Expedition to the Cloudbreak Islands

by Starglider

Picnic

Dawn was still unfolding as Reef Skimmer made his way into the mess; indeed, with the limited sleep over the last few days he might have missed the engagement had Winter Hope not done the courtesy of waking him. The grey hippogriff once again had his ornate wing blades strapped on; he still hadn't corrected Set Sail's dubious assumption that they would enhance his ability to defend against any hostile natives that might appear.

In the mess he found a clawful of ponies and one donkey taking a breakfast of toast and oats, but no kirin. Determined to carry out Summer's suggestion, with a twist of his own devising, he proceeded up the next ramp into the machinery spaces.

Reef made his way through the metal doorway, to be greeted by the ever-present hum of turbines and hiss of steam through pipes, quiet now as the engine idles. In the corner the old backup generator was still knocking away, keeping the lights on. Only a few of the crewponies were present: two were sprawled out in front of the main control panel, and one up on a maintenance platforms, all looking sleepy and/or bored. Seeing no sign of his quarry, the griff approached the largest and most active group.

Three ponies were gathered around some sort of contraption, looking like a tower of metal scaffolding with a cage of sorts inside it, festooned with assorted wheels, gears and cables. The device was clearly a work in progress as they were adjusting screws, tightening bolts and fiddling with levers. One looked familiar: the creamy pink unicorn mare with a brown mane and tail, Reef Skimmer had met her on his previous visit. All three looked up as he approached but she was the one who spoke, taking a step forward before saying “Can we help you?”

"Good morning, ponies." Reef said, in what he hoped was a pleasant tone. Although he recognised the pink one, as usual it was hard to place the names; the stallion he'd met on the first day, Steer Shift, stood out in his memory but he wasn't present, and the others were a bit of a blur.

"I trust things are going well back here? You do seem to have repairs well underway. I imagine it must feel like you're being asked to work miracles, given the sudden absence of spare parts!" He made eye contact with the other two as he spoke, before his gaze settled on the lead mare; he couldn't help checking on the crew's physical condition, the engineer ponies were particularly bad about not getting proper treatment for their scrapes and burns.

“Yeh, not a lot more we can do without parts, but it's runnin'" the unicorn said, glancing over at the engine.

The green earth stallion up on the scaffold placed a hoof on the contraption, saying “We were just working on a little elevator!” He moved one of the wheely things, but his demonstration didn’t make much sense at least from a laygriff’s perspective. Reef did notice a couple of bandages on his foreleg that he hadn't administered, spotted with oil and grease; the mare in front seemed unharmed, though the dark grey mare hiding shyly behind the ‘elevator’ looked a little scuffed up. Nothing seriously concerning, he thought; usually he'd insist on changing the dressing but they were getting low on supplies.

“So you just came down here to say hello, doctor?” the creamy-pink mare at the front asked, warily. She noticed the big griff was wearing ornate blades on his wings, gleaming softly in the warm glow of the electric lamps. Was those normal accessories for him or was something amiss?

"Oh, It's always a pleasure to get to know the crew," Reef began jovially, "not to mention check there isn't anything in need of treatment that the patient was too busy to report." he finished in a more serious tine, craning his heck to try and get a better look at the mare in the back. "You look rather busy just now though." He stared at the unicorn, cocking his head. "I confess I am rather curious about that artefact we recovered, radio was it? Do you know if Nutmeg had a chance to take a look?"

“Oh, yeah!” she said enthusiastically, trotting straight past Reef, “Don’t worry we’re just passing the time. Gotta watch the engine. Lemme show you what I did with it!”

“What you... did with it?” Reef asked, raising a judicious eyebrow, but the mare was already progressing deeper into the engine room, so there was nothing to be done but follow.

She led him to a long metal table, near the chief engineer’s office. On it was what was left of the radio. The decaying wooden case had been delicately removed, and its internal components were laid out, strung together by wires. Glass tubes, metal coils, gears for some reason... Reef couldn't make much sense of it.

"Check it out!" the brown-tailed mare said eagerly, gesturing at an array of little light bulbs, lighting up in a particular sequence, "I made it run as a clock!" Between that, the jury rigged metal detector next to it, the mysterious box with a single switch on it marked 'Completely Useless Machine' and the completely functional toaster made from scrap iron, it looks like somepony may have too much time on their hooves.

