Tricks Just
of the Passing
trail Through
Wind whistled by the canopy as Brian dipped the Swift into a shallow dive. He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, relishing the crisp, cool morning air. The sun was bright overhead, illuminating the fluffy white cloud tops that dotted the sky below him.
He looked out over the scene and smiled. Man, what a great day to fly. Not too windy, but not too quiet, either, and it looks like there will be some strong thermals soon. Great visibility, too, with just enough clouds to keep things interesting. Yeah, this is what it's all about. No politics. No meetings. No unreasonable, conflicting demands. Just me and the wind. Jeb had it right – flying really is the ultimate freedom. A simple, pure function of gravity and aerodynamics. Move the controls – get results. Action and reaction. Play it right, and I can go to the ends of the earth. His eyes glinted mischievously. Or dance with clouds.
With a deft shift of the controls, the Swift pirouetted in the air, heading towards the tall, cylindrical column of fog that had caught his eye. He could've been a cat at an aquarium, watching as his shadow darted up the side until he was racing just behind it across the wide, pillowy top. Nearing the edge, he banked and dipped the nose, guiding the Swift into a gentle corkscrew down and around the side, just barely dipping his inner wingtip into the misty wall, smile never faltering as he watched it carve off swirling little curls of cloud.
Near the bottom he broke off from his orbit, heading to a nearby patch of small clouds, where he darted between the fluffy puffs like a skier in a slalom; he twisted between, over, around, and under, in a convoluted path that soon had him laughing giddily. Rounding one last cloud, he finally ran out of little targets and was confronted instead with another hulking white mass.
With a whoop, he took the cloud head on, plunging into a murky grey nothingness that streaked his canopy with moisture. The light outside flickered as indistinct billows scudded by, but he held his course steady until he finally burst out into the bright sunshine once more.
Now the clouds were mostly above him, and the ground was starting to approach. He frowned at its inconsiderateness, reluctantly turning back towards that first, tall cumulus, hunting for the thermal that fed it.
Gliding beneath the cloud's sunlit edge, he regained a bit of his cheer as he felt the thermal's first telltale signs; the Swift's left wing buoyed up as it found the rising air. He banked into the thermal, tightening his turn as lift surged beneath his wings.
"'Tis true then. Thou dost indeed pilot the craft, and quite skillfully, too."
Surprised, Brian looked over to see Christina casually perched up in front of him on the right wing, legs dangling lazily as she sat looking over at him. Her back was to the rushing air, but she ignored it to smile at him, her midnight hair briefly mesmerizing him as the wind carried it over her shoulder where it danced before her in the breeze like an astral banner.
"Christina! What a pleasant surprise. I didn't know you liked flying as well."
“Oh, we find the open air quite refreshing, though we have not had the opportunity to enjoy it as often as we might like.”
“That’s too bad – there's nothing else like it.”
"Indeed," she said, a little wistfully. "Thou shouldst see it at night."
"I can imagine it'd be beautiful, but I can't go flying at night – it's too dangerous."
"Dangerous?" A refined midnight eyebrow rose. "Thou fearest monsters of the night sky?"
"Uhh, not exactly. More a lack of thermals once the sun goes down, plus not being able to see the terrain, which is kind of important for landing. I'm not instrument certified, and the Swift doesn't have them anyhow."
"Instruments?” she cocked her head, perplexed. “Thou art saying that thy craft of such sophistication hath no mechanisms?"
"Well, it has a few of the basics – altimeter, vertical speed indicator and a compass, but nothing fancy."
"What of this device, then?" she said, holding up a tablet.
"A tablet? Well, I do have one, and you can display maps on it, but it's not really meant for flying."
"Ah, so thou art familiar with its usage, then."
"Uhh, maybe. I can’t be certain, but it looks like the same model I have, and they’re all pretty similar, anyhow."
"Splendid! We are having some problems with it."
He stifled a groan. Ugh. Tech support – what a nightmare. “Well, I might be able to help you with it, but no guarantees. What's it doing?"
