Expedition to the Cloudbreak Islands

by Starglider

Return

After leaving the book in Reef Skimmer's care, Azure Feather retreated to her quarters for some quiet contemplation, giving herself a little time to take stock of the situation. With every creature wanting a word, either sympathetic or encouraging, this was her first change to just reflect. Her unicorn magic was gone. Sure her new wings held their own magic, but however interesting and powerful it was, it couldn't replace what she'd lost.

Pacing a lap around her small quarters, Azure realised she had to move forward: stop dwelling on what she'd lost, learn to apply what she'd gained. She was sure it would be no walk in the park. The pegasus's wings shimmered as she channelled a speck of magic through them. With a firm nod she was soon heading outside, intent to practicing with her new form. She'd studied every book she could get her hooves on, but how useful would that be, now the impossible had happened and she was sporting actual Pegasus wings?

Azure Feather nodded to passing deck crew as she headed for the gangplank, making her way through the camp the ponies had thrown together next to the airship. There was Blaze Trails, still limping as she laid fresh kindling in the fire pit, and over there was Sprocket, fiddling with one of the rotors on the captured drow copter. Smiling at her companion's industriousness despite the dire circumstances they were all facing, Azure headed on into the meadow, soon reaching the stream with its weathered stone bridge.

That should be enough distance to avoid harming anypony should things go wrong, she thought; as long as she didn't unleash one of those maximum-power blasts directly at the ship. Spreading her wings, Azure concentrated on doing... something. Anything really. She focused her will, and... nothing happened. The total absence of feeling where her horn used to be gnawed at her; how could she even tell what was happening, with her ability to sense magic gone?

If there was one thing that truly confirmed her old magic was gone, there it was. Thank goodness no creature was there to see her. The ex-Unicorn slumped, shaking her head. The trials of the wind temple had made it clear that her wings held new magic, but outside of its walls, with no spirits to help... tapping into it was non-trivial. Azure sighed; losing telekinesis meant changing the habits of a lifetime, but at least... at least she knew how to fly. Right? ...right? Doubt was a growing sapling in her mind; not being able to write (due to being fifteen years out of practice at mouthwriting) was bad enough, but what if she couldn't even get airborne? She'd be more or less useless.

Azure paced angrily through the grass, trying to figure out a path through the puzzle. As she let her gaze wander, lost in thought, a flicker of movement caught her eye: an orange speck that stood out against the blue sky. It steadily grew larger, resolving into a winged shape that dipped into a glide, heading straight for her. Her visitor was Sunburn, the bird-like native dragon; he flared into a landing a short way from the pegasus, looking at her curiously. "Taking a walk?"

Of all the creatures that could have come to see her, here was the one she least expected - but certainly not an unwelcome sight. "...A walk, yeah, you could say that. Just... trying to get my head straight," Azure admitted. "Not easy when you pretty much have to rethink every aspect of your life." she lamented, before adding a quick "I'm glad to see you, though."

Sunburn cocked his head, giving the pony one of those inscrutable avian stares that all griffs seemed to favour. "You mean being crowned 'champion of air'? I guess it sounds impressive, but it's not all that. Maybe back in the day, but now... just some spirits putting on airs." He winked. "Not that just any creature could do it. You had the power before the temple, right? Just feeling it a lot stronger now, I'd think."

Azure managed a faint nod. "Absolutely, Sunburn... I can feel a powerful energy in my new wings, and if I can repeat even half of what I did in the last trial... that would be awesome in combat. But please understand... Equestrian unicorns use our magic, our telekinesis for... pretty much all of our every-day tasks. Field-writing, manipulating spoons, turning pages, even opening doors when your hooves are busy. All that is gone. My whole life changed in a matter of seconds, Sunburn. It's going to take a while to get past that."

"Huh." Sunburn was silent for a moment. "I don't know much about unicorn magic. No one has seen your people for... a very long time. You can all use levitation? Huh. Whirlwind never had that ability. Can you shoot prismatic beams from your horns?"

"Not so much levitation as it is telekinesis, Sunburn. Think holding and wielding objects with your magic. Some guards use it for their weapons, too. As for prismatic beams, well... the short answer is if they're really good at magic, they might. I know one pony who's particularly good at them, though she ascended from unicorn to alicorn form."

The Skylander shot her a quizzical look, so she elaborated: "Alicorns... combining all the best aspects of unicorns and pegasi, and magnifying both exponentially. She's also the current leader of Equestria, as well as the commander of the military force I belong to." A long explanation, and probably not very meaningful to Sunburn, but...