Reef frowned. "Well, that's... ingenious... but can it tell us anything about the natives? For example, do they prefer hard rock, or smooth jazz? A matter of some importance, you understand, as one has something of a bet going with Summer Scribe." Reef's beak was gaping half-open as he glanced at the cream pony.

The mare looked at him with clueless concern, saying, “Oh, no. The chief got the radio working right away, but it doesn’t look like anypony’s broadcasting. All we could get was static. It’s got some super cool components though. See these vacuum tubes are nothing like the ones we use in Equestria, and this tuner, boy howdy that was tricky to figure out. The diodes are twice the...” her attempts to describe the radio quickly lapsed into technical jargon, and she didn’t seem to notice.

"Mmm, very good, well perhaps if you could write that up, I'm sure the senior unicorn would love to see your notes." The hippogriff's idle claw was fiddling with the toaster. "Senior researcher even." he corrected himself. 'Useless machine'? A talon was drawn inexorably to the lone, enticing switch...

The mare quieted down as his talon approached, but she did not object. Tension mounted as they both watched with baited breath. Reef carefully, delicately flipped the switch. Machinery whirred within the box, and a compartment opened on it, from which emerged a small metal rod to press against the switch. The rod flipped the switch back, then receded back into the compartment, which closed.

"Heh. Not bad, not bad at all." Reef chuckled. "So, is the Chief Engineer around, or does she tend to sleep late? Came through the mess on the way here, didn't catch her eating breakfast though."

“Didn’t you know we’re taking shifts?” the mare replied, tilting her head at him, “We can’t all be up watching the engine all the time. She’s probably in her cabin.”

The hippogriff frowned again, annoyance creeping into his voice: "Wasn't clear on the specifics, no. There was, erm, a matter I need to discuss. Would she be sleeping at present, do you think?"

The mare shrugged "Her shift's in a few hours," she said, "So she's probably up by now. Might as well go check."

Reef Skimmer gave a little bow, dipping his head and bending his forelegs for a moment. "One is in your debt, miss... I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name?"

Holding up a hoof with a little blush at his gesture, she said, “Sprocket, junior engineer. I-it wasn’t no big deal. Thanks for stopping by!”

Curious that her cutie mark was a golden bird, Reef thought, since both her name and profession suggested something more technical. Perhaps she had a passion for ornithology, or just kept avian pets? Something to ask later, perhaps.

---

After getting a few more directions, Reef Skimmer was back on the main deck, in a corridor lined with doors to the VIP cabins. On the Friendship they would have been full of expedition bigwigs, but on the less populous Harmony the senior crew had the luxury of individual rooms. Walking along the wooden decking with a soft click-clop of talons and hooves, he reached the door to Nutmeg’s cabin, which was open just a crack.

The room was barely big enough for a storm beast to lie down in, but relatively generous for a pony, or kirin. There was no window, and when Reef pulled open the door slightly, calling softly, “Nutmeg? Are you asl—” it was easy to tell that she was still sleeping. There was no sign of a bed: her brown-furred and golden-scaled body lay on a small mess of blankets and pillows on the floor, curled in a little ball as she quietly slept the morning away.

As the light from the hallway fell upon her sleeping form, Nutmeg’s ear twitched amid her thick red ruff, before sleep released its grip. Stretching her gold tipped forehooves forward with a big toothy yawn, she settled to her haunches, blinking her soft green eyes sleepily. Then she looked to the open door, with Reef standing wreathed in the hall’s light. Then she startled up, saying wide-eyed, “Oh! Uh-uh, sorry I was just uh... h-hey there, Reef!”

The hippogriff took a step back into the corridor, his wings fluffing up before resettling. "Nutmeg! Oh, erm, terribly sorry, didn't intend to wake you there. Was just checking in, you know, since I had a few moments..." He looked away. "Perhaps I should go. We can always catch up later."

At that Nutmeg quickly relaxed, lifting a forehoof where she sits and smiling, saying, “Nah, nah, it’s fine. I was getting ready to wake up anyway.” Standing and stretching out her hind legs one by one, she headed out of the room with a saunter that belies her nervous tenseness. Looking up to meet the eyes of the much taller creature with some trepidation, Nutmeg asks, “I-is this about the radio?”

