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// 1 Inspiration 
// Story: The REF Palimpsest 
// by Brass Polish 
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	Fluttershy had been particularly outdoorsy lately despite the fact that Rainbow Dash had been making such a noise about the upcoming Daring Do release being held up. This was because Tree Hugger was coming to Ponyville to have a look at Crosspatch’s pet cockatrice Scavenger and their home. As soon as she’d heard the news, Fluttershy sent a letter to Discord. This seemed to her like a golden opportunity for her and her three good friends outside of the Friendship Council to spend time together. She never got a response by the time Tree Hugger arrived in town. She assumed this meant Discord wasn’t interested, and it bothered her that he didn’t respond at all.
I hope he’s still not upset about me taking Tree Hugger to the Grand Galloping Gala instead of him, she thought as the train she was waiting for pulled into the station. I thought he’d gotten over that.
The locomotive let off steam, and from the white fog emerged Tree Hugger.
“Wow. Light water,” she grinned as she exited the coach and stepped onto the platform. “This must be what it’s like to touch a cloud. Hey Fluttershy, what’s it like to touch a cloud?”
“Uh, hello to you too, Tree Hugger,” Fluttershy faltered. “Um, for a pegasus, it’s not that different from touching ground.”
Tree Hugger looked up at the sky. “So… I’ve known my whole life what touching a cloud is like. Sweet.”
They heard grumbling from the cloud Tree Hugger was looking at.
“That’s just my friend Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy said quickly, having caught to look on Tree Hugger’s face. “She’s upset that a new volume of her favourite book series isn’t coming for a while.”
“Oh. I thought that cloud was complaining about me,” Tree Hugger chuckled.

Fluttershy took Tree Hugger to Crosspatch’s house and introduced her to Crosspatch.
“And is this your pet cockatrice?” asked Tree Hugger.
“No, actually,” smirked Crosspatch.
“Oh. Well, could you show me your…?”
“He is,” groaned Crosspatch.
Tree Hugger inspected Scavenger, who stood by Crosspatch in a relaxed sort of way.
“So how did you come by him?” asked Tree Hugger.
“He came from the Everfree Forest and started turning ponies to stone just for laughs. So I gave him the Stare and told him to turn everypony he looked at back to normal. But it turned out he’d turned somepony to stone a while ago and we got him to help us find her. And during that time, we bonded a bit. And now he helps me and my brother with pest control.”
Tree Hugger never took her eyes off of Scavenger the whole time Crosspatch was talking.
“Does he ever use his powers?” she asked.
“Sometimes he hides in the bushes in ponies’ backyards and turns skunks to stone,” said Crosspatch. “Then when we take the skunks to a field or a forest, he turns them back to normal.”
“Could I see his power?” Tree Hugger asked.
“You mean you want him to turn you to stone?” asked Crosspatch.
“It’s not that I don’t trust you or anything. I just wanna experience it for myself.”
Scavenger looked up at Crosspatch, who nodded to him. So he leered, and one second later, Tree Hugger was stoned.

Fluttershy and Crosspatch spent the next minute dragging Tree Hugger’s statue across the room and spinning it around. This way she’d know she had indeed been an inanimate object once Scavenger restored her.
“OK, go ahead,” said Crosspatch.
Scavenger leered in the statue’s eyes and backed away. Tree Hugger turned to face Crosspatch.
“Did he do it?”
“Yeah,” Crosspatch raised an eyebrow. “Can’t you tell you’re in another part of the room?”
“Uh, I haven’t really had enough time to let this room soak in,” said Tree Hugger.
“I’m sure you can take my word, Tree Hugger,” interjected Fluttershy.
“Sure. So what I wanna do is keep an eye around here for a few days to see how he’s doing living in a suburb,” said Tree Hugger. “How about we start by leaving him here for a few hours? See how he deals when he’s alone.”
“Well, my mom and brother live here too,” said Crosspatch.
“Oh. Well, let’s see how Scavy does without the one who checked him out around.”
“Checked out?! That’s a weird word for the Stare,” Crosspatch tried not to laugh at the pony give was her best shot for a legal license to have a pet cockatrice.

“I think Fluttershy said we should eat out or something,” said Tree Hugger.
Fluttershy shuffled. It wasn’t often she took this sort of initiative with ponies.
“Can we eat in?” asked Crosspatch. “I don’t wanna hear Rainbow whine about A K Yearling’s writer’s block.”
Fluttershy shuffled again. She was the only one in the room who was aware that A K Yearling’s books were actually autobiographical.
“You’re not surprised, are ya?” asked Tree Hugger, looking up at the red evening sky. “I’d totally wig out if my favourite author was sitting on her hooves for a bit. Too bad I can’t touch clouds. I could go up there and give her some sonic bliss. Hey Crosspatch, does your mutation let you walk on clouds?”
“What gave you that idea?” asked Crosspatch.
“Fluttershy said you gotta water yourself every ten minutes.”
“Well I don’t wanna go up there. I’d probably faint, whether or not I could walk on clouds,” shuddered Crosspatch.
Tree Hugger frowned. “I hear ya. I didn’t like hanging in midair when Discord was gonna fling me into that hole in the air at the Gala.”
“Boy, am I glad I turned down Fluttershy’s +1 invitation,” said Crosspatch. “I’ve never even met Discord yet. How come you’ve never introduced me, Fluttershy?”
“Oh. Well, you don’t like when others take your spritzing bottle from you, and… that seems like something Discord would do,” said Fluttershy. “He’s a big trickster.”
“He must be a riot on Nightmare Night,” grinned Tree Hugger.