The feathery dragon turned away and took a few paces through the meadow. "Interesting... Some abilities can come from different elements: different style, same effect. Telekinesis, that's pretty much Magic-exclusive. So... makes sense you'd lose it, when you aligned fully to Air." He stopped pacing and gave her a sympathetic look. "Thought you were just looking for griffons, going to that temple. Didn't realise you were gonna take the trials." He let out a long breath. "Should've warned you. My bad."

"Magic..." Azure repeated, as she pushed forward, as Sunburn explained exactly what happened to her. "...Now it makes sense. I'm a full-fledged Air elemental now, whatever I had before be damned." She nodded. "Only a Magic-elemental has access to telekinesis?" She then asked, tilting her head. There was a sense of curiosity in her words. She wasn't too well-versed in the Skylands' elements.

"Pretty much." Sunburn said, shrugging. "I guess mind magic can do it, or whatever it was that Kaos used to throw around, but that can simulate any element." His beak opened a crack in a hint of a smile. "That stuff's the purview of ancients, demigods and beings from... outside. Regular mortal creatures, not so much." He frowned. "So losing your horn was just a side effect. Whirly was born connected to air, so she never developed any incompatible abilities."

"It's like the temple taught me, my wings are how I do magic now, instead of channelling through my horn... quite the switch-up," Azure admitted with a chuckle. "Still, maybe if I keep trying, I'll learn to do more. Maybe what I did in the temple wasn't the whole of it." She wandered a little deeper into the meadow. "I'm definitely not looking into Mind magic though, that sounds... a bit too alien, to be honest."

Sunburn followed along, closing the gap between himself and the pegasus. "The connection between a Skylander... or any aligned creature... and their Element is... fundamental. Goes deep into their psyche, into each cell in their body." he explained. "Focusing it to do some damage, that's where things vary. Different anatomy means different effects, different techniques. Do you understand?"

Azure stared at the dragon, tapping a hoof on the ground as she absorbing his explanation. "So what Whirlwind does is pretty much unique to her. Same goes for me and my own powers... I'm gonna have to get creative... am I getting it right?" Her mind drifted, visualising the pegasus she's seen the most in battle, her Lieutenant...

"Yeah... look, elementals aren't built on assembly lines. Each has their own story," Sunburn said, "but a wing's a wing. A horn's a horn. Elements define what you can do. The device defines how you do it. Here, watch..." He took a few steps away from Azure. "So most dragons can charge their breath with elemental energy. Usually fire or ice." Sunburn raised his beak to the sky and let out a long gout of flame. Azure felt a wave of heat on her face; he held the bright roaring jet for a few seconds before letting it die.

"Young dragons learn the same lessons, whatever their element." He cocked his head, staring into space for a second. "The basics at least. Kinda like... vomiting. Actually, seems like that happened a lot in the first week of hatchling training." He shook his head dismissively. "Never mind. So... what most dragons can't do, is this." Azure watched closely as Sunburn pulled his wing in tight, then began to spread them... and vanished in a flash of fire. Almost instantaneously he reappeared: a burst of flame concealing the moment of arrival, but it was clear he continued his wing gesture through the teleport, finishing with them spread wide.

"I can't teleport with my beak, or blow fire from my wings. Whirlwind can't shoot lasers from her feathers or breathe out clouds." he explained. "Abilities come from elements plus anatomy." The dragon looked her in the eye. "Horns... never had one of those, but Whirly always said it took concentration. Visualisation. Wings... wings take motion. Quick, smooth and precise, if you can. My teleporting, Whirly's lightning clouds, even Flashy's crystals... same principle." Sunburn tilted his head again, wondering if the pony could apply the advice.

Watching a Skylander in battle was already something pretty special. Watching a fire-elemental teleport?! That stunned Azure for a moment; she blinked several times, as if trying to compute what had happened. She listened as Sunburn explained how elemental abilities functioned, then slowly nodded, as things started to make sense. Not only would her casting channel point be affected, her method of casting would be too. "So instead of a mental focus... for casting from a horn, I mean... now I'll need specific wing movements instead?" she asked, looking to her new appendages. "Sounds like a big jump in power came with a lot more complexity. Could have sworn it felt easier in the temple."

"Yeah." Sunburn stepped out of the circle of burnt, smouldering grass where he'd arrived. "You'll get it. Takes practice, but wing powers rock. Don't need much concentration, don't obscure your vision, potential for fine control. Main drawback is nets, grappling, tight spaces: all bad news." He clicked his beak, perhaps thinking back to times he'd run into these problems. "Keep your distance, if you can." He caught Azure's eye again; "That's all I can tell you. Better find yourself an air elemental - a real one, not some stuck-up spirits," he snorted, "if you need more help."