Reef waited for her to exit, then followed along beside. "It does appear the device provided some amusement, Rocket... Sprocket! Yes Sprocket, seemed quite entranced, showed me her new clock even. Although poor consolation for the lack of smooth jazz, I have to say." He looked at Nutmeg. "You know, I wasn't sure what to make of your reaction, when I dropped the thing off."

“Yeah, I’m really sorry about that,” Nutmeg said, ducking her head shamefully as they headed for the ramp to the upper deck, “You were totally right. There is no way that could’ve been made in Equestria. And I couldn’t even believe it. Thought you were joking with me.”

"Yes, well, I have been known to indulge in the occasional prank. Would like to think none of them were cruel... discounting my days at the naval academy, of course." As they emerged onto the open deck, Reef gave Nutmeg a meaningful look that was completely lost on the kirin. "In any case, I regret I did rather lose my composure there."

“Do you realise what this means?” the kirin said in a tone of wonder, making a beeline across the deck for the engine room, “Not only are there creatures here, but they have technology! Well at least a little technology. Do you think there are any cities here? I thought it was all just a bunch of mud huts and broken pottery!”

Reef took a running step and leapt into the air, wings snapping out for a powerful flap, soaring over Nutmeg's head before landing heavily on the deck in front of her, a loud clack-thump of claws followed by hooves. He whirled around, wings still spread wide, ducking his forequarters to bring his beak down level with Nutmeg's muzzle. His manner was playful but the speed and force of it was a little intimidating, and it drew a couple of stares from the few crew ponies who were up on deck early.

"Would you care for breakfast first? A picnic, that is to say? Summ.. Somepony pointed out that you might appreciate a spell off the ship." The big griff gestured with a spread wing at the wooden cart, which was parked on the side of the deck, harness ready and a wicker basket stowed in the back. "No need to worry, applied for and received full permission from Set Sail, as long as I keep these on at least!" Reef waggled his wings, bringing the gleaming weapons strapped there to Nutmeg's attention, while his beak gaped open in another avian grin.

Falling to her haunches at that startling display, Nutmeg looked back at him owlishly a moment, before declaring with growing excitement, “That’s... a... great idea!” She leapt back to her hooves, darting over to the cart, “I've had to eat in the engine room ever since I almost set fire to the mess hall. This is great! This...”

Reared up on the cart, she paused and looked back at him with a worried expression, saying, “Why are you...? I mean, I know I... apologised, finally.” She clambered back down, facing him and asking, “Do you throw a picnic for everyone who apologises to you? I mean, it’s cool if you do, but are you gonna fly me somewhere in this thing? I just don’t know what I did to... deserve it?”

Reef drew in his wings and trotted over, returning to a more serious expression. "My dear, as a fellow officer and vital member of the crew, I am compelled to ensure that your wellbeing is promoted and maintained. Now I can't say I'm an expert on equine behaviour, but it does seem to me that something is troubling you, and a change of scenery might be in order." He turned away, preventing Nutmeg from seeing him blush as he starts strapping the harness around his barrel.

“Oh, I... suppose, yeah,” Nutmeg said, ears drooping at his explanation, “Sure, whatever you say, doc. I sort of kind of miss... talking with you though, and it’s okay, but I am happy in the... engine room, but...” Clambering back into the cart, she declared, “A change of scenery would be... healthy yeah. But I really am sorry I stuffed my hoof in my mouth over that radio. So where do you think we should go?”

Harness buckled up, the griff looked over his shoulder to check that the kirin mare was properly seated in the cart. "Not sure if you've travelled in these before, but... you might like to stay near the centre of gravity there, I hear it helps. Now, I had to clear our destination with Set Sail, promised we wouldn't go anywhere else, she's so protective you know and feels... well, yes anyway I think you'll find it suitable." Reef Skimmer spread his wings again, the feathers shading from light grey at the root to almost white at the tips, shining in the bright morning light. "Here we go then, all ready back there?"

“It's my first time. Is it different from the ship?” Nutmeg Inferno asked worriedly: she was sitting in the exact centre of the conveyance, right up against the picnic backet, tail curled around her butt, “I mean not that I’ve y’know, been out on the ship much and...” her voice trailed off, then she shook her head, saying, “Y’know what? Go ahead. Let’s just go.”

