Parrothead in Paradise

by PastCat

Chapter 21

The next morning, I woke to the smell of something sizzling on the campfire. One of the sailors, Snow I think, was cooking. I got up; he gave me a toothy grin showing a couple of gold teeth. “I got some fish in the nets yesterday. Wanna have some? There’s plenty to go around.” I licked my lips and nodded. Snow passed me a fish on a stick. It was the first fresh fish I had eaten since leaving Oahu and it was delicious. I ate two more before Adam stumbled over to the fire. He opted to avoid the fish, as did Ruby and Curly, but the captain and the other pegasus ate with as much gusto as I did.

“You guys eat fish?” Adam asked. “I thought ponies couldn’t digest it.”

“Ponies can eat meat and fish as long as it’s not too fatty. Most ponies avoid it altogether; we don’t need it to survive, but some pegasi still fish. It provides more energy than other things do, and we need as much as we can get when flying, especially when the weather is poor.” Snow said, licking the last bits of salt from his lips. “Of course, when we catch stuff to sell along the coast, the little stuff gets used as fertilizer, while the really tasty stuff feeds those who do need it, like your friend here.” He waved a wing at me.

“I guess. We just never had enough to spare for the ponies to experiment with our diets much. One more reason to not stay on Oahu.” Adam said.

“Well, let’s go find out if there is anyplace left to stay there first.” I said. We all finished our meal and then worked together to push the North Star off the beach. The sailors tacked our way west until we spotted the coast of Oahu on the northern horizon. As we approached, the view did not look promising. My heart fell a little as I saw that parts of the coast were splotched with a dead gray appearance. Captain Bluegill said not a word as he brought the boat in to a stretch of beach just east of Diamond Head. The beach he chose was somehow pristine enough to land safely. He and the sailors decided to remain with the boat while Adam and I took off to see what we could find, if anything.

We flew over the rim of the crater and landed in the dust not far from where we had buried Mary and Slickwing. The ramp of tailings that Doc had built up to the shelter cave had been scattered, but the platform was still there. Adam and I flew up and between the two of us managed to shove the outer door away from the entrance. The way was lit only by the light coming through the doorway. Adam and I walked over to the inner door. Adam knocked; I held my breath in anticipation.

Suddenly, as if from a distance, I heard voices coming from behind the door. They were muffled, but familiar all the same. “Who’s there?” Came a shaky voice that I recognized as Trish. “It’s us, Trish. Zoe and Adam.” I called.

“Really? Um, all right. If you are really Zoe, tell me what I was going to get as a tattoo and where after I got home from field school.” Trish said.

I thought for a moment, then smiled. “You were going to get a tattoo of ‘Eleven loves Trish forever’ done in circular Gallifreyan. You were going to get it on the upper left side of your chest because, and I quote your letter here, ‘that is the closest I can get to a tattoo over my heart’.” I could hear Adam smothering laughter and I could imagine Trish turning bright red on the other side of the door.

“Um… okay… you got that right, but how do I know that is Adam with you?” Trish stuttered.

“Is Doc there? I know more about him than anyone else.” Adam said. There was silence. Instead the door was shoved aside. In the hideaway, I could see three ponies: Trish, Nic, and Emmy. Emmy’s horn was flickering and there was a dead flashlight in the center of the room. Doc was nowhere to be seen. Seeing sunlight behind us, the others followed us to the mouth of the cave. We sat overlooking the crater.The others looked around, surveying what damage was visible.

“So where’s Doc?” Adam asked.

“We don’t know.” Emmy said. “He kind of went a little stir crazy after you left. Started talking about his daughter and how she needed him. During the lull, he shoved the door open despite our best efforts to stop him. I’m not sure where he went though.”

“The Name Cave.” Adam said. “That’s the only place I can think of that had evidence of his daughter. Her name was carved there from one of the old groups. I’m going down. Parrothead, do you think you can get everypony else back on solid ground?” I nodded. “Fill them in on what we found, wouldja?. I’ll come back after I’ve checked for Doc.” Before I could say anything he had glided down from the rickety platform.

