduction to Derpy. 
“T-thats okay, I’m not really hu-” “Oh no you don’t!” Bon Bon declared, grabbing the holster around my torso  between her teeth and giving it a firm yank from behind. 
“Yourf coming wiff me misseth! No more eattin’ in herth!” She growls, dragging me along behind her down the narrow hallway deeper into the bowels of the ship.

It only took a few minutes to get to the dinning room, even with my weak protests slowing things down. The moment my cream colored captor and I entered the room all conversations died. There were seven ponies in the room, not counting Bon Bon; Lyra of course, who was too busy stuffing three or four pieces of...very odd looking bread in her mouth to even notice we had arrived, Derpy of course, who was quietly pulling a smaller gray-pink unicorn closer to her, an orange unicorn with a darker orange mane with two funny looking circles emblazoned on its flank who was giving me a flat but mildly curious look, a lavender colored pegasus with a light pink mane and a rainbow mark who was looking at me with a look of such enthusiasm it scared me a bit,  a pair of hornless and wingless ponies both pink, one with a green mane and  white flowers on her rump and the other with a yellow mane and a more pointed sort of white flower both stared at me with a look of horror and mild disgust. 
“Everypony” Bon Bon began “This is Maiara, our indigenous guide.” The smallest unicorn glanced up at Derpy. I heard her whisper 
“Mama what does indigigness mean?” 
“Maiara, this is Lily Valley and Daisy, our Fauna experts” She introduced the two pink flower ponies first. 
“Rainbow Drops” She introduced the purple pegasus next “Our security off-!” She was cut off by the pegasus zooming in and bowling her over, grabbing one of my hands with both hooves and quickly shaking it up and down “Hi there! Great to finally meet you! I just know we’ll be great friends! “ My arm was starting to go numb...luckily I was rescued by Lyra, who had finished with her bread and had gently lifted Rainbow Drops away from me with her golden magic Bon Bon got back up, glaring at Rainbow “Sorry...she’s part of Lyra’s...anthropology group”
I raised an eyebrow, I really don’t know what the word Anthropology means, but I can only assume it means ponies with a strange fascination with  things like me to the point that invading personal space is mandatory. I made a note to sleep under my cot from now on to keep out of harm’s way while I slept. 
“Anyways, this is our ship engineer, Tick Tock” The orange unicorn nodded to me and responded with a polite “Greetings” I was not entirely sure but by his voice I think this...Tick Tock might’ve been the first male pony I’ve come across...I’d have to ask Lyra or Bon Bon after this to make sure. 
“Of course you’ve met our cook Derpy, and this little filly” She motioned to the smaller unicorn “Is her daughter, Dinky, our Cabin Filly”  Lyra clapped her hooves together. “Now that that’s all out of the way, why don’t we finish this meal that Derpy was nice enough to make for us!” 
Slowly I approached the table and pulled a chair up for myself. Lyra and Rainbow’s grins widened as I sat down, rather cautiously, while Bon Bon simply rolled her eyes. 
“You owe me five bits” I heard Lyra whisper to Bon Bon “Later” Bon Bon hissed back in response. 
I slowly picked up the weird bread I had seen before. Sliced bread of course was nothing new, but this stuff seemed...hard, not stale hard just sort of crunchy, and a darker shade of brown. I sniffed at it while some of the others started eating again, all except for the two flower ponies who were still staring at me with worried looks. Bon Bon nudged me with her fore leg 
“It’s called toast, dear. It’s basically bread that’s been cooked again. It’s alright” “Yeah!” Lyra chimed in “You should try it with Jam on it” 
Finally one of the flower sisters spoke up “Can...can it understand what we’re saying?” It...wasn’t exactly a completely unfounded question, but for some reason the way she asked it made me a tiny bit mad. Maybe it was just being called an It that got me. Regardless I turned to look at the one who had spoken, Lily. I raised myself up from the table, rather slowly, never taking my glare from the cowering pink pony. Slowly I raised my hand up and reached out for her, she flinched away as I drew closer and closer. Finally I got to my target and I began to rub her ear between my forefinger and thumb. 
“Eeep!” Lily squeaked before she fell to the floor, in a squirming mass of giggles and  flailing limbs. “S-s-stop!” 
She cried through her tears as I continued tickling, a grin slowly spreading across my own face “Oh, I’m sorry, I don’t really understand you!” I responded impishly as the others began to laugh at Lily’s flailing. 
“S-stop p-p-please stop! I’m s-s-sorry!” She squeal, trying to knock my hand away. 
“I’m sorry could you repeat that?” I cooed.
“I’m sorry! P-p-please I’m gonna pee!” Finally I let go of Lily’s ear and sat back in my chair. It took a bit for Lily to get her breath back but when she did she got back in her chair and gave me a glare, a smile still affixed to her muzzle. “I’ll get you back for that later!” She said.
“Well it’s gonna have to wait, Lily, we’re gonna need Maiara. We’re reaching the next closest island in just a few hours! We need her to help us make contact!” Lyra declared.
I gulped down the chunk of toast I had been chewing on.