“Nothing!” she continued. “Which is the problem. 'Twas behaving in a most fascinating manner, but it ceased to respond not long after we, ah, received it yesterday.”
"I see. What were you doing before it stopped working? Did you drop it?”
She looked scandalized. "No, of course not! We treated it most delicately."
“Right. Well then, what were you doing with it before it crashed? Any particular apps you were running, or unusual behavior beforehand?”
“We were not doing anything unusual. We were, ah, browsing the pictures within when it ceased to function – we were even wielding the proscribed inkless quill.”
"...okay. So when was the last time you charged it?"
"...charge?"
"Yeah, you know, electricity? Did you see any messages pop up with the red battery indicator?”
"Hmm," she said, turning away for a moment before coming back holding an image depicting an entirely too familiar low battery screen. “Like this?” she asked.
“Uh, yeah, exactly. That message pretty much tells you everything you need. Just plug it in to the wall for a while, and you should be good to go."
"Splendid! We shall do so henceforth," she said, brightly. "Sadly, our time is running short, so we must take our leave. Enjoy the rest of thy flight." With that, she leaned forwards and dropped away from the wing with a cheerful wave.
Brian waved back, watching her go with mixed feelings. Well, for tech support, that could've been worse. But simply running out of battery? I thought she was a bit savvier than that. Still, I guess it was kind of nice to have a little bit of company up here.
~~~
He was awoken by the warmth of the rising sun on his face and the cheerful chirping of birds, though the sound of the forest coming to life around him soon reminded him of where he was. Ugh. Must’ve had some pretty weird dreams – maybe it’s just as well I can never seem to remember them. It’d be nice to know what was messing up my sleep, though – it’s too damn early to wake up, he thought sourly, keeping his eyes tightly shut. Especially since I'm still here. Maybe this is all the weird dream, and it'll go away if I go back to sleep. ... shoot.
Despite his intent, it seemed his body was keen on waking up. I guess morning ambiance and pointy branches in my bed are more than enough to make up for turning all the alarms off, he thought, still stubbornly clenching his eyes closed to keep the evil light at bay. I would have preferred coffee.
An inarticulate groan came from his side, finally prompting him to pry his eyes open and glance over, his annoyance quickly forgotten as he stared in amazement at the sight of the blue unicorn just starting to rouse. Trixie! She's still here – she didn't run away! The unicorn mare winced as she moved, uttering some noises that, in a human, he would have called ‘not very ladylike.’ And from the sound of it, running isn't really her thing right now, he thought, watching as she slowly rose to her hooves and gingerly stretched.
He could see that she still favored a few spots, but overall he was more reminded of a cat than anything else. Makes sense, given the situation I found her in. These creatures may look equine, but they don’t seem to play by the same rules. Magic, flying, and sapience aside, they seem incredibly flexible – any horse I know of that ended up in that situation would probably have broken a leg or two. I wonder if the duck had anything similar going on. Still, it’s obvious that she didn't get out of it unscathed.
The thought prompted numerous muscles and joints to inform him that they, too, were not particularly pleased with his actions yesterday. Nevertheless, Brian had an incredulous smile on his face as he followed her lead and gingerly sat up. Despite his aches and pains, all the troubles and trials he had overcame and the invisible barriers of misunderstanding and suspicion that still remained, he wasn't alone. It was still a fragile thing, but the warmth of simple companionship was nevertheless quite real.
Trixie’s ears swiveled his way as the branches crackled beneath him, returning his smile when she saw him grinning, though her own expression was still a little nervous. I just hope she'll let me keep traveling with her, he thought, more somberly as his elation gradually faded. She's the first one I've had anything like a normal interaction with, and she didn't act like she was going to kick me out. Maybe if I can stay with her for a bit, I'll finally be able to learn enough about this crazy place to get some clue of what's going on.
Oblivious to his inner monologue, she greeted him with a hesitant, ~Good morning, Brian.~
~Good morning, Trixie,~ he responded, preoccupied.
There was a brief pause as they both registered what he'd just said, then Trixie gave a sharp intake of breath, followed by a rapid-fire verbal barrage. "T'kaa Brrrian frratee valourii ash."