Azure nodded softly: everything Sunburn had said was making a lot of sense to her. Clearly anything that restricted your wings movements was bad news; very bad news for this new form. Things the Lieutenant might have told her, but she wasn't a pegasus back then. "There's plenty of other pegasi back on the Harmony, many of them weather-workers. Not elementals as you would understand it though - maybe I need to talk with the resident mistress of Wind. That would be Whirlwind I'd think - but you Skylanders are a busy lot. I won't push for a training session."

Sunburn stopped pacing, standing and staring into the sky for a moment, before looking sideways at Azure. "Yeah. Look, she's really... preoccupied, these days. Focused on her mission. She still likes to soak up attention from fans, but taking time out to actually train someone..." He sighed. "It's funny, you're kinda like her, you know? Air aligned, obviously but... thoughtful. Goal-oriented. Pretty blue feathers." He smiled.

"It's just... Whirly used to be a lot of fun, back in the day." The dragon looked distant again. "Hell, so was I, I suppose. Somewhere along the line we lost that. Lost a lot of things, these last two centuries." He snorted, tiny flames escaping the holes at the top of his beak. "Hey. Didn't wanna bore you with a sob story. Just... don't forget to laugh once in a while, ya know? Seems like you've got good friends; keep 'em close."

Azure took a step back as she realised she'd hit a sensitive subject, only to draw close again as the dragon spoke of friends. "Friends... I used to have good friends. Tried to keep them close, but... it didn't work out. That's why I became a soldier in the first place, instead of a bookworm. As for new friends, well..." The pegasus paused, her pink-rimmed eyes taking on a distant look for a few seconds, before she shook her head clear. "Sorry... but yeah. Wanted to mention... you really won't have to look far for friendship when it comes to us ponies sometimes, you know? It's... kinda part of our culture."

"Yeah, I got that from watching you guys, the last few days." Sunburn agreed. "Reminds me of the Skylanders, back in the day. We had a good thing going, 'til the sky shattered around us." A sad smile. "Enjoy it while you can, and good luck, Azure Feather. I'll leave you to your practice." He unfolded his wings, ready to depart.

"Sunburn... there's always time for new friends. That's why I've learned here, since I joined the Harmony's crew." The mare gave a little bow before looking to the fire elemental. "Even when things look bleak. Thanks for the talk, Sunburn. I'll be out here... perhaps another hour, if anypony asks." She nodded, spreading her own wings slowly. "See you in a little while."

A curt nod in return and the dragon was taking off, flapping up into the sky to resume his patrol, circling high over Blissful Pastures.

Azure Feather watched him fly off, muttering under her breath: "...Friendship isn't just for ponies, either, Sunburn..." She soon turned away and began to experiment wing movements, pushing small amounts of energy through her feathers and noting the effects... it was clear mastery would take a lot of trial and error.

---

It was late afternoon when the crimson-and-gold aircraft returned, approaching with incredible speed before slowing and drifting down to the meadow, settling opposite the Second Chance in a dying roar of jets. A commotion went up from the ponies on deck or working around the balloon; initially alarmed, the crew were soon reassured as the top of the craft slid back. There were the two engineers, Nutmeg Inferno and Gearshift, nestled in the crew cabin and surrounded by a bounty of spare parts. Once again the blue-white, dragon-alicorn hybrid was piloting, but there was no sign of the friendly purple dragon this time; to be fair, there was no room for him either, with the sheer quantity of supplies they'd brough back.

Commotion was one thing, but the whine of those super-advanced engines - that was entirely another. Before the new ship had even landed, Azure Feather was out of her quarters and heading for the upper deck. Hopefully it would just be their two engineers returning. With the doctor improving and the first round of training complete, she was keen for another mission, but first... it would be good to have the crew all together again. She emerged onto the deck and sure enough, the Skylanders' craft was right there; Azure bowed her head as the pilot was revealed.

"We bring gifts!" came a certain kirin's shout, from somewhere amid the piles of gadgets and geegaws.

"More importantly, you're back safely!" Azure called back, recognising the voice: the chief engineer herself. "In good health, by the sounds of things?" Hopefully in good spirits too, she thought.

Summer Scribe galloped out onto the deck; she'd put down her book and headed up as soon as the shuttle had landed. Keen to welcome her crewmates back, she shouted "Hey! Nutmeg! How'd your business with Spyro's Core of Light go?"

"It went great! Better than great, we fixed it! Its light is spreading to all the magic of the Skylands!" Nutmeg declared loudly, "Hey um, could someone help dig us out of this stuff? It kind of shifted during the flight and it's really heavy okay?!"

Summer giggled, trotting down the gangplank and over to the shuttle. "Sounds cool!" She began carefully telekinesising stuff off of Nutmeg and Gearshift.