"Righty-o then, hang on." Reef said, tensing up. With a brief canter along the deck and a few downstrokes, the griff rose into the air and flew out over the bow, cart following behind. A couple of ponies in the rigging waved at the pair as they departed. Once clear of the balloon, Reef banked left in a gentle descending turn: reasoning that Nutmeg might appreciate a chance to assess the damage, he made a slow loop around the far side of the ship. Once they passed the propellors, his wings pumped harder as they climbed up above the edge of the island, flying across the sheep-filled meadow.

Several calm, restrained seconds passed, then Nutmeg was up on the edge of the cart, looking from one sight to another before saying, "Woah, those sheep are so small! You can see the river from up here!" She continued to state the obvious for quite a while, as Reef headed for his destination, until when they were sailing over the forest canopy like a whispering green sea, the lady kirin just looking quietly around.

The hippogriff continued to climb slowly as the terrain rose, flapping almost lazily across the sky. The cart was rather lighter with one kirin instead of two ponies, but they were in no rush, and the weight of the wing blades was a little awkward anyway. Their destination was the highest point on the island, not worthy of the term mountain, but certainly a large outcropping of rock rising up above the trees. As they closed the distance the sparkle of crystal-clear water came into view, filling a sizeable depression within the top of the formation. Some unseen source of water had filled this lake, which in turn fed the rivers and streams snaking out across the island.

Reef's wings slowed and stilled as they entered a long glide, circling the lake as he looked for the best landing spot. The side nearest the ship, above the abandoned quarry, was rather barren, but the far side had shrubs and a few small trees poking up around a beach of mossy pebbles. The hippogriff came down low over the water, almost meeting his reflection before pulling up into a landing flare and coming to rest on the beach. The cart's wheels clattered over the pebbles for a few seconds before it too came to a stop. "And here we are then, nice little place for a spot of breakfast, wouldn't you say?" Reef said, as he began removing the harness.

“B-breakfast, yeah,” Nutmeg said, somewhat dazed by the dramatic location. “This place is... are we on a hill? You can almost see above the trees even from the ground here. Wow, I didn’t even know there was a whole lake here.” Hopping out of the cart, she took a few steps towards the lake, then turned back, and asked curiously, “You... need any help with that?” to the unbuckling hippogriff.

"Quite all right, thank you." Reef said, detaching himself from the cart and turning to stare intently at Nutmeg. "Looks much nicer than the lower one doesn't it... oh did you see the map? Set Sail managed to pry it away from Grenelda, made by... err... Melonjuice I think."

“Oh, okay,” she replied, watching the unbuckling process curiously, eventually remarking, “Those... claw things on your forelegs are pretty handy.” As he comes to meet her eyes, and asks her about the map, Nutmeg blushes and looks aside, saying, “I didn’t see the point. I’m not even supposed to be here.”

Reef frowned. "No reason not to stay informed, I'm sure you can borrow it if you like." In a more cheerful tone he continued "Now... breakfast, how does the notion of fresh fish tickle you?"

Nutmeg sighs, her ears flattening down, not particularly encouraged even about breakfast, until... she snaps up straight, staring at Reef in open mouthed disbelief: “Did you say fresh fish?“

The hippogriff winked at her: "Don't hold me to it, but I did see a few fish down there on the way in, so... one will see what one can find. Just need to stow these for a moment..." He fiddled with some more buckles and removed each wing blade, placing them carefully in the back of the cart. His claw re-emerged holding the wicker basket. "Here you are: loaf of bread, dried tomatoes, two jugs of cider..." Reef waited for a moment to watch the sudden look of horror on Nutmeg's face before continuing "Oh dear, strike that, looks like I accidently brought ale instead." He placed the basket on the pebbles and reopened his wings. "Now, you stay here for a moment..."

The bird-horse flapped into the air again, downdraft from the close take-off ruffling Nutmeg's mane and tail, and flew a short way out over the lake. Suddenly, ribbons of bright golden light formed out of nowhere, wrapping around the hippogriff's body and reshaping it. The newly transformed seapony had silver scales, bright purple fins on his head and tail, and giant grey dorsal fins where his wings had been. As if it was the most normal thing in the world, he dropped into the water with an enormous splash, and started zooming around under the surface.