Aww crap. ~Slow,~ he said, latching on to one of the Equish words he remembered discussing the day before, and then repeating, “speak more slowly” in English for good measure.
This seemed to get the point across, as, after a moment, Trixie repeated herself, speaking more slowly and enunciating carefully. “T’kaaa Brrriian frra-tee ~speak~ ashi.”
He nodded thoughtfully, pausing before repeating, ~speak,~ the one Equish word he’d understood, back to her from her speech. She looked surprised, which set him wondering.
Did we cover that yesterday? I'm not sure. I don’t see how else I could know it, though. He went over the phrase again in his head carefully, trying to pick out the words. That last one seems familiar too, somehow.
“Ashi?” he inquired, which prompted Trixie to reply quite verbosely. So much talking, hmm... “Ashi,” he repeated again, this time miming talking. Trixie nodded at his display. Yeah, could be their word for language.
So, something ‘Brian’ something something ‘speak language’. Right. It might have been something like ‘How did I learn to speak Equish,’ I suppose. There’s no way to be sure, though, and those are pretty abstract concepts – hard to get across. For now, it’d be better to focus on the concrete ones, he thought. Still, he said the Equish parts of the phrase he understood, before repeating them in English.
Trixie's ears lay back as she haltingly repeated the English words he'd just rattled off, a note of uncertainty in her voice, despite him nodding approvingly.
This is weird. It usually takes me a while to start picking things up. The only reason I've ever really made progress is sheer stubbornness. She sounds like she's getting pretty frustrated, though – maybe I should try to change the subject.
~No talk,~ he said. ~Food?~
The unicorn pawed the ground unhappily, but nodded. "Yes," she replied, followed by some more incomprehensible muttering, though now fortunately directed towards the food stores.
Breakfast was oranges again, at least for him. Her rummaging had also produced a plate piled high with hay, but fortunately, ‘I can't eat that’ wasn't too hard to convey without sparking another round of linguistic awkwardness. Breakfast did result in another blue-spotted orange running away into the undergrowth, however, which did nothing to improve Trixie’s mood. Still, it was easy enough for Brian to handle orange serving duty, though he was a little dismayed to see how quickly the pile in the bag was dwindling. I’m going to have to find some way to live off the land a bit more, he thought. This isn't sustainable.
After eating, Brian checked his phone again. No signal, of course, but at least the battery seems to be holding up, he thought, before looking over the text message he'd written the night before, and wincing. Okay, so it was late and I was tired. I'll have to do some revising. I should be ready to send some more convincing evidence, too. I wish I'd had the presence of mind to take a few pictures earlier – that floating city, or the cavern with the sea serpent would've been spectacular. Still, there's no time like the present. I hope she doesn't mind.
He waved at the unicorn, beckoning her over when he had her attention. Her ears perked up with interest when she saw him using the phone, and she trotted over quickly. As she arrived, he took a quick picture of the cart and another one of the campfire. She looked a bit askance at the camera clicks, but her eyes widened in surprise when he showed her the images on the screen. He then pointed the camera towards her and mimed taking another picture. ~Yes?~ he asked.
In answer, she danced back, quickly put on her hat and started… is she posing? That's the best description I can think of, at least, he thought. He took her impatient look as she held the posture as consent, snapping several pictures before putting the camera down, despite her look of disappointment. She cheered up quite a bit when she came back over and saw her image, though.
Powering the phone down and standing up, he felt nature calling, and he was reflexively moving towards the campfire to put it out in the traditional manner, when he recalled he had company. Blushing, he made a quick about face, and slunk off to some trees a little ways away. Not exactly glamping, but I can’t really complain, all things considered. I wouldn't mind a shower, though. Or rain shower, as the case may be, he thought, recalling Trixie’s performance the day before.