The sound of large wings beating, then claws hitting the deck as Sunburn flew down from the crow's nest to land next to Azure. "Mission complete," he said, "and that's my ride. Supposed to head straight back." The dracophoenix gave the pegasus a meaningful look, cocking his head. "You know... this was an interesting assignment. Hope we can work together again someday, Azure Feather."

Azure regarded the Skylander warmly, a slight smile on her face. "Don't I know the life, Sunburn... one mission down, it's back to base and you wait for the next one, huh..." A little sigh. "You're a heck of a fighter, Sunburn. Was a pleasure working with you, and I can just hope we're on the same squad again... once, you know, if, even, I can get used to this. Not the easiest thing." The blue pegasus bowed her head. "Safe travels, alright? You be well along with Whirlwind and Spyro."

Summer was already heading back with her first load of levitating machine parts. She saw Sunburn saying his goodbyes, watching with a bittersweet expression. "We're going to miss you and your protection, Sunburn. Keep doing your best out there!" There went her best opportunity to pick a Skylanders' brain on Cloudbreak Islands lore... everything had been so busy she'd hardly had a chance! Well, there'll be plenty of opportunity in the future if they stayed friends, but... "Do you happen to know if fixing the Core means anything for us? I'm not 100% clear on what the light does."

Sunburn gave the unicorn an odd look. "It kept out evil gods from other dimensions. Most of the time. Huh, so it's fixed, that's great. See you around, Summer Scribe." He spread his wings to take off.

Summer Scribe blinks, recoiling a bit. Was she supposed to know that? And what does 'most' of the time mean?! Oh boy. As if Drow weren't bad enough on their own, we better not have to solve any Evil God problems just to peacefully exist too...

"There are these crazy dimensional rifts that just open in the middle of space and monsters come out of them! But not anymore!" Nutmeg shouted over. The brown-furred, red-ruffed, golden-scaled kirin had emerged from the overloaded shuttle and was in the process of piling machine parts onto Gearshift's back, to be carried to the ship. The purple-and-orange earth pony stood stoically, staring at the Harmony as he waited for her to finish.

Before the feathered dragon could take flight, Azure Feather managed to speak up. "Oh! Sunburn... speaking of next mission and being on the same squad... there's still that pirate base full of bastard slaver drow. We're going to have to introduce ourselves to them, someday soon. Any chance you could lend a hoof? Or a claw, even." Was that a blush?

The Skylander paused before his leap, giving Azure another cryptic bird look. "You want my help, destroying a nest of drow?" he asked, apparently surprised by the request. Then he smirked: "Gotta admit, I always appreciate a chance to torch those twisted little buggers."

By this point Sprocket had made it out of the engine room and down the gangway, with Static Signal close behind. "Chief! You're back, and... oh Celestia what is that? Is it a... that can't be a turbo-encabulator can it? And look at this, it's a double, no triple-rotor interocitor..." She added her magic to the effort of unloading the shuttle, while Whirlwind watched from the pilot's seat with a bemused smile.

"Hey, you like to fight them, and we could sure as heck use someone with your level of firepower to pull it off. Besides... Wind and Fire together could make for some... interesting little combinations, if we're looking on the bigger scale of things..." It was clear the gears were turning in Azure Feather's head. "...I'm gonna have to talk with the Captain later. I'm getting ideas."

Summer Scribe looked between Azure and Sunburn. "That's the spirit, Azure!" She trots over to place a hoof on Azure's shoulder, smiling to her. "We've got plenty more to take care of... so I really want to see what you can do now! And if Sunburn can come along for the ride?" She grinned. "This is going to be awesome."

"Wind and Fire..." Sunburn sighed, looking over to Whirlwind, out in the meadow "...she used to love that." A long pause, then "Let me see if I can raise the boss on the comm. Air pirates are bad news for everyone, maybe he'll authorise it." With that he took off and glided down towards the shuttle.

The fiery Skylander landed in the cockpit and began a heated conversation with Whirlwind; the ponies on the deck of the airship couldn't make out what was being said, but it was clear there was some disagreement. The two of them fiddled with the controls and then stared at something in the ship for a few minutes, while the unloading of parts proceeded below them.

Then Sunburn launched into the air again, covering the distance back to the Harmony in a few powerful wingbeats. "Here's how it is... Spyro really needs me back right now. Got some things going on. I think he got the point though. Give me a week, I'll convince him to let me come back. Think you can leave a tempting target that long Azure?" he beak-gaped at the pegasus.

"I need that week anyway: I need to learn how to fight like a pegasus. I can't just be a rookie, I'd hold you back!" Azure exclaimed. "So a week suits me just fine. Going to be busy, though... the team here needs me, plus, I need to find time to practice, and Captain?" She turned to Set Sail, who'd finally emerged from the belly of the ship and was hurrying over to join them. "We need to talk about a little something I'd like to borrow from the ship's supplies... think we could benefit."