Fluttershy admitted to them that she’d never hung out with Discord on Nightmare Night.
“I think he might be a bit overbearing,” she said sheepishly.
“Overbearing?” Crosspatch scoffed. “What about that stuff you pulled on your friends that one…?”
“That was only one time!” burst out Fluttershy. “But like I told you, I promised them I’d never scare them like that again.”
“Now that you’d told them that, you should go ahead on scare the living snot outta them next Nightmare Night,” suggested Tree Hugger.
“Why would I go against my promise to my friends?!” cried Fluttershy.
“They won’t see it coming,” said Tree Hugger.
“That’s true,” grinned Crosspatch. “They wouldn’t suspect you when they try to work out an explanation for the spooky stuff that’s happening to them.”
“Oh, I couldn’t,” insisted Fluttershy. “I mean, I couldn’t do it on my own in the first place. I had to get help from Angel Bunny. And he used all his A material that night. Even if I did decide to break my promise and pull a scary prank on my friends on Nightmare Night, I wouldn’t know how to do it. I’d need some sort of inspiration.”
“Did I hear somepony call for some inspiration?” asked Discord.

“What in Celestia’s feathers is that?!” cried Crosspatch.
“I am hoping to get onto your non-pests list,” Discord looked down on Crosspatch with an unsettling smile.
“You have a non-pests list?” asked Tree Hugger. “That’s kinda speciesist.”
“I’m a pest pony. It’s my job to categorise creatures like that,” protested Crosspatch.
“Hey, if anything, ponies are the biggest pests in Equestria,” frowned Tree Hugger. “Can you imagine how many animals we had to shove outta the way to make our homes?”
“That only happened because of the Windigoes,” said Crosspatch. “And if those aren’t pests, I don’t know what is.”
“Um, hi, Discord,” Fluttershy said.
Discord scooped Fluttershy, Tree Hugger, and Crosspatch into a hug.
“Splendiferous to see you three. And thanks again for the invite.”
“Uh… again?”
Discord’s confused-looking head appeared in front of Fluttershy, Crosspatch, and Tree Hugger while they were still in his clutches.
“Am I to take it you weren’t expecting you dear old draconequus pal?” he asked.
“Oh, no. That’s not…” Fluttershy blushed a bit. “Well, it’s just, I don’t remember getting a reply from you after I wrote to you.”
“Oh, dear. It must have sent my reply to the wrong nose,” said Discord.
“Huh?” asked Crosspatch and Tree Hugger together.
“I guess I should explain how we send each other letters,” said Fluttershy.
“Of course!” exclaimed Discord. “A pleasant conversation over a lovely picnic dinner. You read my mind. And luckily for you, I’ve scoped out the perfect picnic spot.”
He snapped his fingers.

“Whoa. Did Scavenger turn me to a statue again?” asked Tree Hugger.
Crosspatch’s reply was soundless. The three ponies looked around. None of them recognised the place Discord had transported them to. Discord was holding a small grey disk. Fluttershy had heard from Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash that he once used a magical dial to keep their voices down, and figured this must be the same thing.
“Welcome to the grand tour of the REF Palimpsest,” he said softly and exuberantly. “The brightest jewel in the sky. Long since abandoned in a combination freak storm and pirate invasion, during which the vessel was damaged to the point of being undrivable, and everything of value was stolen. Everything… accept that.”
He waved his paw at a large padlocked wooden chest sitting near one of the walls.
“This, ladies, is the legendary Treasure of Admiral Gust,” he said softly. “Myth states that he enclosed a storm cloud in the chest with his gold and silver, and should the chest be disturbed, ZAP. Even a loud noise could cause the chest to emit lightning bolts. Hence why the pirates who boarded his airship never claimed it.”
Tree Hugger would have said “radical”, but she still had the mute spell on her just like Fluttershy and Crosspatch did.
“That concludes our tour,” Discord said, waving his claw. “Please enjoy our complimentary picnic supper.”
From his waving claw came a chequered tablecloth with tea and buns on it. Then he turned the dial he was holding.
“So,” said Crosspatch quietly, “what made you think having a picnic next to a treasure chest liable to explode was a good idea?”
“Who’s better at being quiet than the world champion?” Discord nudged Fluttershy, who managed not to yelp.