He came back to see her looking forlornly at a bush. He was guessing this had something to do with the blue dots that now adorned it. It left him a little puzzled, though. The legs on oranges thing I can understand, but if she doesn't like the dots why would she have them as her symbol? Are they involuntary, like brands? Or could she be having image issues? Hmm. Maybe it’d help cheer her up if I did something to show her that I think they’re nice.
With that in mind, Brian stepped over to the bush and broke off a blue-dotted sprig, tucking it over his ear, to where the leaves poked out in front of his face. Trixie froze, her eyes following his movements as she simply stared at him for a couple of moments, before her muzzle started to scrunch up. Uh oh. I hope I didn't inadvertently offend her.
“Snrk.”
He cocked an eyebrow at the sound in confusion, which was enough to set her off.
“Ehehehehe,” she snickered, falling to her rump as she covered her muzzle with a hoof.
Okay, so I guess I do probably look pretty funny, he thought, grinning back.
The mood lifted, and they started seriously breaking camp. Brian helped with the food supplies, before looking forlornly at his own small pile of possessions. Not so much to pack anymore, after my lunch box and first aid kit got stuck in that stupid purple mud in the cave. I didn't need the basket, but I wouldn't mind still having that magazine, either. At least I still have the rest of my stuff. I can only hope I find some more tissues before I run out, though. With a sigh, he bundled his own stuff up and tossed his pack in the cart, then gave Trixie a hand with their makeshift bedrolls.
In short order, the cart was loaded, hooked up, and they hit the trail once more. The path still wound deep in the embrace of the forest, but shafts of bright sunlight lanced through the canopy, and what slices of sky he could see showed the sort of deep blue that heralded another gloriously clear day. That made it even odder when he spotted a couple of those small, low clouds lurking about again. Strange – I wonder if it's more weirdness of the local weather patterns here. There was that cloud city, after all.
He cleared his throat and pointed up at the odd puffs. Trixie looked at them and then back at him, before cocking her head with a puzzled look and thinking for several seconds. “Water?” she finally asked, making falling motions with her hooves as her horn started to glow.
Hmm? Oh. That would've been nice earlier, but no, I wasn't asking about another rain shower. ~No, no,~ he said, waving her away. “It’s not important.”
Trixie looked at him in brief confusion, before shrugging, her horn winking out as she turned away, uninterested. Meanwhile, the clouds seemed to have caught a sudden gust of wind, as they quickly scudded off to the side and away from the road.
Huh. Well, I guess if she doesn't see anything odd, those clouds probably aren't too dangerous. Still pretty weird, though.
They soon resumed their language practice, starting from where they had left off at breakfast. While Trixie’s grasp of vocabulary remained sharp, Brian’s unusual linguistic competence had also persisted; indeed, he became even more befuddled trying to remember where he had picked up some of the words. Seriously, flying? When did we discuss that?
Eventually they both got a bit fatigued, though, and lapsed into silence. Brian found his mind wandering back to the text messages and his phone. I really need to find some way to get it recharged, and soon. I hate to leave range of whatever signal I seem to be getting, but signal does me no good if the battery is dead. Good thing I've got a universal charger – so long as I can somehow get an appropriate input voltage, I should be okay. I haven’t really seen anything electrical so far, but everything I've encountered so far has been either fresh from plummeting out of the sky or abandoned for decades, so that’s not much to go by. Hopefully, if they do have some electrical know-how, they’ll also have enough equipment for me to somehow figure out how to generate the correct voltage to charge it. Oh well. There’s not much I can do about it for now, he thought, pushing the matter to the back of his mind and refocusing on the trail.
It wasn't all that hard; the forest was a living presence around him, its warm air filled with the hum of insects and rustle of leaves. Birds flitted among the trees, and he caught the occasional glimpse of small woodland creatures darting through the undergrowth. I don’t know if I've ever seen anywhere so vibrant. These plants are all incredibly lush, and there are animals out and about everywhere. It’d be a picture perfect summer day, if it wasn't for some of the out-of-place critters or those crazy little clouds reminding me of how alien it all is. Do their seasons even work the same way? If they can push around clouds, what else can they do? At any rate, with the way the sun is beating down, it feels like today’ll be a scorcher.