"Swell." Sunburn cocked his head again. "No promises, but... yeah, looking forward to burning that pirate base with you Azure. Hold the fort here, I'll bring Spyro around." With that he spread his wings to take-off again...

"Sunburn! Wait!" Set Sail called out, trotting hastily up to the phoenix dragon. The brown pegasus looked a lot better than she had after that wishing well thing. In retrospect it probably hadn't been a great idea to do that right after returning from that temple which had spooked her so badly, but an afternoon's rest seemed to have done her a world of good.

"Thank you on behalf of all of us here," Set Sail said to the strange stallion, with a clumsy curtsey. "You really helped us out back at that temple there. And you've been a really good sport for all of this. I'm sorry if it seemed like I doubted you, but here you've brought Nutmeg and Gearshift back safe and sound! And I'm sure they'll love all those useful mechanical things they brought with them."

"I don't think there's anything we could ever do for you, and your Skylanders, but I just want you to know that I'm happy to consider you a good friend. It's rare to meet a friendly face in these lands, and you've really helped us find a bit of hope again." She winced, concluding with "I realise I'm supposed to be the... captain and all. But I think the crew would agree. I just didn't want you to leave without knowing we think you... truly are the hero they say you are."

The phoenix-dragon, ancient by Equestrian standards even if he was likely just a young adult as dragons measured time, fixed the pegasus with another of those intense avian stares. "I... do what I can. Nothing more, nothing less. But... thanks. Been a long, long while since I met anyone as friendly as you ponies."

With that he was gone, gliding back down to the shuttle to be swallowed inside as the canopy closed up. Now that the last of the cargo was unloaded, the whine of the turbines returned and the craft lifted off into the sky. In no time at all it was a dwindling crimson dot, before it disappeared entirely into the clouds.

"Hey, we should put these supplies in a tent!" the excited kirin declared in the meantime, "In case you pegasuses need it to rain. Let's do that!"

Azure's gaze stayed locked onto the craft until it faded away entirely, and even then for several seconds afterwards, staring at the exact spot where it had vanished. "One week. I'll be ready." She turned to Set Sail. "I apologise in advance if I seem a little distant in the coming days... I don't want to keep the Skylanders waiting, and more importantly, I need to be ready for this. It's going to be the most difficult fight we've had since we've been here - my own difficult fight since... I fought the pony running the East Barrens slavers. And that wasn't fun, I promise you. I want— no, I need to be ready."

Set Sail turned, then jumped as she saw how close Azure was. "I— uh— yeah I'm sure you'll do great," she said, ducking her head and blushing self-consciously, "If you fought slavers before... just more of the same, right? And I'm sure anypony in the crew wouldn't mind t-training you. Do you know anypony who might be good at teaching you, um, pegasus... stuff?"

Summer Scribe blinked, making a hoof gesture between Set Sail and Azure a few times, but said nothing more.

"I can name two, Captain. I'm pretty sure Cloud Cutter could teach me a lot, but the other would be... you, Captain. You may not be a fighter, but... life isn't all about fighting, is it? Let's face it, my telekinesis is -gone-, I have to learn life as a Pegasus now. I'm not used to this..." She didn't take her eyes off of the Captain, either...

Biting her lip, Set Sail looked at the newly-transformed pegasus uneasily, finally saying "Yeah I could... show you some... stuff maybe. Just I'm k-kind of busy running everything around the ship you know I mean you saw what happened the last time I wasn't here to watch these knuckleheads, right? Ha ha. And you know Cloud Cutter is actually more of a... non-fighting weather expert. I mean I could never figure out how to operate something like the Storm Piercer. I'm just a balloon p-pony. I keep the ship in the air. There are two others here who are at least as good at it as me, I'm sure. But uhm, Cloud Cutter also knows how to use wing blades, so maybe she could help you with combat... too?"

Azure just threw up a hoof lightly and shrugged. "Captain, I can barely hold onto a bowl of oats. Ask Cloud Cutter, she caught me dropping one this morning. I may not need help with fighting much if at all - I'll need time to perfect my new techniques and that's all - but I need help with actual life as a Pegasus. We unicorns use telekinesis for everything from writing to eating to... everything! What can a unicorn do when her telekinesis is gone?"

"You... use telekinesis to eat?" Set Sail asked, taking a teensy step back from the now fellow pegasus, "There's not much of a how really. You just... do what you need to do. Practice with carrying stuff on your wings and you should get better at... that. Being a pegasus is more about feeling it out, than the how or why of it. Just... you know, stop and try to feel out what would solve the problem. Like navigating a storm, you..."