“Yes, tell us everything. After all, you had five nights with Adam all to yourself” Trish said in a voice that was almost a purr. I rolled my eyes. I carried her down first, fear of heights be damned, just so I wouldn’t have to listen to the teasing. Not long after all three of them were safely on the ground, Adam came out of the Name Cave. He was shaking so hard I could see his feathers moving. I took a few glide-assisted bounds over to him, followed by three galloping ponies.

“What’s wrong?” “What happened?” “Are you okay?” “Did you find Doc?” The questions tumbled over each other as we approached. Adam nodded and crumpled to the ground, sobbing. I pulled him into a hug with my wings around him while Emmy led the others into the cave. I could see her horn flickering. I didn’t say anything, just let Adam cry into my feathers. A few minutes later, Trish came out. Her ears were drooping.

“What is it?” I asked, feeling a hole in the pit of my stomach.

“Doc… is gone. We found where he had been and there must have been a cave-in. Nic and Emmy are trying to dig him out now.” Trish trembled as she told me the news.

“Oh.” I said. “Goddamnit all. He was a good guy.”

Trish nodded. “There’s more.” She said. “I looked at the wall across from him. He’d carved not only the names of that Slickwing’s comrades from the records, but…” She took a deep breath. “He carved our names too. And our hometowns. He wanted… he wanted us to be remembered just like all the others who Returned here were. But he didn’t… he didn’t carve his own name. Just ours. ” Trish bit her lip. “It’s like… he knew.”

I opened my wings wider and drew her into the hug. Adam made room and I held them both close as the tears streamed down my face. I watched as Emmy and Nic emerged from the Name Cave, carrying Doc’s body. They saw us and gave a grim nod. Emmy looked exhausted from holding the light for the group ever since the last flashlight had gone, but she still had enough in her to help Nic dig a grave for our mentor.

When our embrace finally broke, I looked around at what we had. Judging by what the storm had done, the only things we had left were the precious objects and what little food we had carried to our shelter at Diamond Head. And ourselves. Our herd. Our family. “It’s time to go.” I said. “We should leave this place to the dead and rejoin the living.”

“Let me do something first.” Adam said quietly. I nodded. He vanished into the cave and came out with Doc’s field knife. Above the cave entrance, he carved “Ohana means family. Family means no one is left behind, or forgotten.” Afterwards he stuck the knife blade-first into the sand, its hilt within reach of anyone who came after. “Doc’s name is with ours now too.” He said.

With that,and a few words and tears shed over Doc’s grave, we left. Adam flew ahead to tell Captain Bluegill that we were going back to Hawai’i with him. I flew up to the shelter and retrieved our treasures: the seeds Emmy had saved from the fruits she had scavenged, the fishing nets and traps that Nic had helped me and Doc make, Trish’s sonic screwdriver, my Jimmy Buffett album, and the USS Arizona brass trombone that Adam had taken before we left. We left Doc’s stash of gemstones where it was. It felt wrong to take it with us. I scattered a few of the smaller trinkets over the sand of the grave. Maybe some future archaeologist would find them and Doc. The idea would have made our archaeology professor smile. I led our pony friends in silence to where the captain had moored the North Star. He raised an eyebrow at our approach, but said nothing.

As we set sail back to Hawai’i, I sat on the stern next to Adam. We watched the facade of Diamond Head recede in the distance. I sang softly into the breeze, my voice soon joined by the others’: “Aloha ‘oe, aloha ‘oe, Aloha ʻoe, E ke onaona noho i ka lipo. One fond embrace, A hoʻi aʻe au. Until we meet again.” I let the wind carry the song away as we left for our new home.

Comments

[Merchant Mariner]

Almost thought this fic was gonna end up in the graveyard for a while, glad to see I was wrong.

I wonder which direction the plot will take now that the McGuffin jig is done... Will they ever go back to the mainland?

[Dances With Unicorns]

That was a well-written chapter. I was moved by Doc’s death that I didn’t see coming, and hope Doc’s spirit is reunited with the spirit of his daughter.

[Backlash91]

I would love to see a sequel. This was beautifully written. I enjoyed all of it.