The two of them ignored the building heat as they conversed off and on, slowly but surely building vocabulary and the occasional bit of grammar. During the lulls, he found the creak of the wagon and clip-clop of his companion’s hooves strangely comforting, and he had a brief sense of odd nostalgia. It’s as if I was in a bygone era. It may take a lot longer to get somewhere, but somehow the experience seems a bit more authentic than rushing through in a car. If I didn't have this recharge thing hanging over me, I could almost enjoy the pace.
The road continued onward until it joined another, this one graveled and slightly wider. They broke for lunch at the crossroads, and Brian luxuriated in the cool shade under the trees. The meal consisted of another round of oatcakes and some water, but he found it still quite satisfying, and all too soon it was time to head out again.
Trixie led them onto the right hand branch of the new trail, which Brian examined as they stepped out on it. It’s definitely more heavily traveled, he observed. Judging by the sun, it looks like this heads generally southwest. Other than that, though, there wasn't much of interest, and he soon fell into the same routine of walking and chatting with Trixie as during the morning.
All was peaceful for a few hours, until he spotted motion on the road coming towards them – three figures plus a cart. As they approached, he was able to make out a little more detail. The three were all normal-type ponies, the leader a light blue, with a heavy build and keen eyes that regarded the two of them levelly. Right behind it walked a yellow one, not quite as stocky, but still strong enough to pull the wagon without any sign of strain. Said wagon was a large, wooden, four-wheeled affair with tall sides, a tarp pulled over the top, and flanked by the third pony, a slightly more petite teal-coated individual. Looking further, he realized that there was actually a fourth pony bringing up the rear – this one a dark grey unicorn. The pony pulling the wagon and the one alongside both had a brands that showed farm tools, but he couldn't make out the others, as they were obscured by bulky saddle bags.
The road wasn’t quite wide enough for both wagons to pass, but fortunately the shoulder was firm earth, so Brian and Trixie were able to pull off to the side once more as the travelers neared.
Trixie kept her head up and exchanged greetings with the newcomers, though they seemed somewhat nervous and barely broke stride as they responded.
As the wagon passed by, he saw the cloth move and two small heads poked out from beneath folds in the cloth, eyes wide as saucers. As soon as they saw they'd been spotted, though, they ducked back down inside with a squeak.
Their reaction was like a stab to the gut, but any impulse to try and ease their fears was quickly squashed as the pony walking between him and the cart reacted as well – glancing at the cart, before flattening its ears as it looked back at him. The other three tensed up also, and he thought he saw a subtle glow edging the unicorn's horn.
Okay, okay, I get the hint, he thought, looking away and edging a little further away before he upset the travelers any further. I’ll just make myself scarce. This isn't exactly such a wide road, though.
Fortunately, the group was already most of the way past, and they relaxed as soon as they had put a little bit of distance between them. Brian sighed as he watched the canvas top sprout the pair of little heads once more as the group disappeared down the trail. Well, that encounter sucked. I hope it's the exception, and not the rule. At least nothing blew up.
A sound beside him made him look up, and he saw Trixie regarding him sympathetically.
He plastered on a fake smile, and her eyebrow quirked knowingly, before she nodded and led him out on the road once more.
As the afternoon wore on, the road seemed endless as it shimmered in the unrelenting sun. He was a little jealous of Trixie’s hat – the sweat beading his head didn't make it any easier to focus on their linguistic studies. There was little else to do, though, and Trixie didn't seem to be in a particular hurry to get to wherever their destination was.
At least she’s calling frequent stops, even if it’s slowing us down. I wonder if it’s for my sake? She always seems to cast magic whenever we stop, though. I wonder if something really is wrong? She never seems to be happy with it. He regarded the latest blue-spotted specimen, snorting softly. If someone was trying to follow us, they'd have an easy time of it. All they'd have to do is follow the trail of blue-spotted foliage.
They ended up stopping early for the day, when the road ran up next to a stream in the late afternoon. Brian’s eyes lit up at the sight; the prospect of cool water exerted an almost physical attraction after the day’s hot slog. Camp went up quickly, with both wood and boughs for bedding readily available.