She took another subconscious step back, "I mean just ask anypony they can tell you I-I need to go check on the soda in the cargo hold and make sure it's all accounted for it's really boring haha, sorry I really gotta go, um..." Backing up even further, she tried to make it look like she wasn't hastily walking away.

Azure just nodded softly as Set Sail excused herself, replying a little too quickly: "Understandable, a Captain has duties. Perhaps I'll catch up with you... a little later." Lots to think about, after all..

---

Conversation was light at the crack of dawn, the crisp cool morning cut by the first rays of the sun beaming over the horizon. Set Sail, ersatz captain of the EAS Harmony, was pacing back and forth on deck, thinking of what to do, of what to say to him. Her warm brown feathers gleamed in those first few rays as she made her decision. The green kerchief was tied tightly about her head as the mare marched resolutely down into the early dawn darkness of the decks below.

Cautiously approaching, she found the door to the hold slightly ajar, so with a quiet creak Set Sail trotted inside. The first thing she noticed was the warped and gouged floor, then the contents of the crates lying in shattered splinters. Steeling herself, the brown mare carefully made her way through the room, until she found him. There, against the far wall in the epicentre of it all, the pegasus beheld the fearsome beast who had wreaked all this havoc.

The creature lay sprawled out over the pitted oak deck at the back of the hold, seeming even larger now that he was sliced, stretched and roped back together. The head of an enormous eagle, adorned with a crest of pink feathers and peal-tipped spines, feathery ear-tufts gone and replaced with fishy fins. An avian torso covered in smooth grey down, from which enormous wings spread out over the deck. They looked like they hadn't been preened in a while. Equine hindquarters, flanks blank, blending at the rear into the stub of a fish tail. The three pieces were joined by bundles of bright blue ropey structures, while outright tentacles with bulbous tips sprouted from his limbs and radiated in every direction.

Reef Skimmer seemed to be sleeping; the eyes were closed, the chest rising and falling softly; apparently he still had a windpipe, or perhaps several now. The tentacles twitched and wriggled slightly, and occasionally the head shifted. Looking closer the pegasus could see the mysterious book she'd somehow summoned the previous morning - he was almost curled around it, as if to protect it. It was open, showing a drawing of a slug-like creature surrounded by Ponish print. With a slight chill, Set Sail recognised it as the monster Blue Type had spoke of, the one that had been created by the original accident at the factory and had to be incarcerated by the local law enforcement.

Set Sail had to hold back a laugh at how this strange creature was curled so protectively around that book like it was his teddy bear. He seemed so peaceful like this, it was hard to imagine he'd caused all that damage to the hold. Her cheer faded as she saw what the book was open to, murmuring seriously to herself, "So it did help him, after all..." Then she reached forward and cautiously, gently nudged with a hoof what she could figure was the creature's shoulder, whispering slightly less quietly, "Reef, wake up."

Reef Skimmer had been dreaming of a purple pegasus wreathed in cold fire, her hollow laughter echoing off the walls as she trotted through the sickbay. The lives of his patients were snuffed out one by one in her wake, gasping their last as their life force was stolen by the horror. The deed done, the mare stalked the corridors, where she found a little unicorn sharpening her knives.

"It was a fun experiment but now I'm bored of it." the second mare said in her sing-song voice. "You can have him now; he's hiding in the hold." The unicorn grinned, saying "Well, I'm off to find a new playmate!" before skipping off towards the mess.

The eldritch pegasus nodded grimly before plodding down into the bowels of the ship. She was here, in the room with him. She was going to- Reef's eyes snapped open and he lurched up, tentacles flailing around like whips. Wings flared out and feathers stuck up as he screeched at the evil pegasus, who had no doubt come to... wait, what was going on? Was this a dream? That looked like... the Captain.

With a blue mane, brown fur, and actual pupils rimmed in green irises much like the captain of the EAS Harmony, the evil pegasus skittered back at Reef's sudden awakening, her ears going flat against the sides of her head at his ear-splitting screech. Her ears quickly raised when he wasn't attacking but rather just staring at her. "Well that was uncalled-for!" she told the big creature in outrage, "Do you always wake up like this?"

"You're not... you don't feel like her..." He shook his head, trying to wake up properly. "Is this a dream, or... Sails, is that you?"

"You were... having a nightmare, I think," Set Sail replied, pensive and unsure as Reef's flailing motions settled down to a baseline wiggling. "Cloud Cutter was telling me you had calmed down a bit. Did she give you my message? I've meant to talk with you myself, but I had to go to the temple and... well things like that."

"Cloud Cutter..." Reef echoed, with a haunted look. It took only a few seconds of staring at Set Sail before the burning embarrassment arrived. "Yes, erm, do apologise but... could you just... give me a minute here. Things are just not right, I mean, one's feathers are... look if one could just, err, freshen up, so to speak." Reef spluttered as he tried to shoo the pegasus back out into the corridor, advancing forward and making little flapping gestures with his wings. Some part of him protested that this was a terribly improper thing to do to a superior, but the pain of her seeing him like this overwhelmed it.