“Wow. Are we high or what?” said Tree Hugger.
Crosspatch walked over to the window Tree Hugger was gazing out of. There was no sign of land beneath the airship gondola they were standing in. All they could see were clouds and patches of dark evening sky.
“Where is this airship anyway?” Crosspatch turned to Discord, who had parked himself on the tablecloth.
“The sky. If you’d like to have a seat…” he reached out and plonked Fluttershy on the cloth opposite himself.
Crosspatch groaned. She was sure it was a lost cause trying to get a straight answer out of Discord.
“What does REF mean?” asked Tree Hugger.
“Royal Equestrian Flyers,” Fluttershy spoke up for the first time aboard the Palimpsest. “They were formed during a squall hundreds of years ago to find the cause of the rainstorms and snow flurries.”
“Correct,” said Discord. “Little did they realise that the storms were being caused by a band of pegasi pirates, to lure them…”
“I think you mean pirate pegasi, guy,” interrupted Tree Hugger. “Pegasi pirates makes it sound like they stole pegasi.”
Discord looked like he was about to set off Admiral Gust’s treasure.
“And so, the challenge begins. Can we enjoy our picnic on this old, unstable, ill-fated airship? Or will one of our number lose their nerve and let loose a cry of fright that will free the thundercloud Admiral Gust imprisoned in his treasure chest? And if that happens,” Discord paused dramatically, “will we survive? Let’s get started.”

Right away, things were looking dangerous. The tea kettle let off a whistle that would make a locomotive feel inadequate.
“Shut it off,” hissed Crosspatch.
By the time Discord had shut the kettle up by pinching the spout, the noise it made was echoing all around the airship. Steam surrounded the four picnickers and filled the gondola. Tree Hugger shut her eyes and breathed deeply, as though she was listening to a soothing lullaby. Fluttershy was shaking with worry. And she was sure her shaking was making more noise, which made her shake even more.
“It’s fine, Fluttershy,” said Crosspatch, placing a hoof in the tense pegasus’ back. “The noise is dying down. We’re safe… ish.”
Discord pretended he hadn’t seen the doubtful look Crosspatch had given him as he helped himself to a warm buttery biscuit. Crosspatch poured herself some tea.
“Uh, oh,” Crosspatch didn’t mean to worsen Fluttershy’s concerns. “I haven’t got my spritzing bottle with me. Uh… Discord?”
“Yes?”
“C-Could you bring my bottle here with your chaos magic?”
“I’ve got a better idea.”
Discord took Crosspatch’s tea cup and put the used tea bag from the pot into it. The tea retracted into the bag, leaving clear water.
“There you go,” said Discord, passing the cup back to Crosspatch.

Crosspatch was impressed, but she didn’t realise that the water was still hot until she dipped her hoof into it. She dropped her cup and stuffed her other hoof into her mouth to stifle her yell.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you you ought to blow on it first,” apologised Discord.
Fluttershy covered her face with trembling hooves. They’d just started their picnic aboard this unsettling vessel and already things were going amiss.
“I’m not burned or anything, Fluttershy,” said Crosspatch when she noticed this.
“Perhaps some sonic bliss will calm her?” Discord glanced in Tree Hugger’s direction.
“Uh… I don’t know if it works on ponies,” said Tree Hugger.
No one said anything for a few minutes. Discord, Tree Hugger, and Crosspatch ate a few biscuits and sipped some tea. Fluttershy didn’t touch a morsel. Crosspatch was sure it would be no use asking Discord to take them someplace else.
“Why not give that sonic bliss stuff a try?” she suggested to Tree Hugger.
“Oh, OK,” Tree Hugger closed her eyes.
No one heard the noises Tree Hugger made in the same way. Crosspatch didn’t think they were loud enough to set off a thundercloud. Fluttershy was sure she would bring the whole airship down. Discord was stuffing biscuits into his ears. Either way, they seemed to be working. Fluttershy’s breathing became steadier and she stopped shaking… for a moment.

Then she saw something fly over the treasure chest and make a grab for Crosspatch, who was sitting with her back to the chest. Then the zap apple magic Crosspatch had inherited from the Zap-O-Lantern kicked in. Her eyes glowed multiple colours, sparks ignited all over her coat, and whatever attacked her was propelled backwards. The bang was deafening in the surrounding silence. The unidentified attacker sailed over the chest and out of sight, leaving behind a streak of light vapour.
“What’s all that white powder?” asked Tree Hugger.
“I don’t know,” Discord sounded concerned. “The legend of Admiral Gust’s treasure doesn’t say anything about ghosts.”
“G-ghosts?”
Fluttershy started shaking again. Crosspatch looked behind her towards the chest, and accidentally inhaled the white vapour the attacker had left behind. Her cough was awful. And to Fluttershy’s ears, ear-shattering. She could swear she heard the chest rattle. And she wasn’t the only one. Crosspatch was watching the shuddering chest and doing her best to control her coughing. Tree Hugger was holding some of her dreads over her face. Discord hid behind her.