Trixie started putting out supplies, indicating some bread and asking, “food?" Brian thought for a moment, before nodding and pointing at the sun, then shifting his arm to indicate a slightly lower point along and saying, “time.” Trixie thought for a few seconds, before nodding in return. “Time,” she echoed, smiling, before saying, ~Time.~
~Time,~ he repeated after her, once more feeling a little stunned. What the heck?! That word seems familiar too! … Whatever. Nice, cool stream first, worrying about words later, he thought, emptying his pockets of stuff and turning to go pick his way down the tumbled rocks to the waters swirling below. The stream was small, maybe only two meters across, and looked fairly shallow. The water was clear, but not too swift, and the banks were lined with vegetation.
He saw a few small fish leaping in the deeper part of the stream, and the sight gave him pause. I wonder if I could catch one? I don't have anything suitable in my gear, but I might be able to improvise something out of the stuff in the cart. Of course, Trixie might not like that – I doubt meat is part of their diet, so using her stuff to kill something might be... The thought made him wince; he didn't want to risk offending his only friend among the ponies. It's not like I can't go without protein for a while. Better to keep my eyes open for a while first, and if I do find somewhere that sells fishing gear, then that probably means that eating fish isn't taboo.
No fish for tonight, though, he thought, reluctantly tearing his eyes off the leaping forms and moving to strip off his grubby clothes. He waded into the stream carefully – the water was deeper than it looked, but still only came up to his stomach. He got his clothes one by one, taking a few minutes to scrub each one against the gravel and rinse them thoroughly in the current, before putting them on a large, flat rock on the bank to dry.
After finishing up, he sat back and lounged in the current, but it was only a few minutes before he heard a noise and looked up to see Trixie picking her way down the bank. She looked a little hesitant, but relaxed when Brian waved at her cheerfully.
“Come on in, the water’s fine!”
Her ears perked up and she trotted down to the water, barely breaking her stride when she entered the creek with a splash. She paddled around for a bit, before finding her own little backwater to lounge in. Brian relaxed once more, content to lay back and listen to the birds, watching as the wind rustled the leaves and pushed another of those little clouds by. Finally he’d had enough, but now he faced a bit of a dilemma. Trixie may have simply trotted into the water, but she hadn't been wearing her hat or cape.
I guess it's simpler to go swimming when you never have to worry about clothes. I don't have that luxury, though, and if I wait too much longer, I won't have enough sun to dry quickly, he thought, wincing as he imagined the charades to try and convey the concept of body shyness. That'd be more embarrassing than anything else. And it's not as if I'm as uptight about it as I was before I moved to Europe. The way the Germans run around sometimes... Anyhow, considering the general lack of clothes around here, it'd be weird if they got upset about accidentally catching an eyeful.
He had a feeling that Trixie was giving him an odd look as he awkwardly shuffled out of the water, but he couldn't be certain, as he made sure he was facing away from her the whole time. His shirt made for a makeshift towel, leaving him a bit damp, but still feeling much better than before.
He gave his shirt another rinse and set it out to dry, before looking around the area a bit. After a moment, one of the plants in the stream registered, and he grinned. Sweet! Watercress! I’m in luck today. He hunted around some more and soon spotted a few wild onions as well. By the time he finally made his way back to camp, Trixie had already returned, and was laying out her own set of ingredients.
Trixie offered him a jar, and Brian happily accepted a daub of what turned out to be hot sauce, but politely declined some of the flowers she was putting it on. In return, he shared some of the watercress and onions, though she was only interested in the watercress.
After that, they talked a bit more as the light gradually faded. Trixie was happy to light the fire again, and Brian sat back to watch another full moon climb above the treetops. Soon enough, their conversation had ebbed as the fire had died down to embers, and the call of the bedrolls became irresistible. As he lay down, a quiet voice rose above the murmur of the resting forest.
~Good night, Brian.~
Only the moon saw him smile as he replied. ~Good night, Trixie.~