The pegasus mare did back up at that, looking surprised as she said, "Oh, oh of course, I suppose? I need to talk with you though, so I'm sorry if I woke you up and— right." Successfully ushered out into the corridor, Set Sail called out from behind the door, "Do you need a brush, or anything?"

"No no thank you but... no need." Reef called out. In all honesty he did look like he could use a good brush, but it seemed other things were on his mind. After a good five minutes of grunting and the occasional hippogriff swear word, finally he called out morosely. "Oh, who am I kidding. You might as well come in, Captain. If you're still out there." Set Sail pushed the heavy door open to reveal a slightly changed creature. It seemed he'd managed to squeeze his neck and waist down until they were solid bands of blue goo, returning his main body roughly its original shape, but he hadn't been able to do anything about his tentacles. "So, erm, Captain..." He refused to meet her gaze, staring at the floor, "...what can I do for you?"

She peeked through the doorway, then trotted forward saying curiously, "Oh you can... pull yourself back together again? I guess it feels better than being all in... three pieces like that? None of us really have much idea what's going on with you. They say it's got something to do with the Water element, but..." Close enough to speak face to face, the mare concluded unsurely of the glum looking creature, "It doesn't... hurt to keep all those worms inside you, does it?"

"No... not physically, no." Reef said. "Disquieting, disconcerting..." he glanced briefly at her before looking down again "...disgusting, but not... painful. One was rather hoping for a cure, but..." He sighed. "...well, the exercises in the book seem to have granted me some small measure of control, at least." His beak opened just a crack. "I do appreciate the effort, Captain, but I fear that wish may have been better spent on other priorities."

"Well let me tell you about the other priorities!" Set Sail said blithely with a squaring of her shoulders, "This land is so topsy turvy that the griffons were some of the nicest griffons I've met, but their temple was just wrong in every possible way. And you know a group called the Skylanders found where we're hiding? They didn't attack though and it turns out they just needed our help."

"Nutmeg had some special ability to fix this incredible machine of theirs, well her and Gearshift— I'll let her tell you the details. So yes there were some other priorities, and really I don't have to be down here or anything. I just wanted to know how you were doing. You've been holed up in here so long, we're all getting really worried about you! A-and that's not really why I came down here, but I wanted you to know that we've all had our thoughts on you, and I've been worried about you and... stuff."

Reef Skimmer met Set Sail's eyes at last, cocking his head. "Winter mentioned the dragons. I wish I'd seen them, they sounded... interesting. Nutmeg got another opportunity to work her magic eh? Good for her." Another faint smile. "As for the temple... Azure was here yesterday, you know. Spoke of the spirits, the griffons, your... wish," he glanced at the book "...and of course, her transformation. Perhaps she is an example of how things are supposed to work, around here? Certainly seems much happier with her condition than myself, or... the 'undead' ponies." He sighed. "Though even with a normal pony body... losing her horn must be a blow."

"D-did the book help at all?" Set Sail asked hopefully, rearing up to lay a concerned hoof on Reef's knee, "I know those... worms were terrible and messed everything up. You'd probably be some sort of super... sea pony if they hadn't gotten in the way. Azure is..." Set Sail retracted her hoof, "...fine. The temple did... something to her, and yes I know it turned her into a pegasus that's what it did."

Sighing without satisfaction, Set Sail looked up at Reef pleadingly and said, "So maybe your temple... would've done something to you too, and the worms saved you from—well I wouldn't say saved, but... you sure saved the rest of us, t-taming those things. I can... touch you, right? Even where you're all... blue? Cloud Cutter said she could touch you without getting burned. T-that's true, right?"

"Touch me?" Reef said, looking shocked. "Why on Equus would you want to, erm, I mean... I suppose it is safe, in that I only seem to dissolve things when in, err, negative emotional states... hmm, you know that does sound similar to Nutmeg's fire in some respects..." He shook his head, how hard must it be for her to overcome her revulsion to want to comfort him like that. He should spare her the trouble, he thought: "Temple! You mentioned a temple... oh." A dry chuckle escaped his beak. "Here, take a look."

He reached out with a tentacle to flip the pages of the book, to a section near the end. At first glance it seemed to be a listing of places, with a few paragraphs and sometimes a sketch under each heading. "It seems there is a 'temple of water', or some such: The Shrine of the Seven Seas." The heading had a full page underneath, and a sketch of an enormous, mostly-submerged structure of stone arches and glass tubes. "Or was at least. Alas no map, so it won't be easy to find. But the place we visited..." He flipped forward a few pages, then indicated another heading, with a much smaller description.