Nutmeg did stand motionless on the shore for a bit, still staring in shock at her companion’s strange transformation. As he landed in the deep lake and vanishes beneath the water, she ran up to the shore to look down into it, though it was hard to see much more than flashes of scale and movement, even beneath the now-rippling surface. Lifting her head to look off distantly, Nutmeg declared to herself, “That was more impressive than I thought it would be.”

She looked back toward the picnic basket, adding, “I don’t think he meant fresh fish in there.” before her gaze went to the lake, “He meant in there.” Then she traipsed over to the picnic basket, saying fondly, “Oh, I hope he did manage to find ale.” Her horn markings lit up, as she started pulling things out of the basket.

The first thing she removed was the red and white checkered picnic blanket that was covering the food. She looked at it thoughtfully, before folding it and putting it back into the empty basket, while she tried to find a good place on the ground to set down the bread and cheese, and a small armful of curious oblong fruits, somehow fresh despite all their travels. “Did he harvest these here?” she remarked, squinting at the fruits hovering before her nose, limned in her green magic.

Reef Skimmer swam happily through the lake, twisting and turning, the water pleasantly cool on his scales. While it didn't quite have the appeal of soaring free in the skies, it was good exercise and always made him nostalgic for a childhood spent under the ocean, searching for new kinds of marine life to study. Unlike the barren shores, the bottom of the lake was carpeted in aquatic plants, on which many varieties of fish were nibbling.

Valiantly resisting the urge to spend the next few hours studying them (although he promised himself he'd come back later), the seapony zeroed in on some of the larger specimens: fat, juicy-looking red fish. They were wholly unprepared for a giant aquatic predator to suddenly appear in their lake and a quick lunge sufficed to catch one in his mouth. Happy not to disappoint the kirin, he swam up to the shallows, broke the surface and with a flick of his head tossed the fish onto the shore. It landed with a splat a few metres from where Nutmeg was unpacking the basket.

Delighted, Nutmeg leapt over to the fish, not just in excitement, but to put an end to the flopping around by quickly and neatly killing them. Worrying open a gash in the side, she left them bleeding out on the rocky shore, then looked out over the lake. As soon as Reef resurfaced again she called out, “Okay! This is plenty!” He probably already knew that, the thought, but her smile is genuine and her boisterous attitude is the polar opposite of malice.

The seapony nodded, then disappeared below the surface again, following the bottom of the lake out into deeper water before angling up towards the surface with powerful strokes of his tail fin. About ten seconds later he breeched the surface with another huge splash, his whole body shooting into the air before the ribbons of light returned and transformed him back into his familiar quadrupedal-bird-shape.

Reef flapped over and landed back on the beach, looking with concern at the amulet around his neck. The organic looking purple lump, which Nutmeg had assumed was ornamental, was glowing with blue light and humming like a struck tuning fork. However over the next several seconds the light faded from dazzling to bright then to a slight glow, slowly dying away to nothing as the humm also got quieter, slipping below the threshold of audibility.

“That was so cool!” Nutmeg said eagerly, cantering up to the emergent hippogriff, “You just sploosh, and bam, and fish just flying out of there! They said you turned from some kind of sea creatures, but I didn’t think about how you could actually go get the fish. You guys are great in every environment!”

A beat, then she added, “Well, except for environments that are on fire. Oh, speaking of fire, this’s a great place to build one! C’mon let’s go find some sticks!” Then she bounded off into the wilderness, leaving Reef standing there without a word in edgewise.

Glad that the kirin seemed to be happy, the hippogriff trotted along amiably behind her, saying nothing but keeping an eye out for trouble. It seemed unlikely the chompy beasts would pop up in such a rocky area - the topsoil here existed only in scattered, shallow patches - but this was still unexplored wilderness.

Author's Note:

This story is a collaboration between myself, Ferret, Patashu, Spearmint and Steelclaw, based on an online RP.

This chapter is based on a 1:1 between myself and Ferret, mainly to explore Nutmeg's backstory a bit more, though we may have gotten a bit carried away with the build up: the revealing chat got pushed into the next session (and chapter). Illustration by ValyceNegative: I didn't tell Ferret about this one in advance, so it was a pleasant surprise when we got to that point in the session.