"'Wash Buckler Splash Park! Formerly MagiCola Family Fundrome'. Here... 'The ill-fated company rebuilt and massively expanded the old Scaleshine Springs Spa in an attempt to compete with the wildly popular Fizzland. Despite being a hit with locals it was too far from the core to...'" he skipped to the last paragraph "...rebranded and under new management after the Gulper incident. Few visitors these days but still a pleasant day out for anycreature that appreciates water slides or a relaxing dip in the pool." He snorted. "Compared to Azure, I'm just a bad joke."

Set Sail headed up close and stared at the book as if unable to believe what she's reading, in plain Ponish. "It really was a water park," she said faintly. "I-it..." she had to hold back a laugh.

"Quite." Reef said flatly. "As for this 'Gulper'... well, the book covers heroes and villains that were 'aligned' with the 'element of Water'. The Gulper... he was one of the latter. It seems one of the workers at Summer's cola factory was caught up in some sort of industrial accident." Reef flipped the book back to its previous position; he'd folded back a page corner to mark it. "Changed from a brown-furred biped into... that slug-like creature. Went on a crime spree, vandalism and theft mostly. Fell in with a group of would-be tyrants, and was eventually incarcerated in some sort of magic-powered prison."

The hippogriff (or at least ex-hippogriff) sighed. "There's no mention of any attempt to cure him. One can only speculate whether he was a rogue from the start, or the change eroded his morals, or..." he sighed again "...perhaps he just felt rejected by society and they were the only companions who would tolerate him."

"Yikes, I dunno why he would do that," Set Sail said, wide-eyed as she followed along beside him. "Good thing none of that applies to you. We need to make sure that factory is totally shut down to make sure nothing like that ever happens again."

"It was safely shut down for three hundred years or some such," Reef said morosely, staring into space again. "I suppose we just need to make sure Summer Scribe doesn't happen again." He blinked. "Not that I wish harm upon her..." he was over that phase, he hoped "...but, well you catch my drift I think."

"I definitely catch your drift," Set Sail said, looking up at the stallion with a grim smile, "It was an accident but... she wasn't being very careful about it either, from what I hear." Her face grew curious as she realised she was sitting right next to him now, just the one sitting by the other on each of their haunches. Her leg shook a little when she tried, but she still pressed a cautious forehoof against the blue band around Reef's flank, joining his midsection to his hindquarters.

At first touch the blue substance felt like warm jelly, yielding under her hoof, but as she applied more force it quickly hardened into something like solid rubber, except that it squeezed around her hoof as if feeling it back. Reef was stunned for a moment before pulling away. Set Sail's hoof was left dry; despite the shine it wasn't slimy.

"C-Captain! So, erm, what were you saying earlier, err... Crowd Cutter! Yes, she visited me! A couple of days ago. Said we could destroy each other, but she didn't feel like it right then! And that, erm, you had feelings for her, but there was a, uh, medical issue that prevented her from reciprocating as she might like... oh, erm, apologies, perhaps that should be covered under doctor-patient confidentiality." The eagle eyes were wide as they stared at he pegasus. "...She wasn't clear whether you'd discussed it?"

Set Sail fishmouthed, flummoxed in the silence, her blush growing until she stammered out, "I-I-I like stallions!!" Her blush deepened, as it occurred to her she was speaking to one, and the mare desperately tried to save her dignity, saying in confusion, "I don't have feelings for Cloud Cutter! Why would she tell you that? All I asked her to say is that we— that I missed you, okay? And I hoped you'd get better, so I could visit you . And you did! So here we are, and everything's great a-a-and why did she tell you I had the hots for her?!"

Reef blinked several times, not sure how to take this. "Truly? How... strange. I confess, it all seemed to make sense at the time, what with the equine sex ratio and such... hmm."

"I'll definitely have a talk with her—w-wait, sex ratio? You're not suggesting..." Set Sail was not ceasing in her blushing.

"That is to say," Reef said, missing the Captain's blush as he thought back to his conversation with the spooky pegasus, "She was a little coy on the romantic aspect, but quite clear on the, erm, anatomical issue."

"Anatomical issue?" Set Sail echoed faintly, feeling like she missed something back there.

"As you know, I find ponies a touch enigmatic at times," or most of the time, Reef Skimmer thought as he told the flustered pegasus mare, "but she made her dislike of me quite plain. From well before the transformation, she said. I suppose I... sort of fitted that into the narrative of scorning a romantic rival."

"Yeah well... I don't have any... f-feelings for mares," Set Sail gulped uneasily, because there was that one time at flight camp. "I like stallions," she said evenly.

"Stallions you say?" Reef replied, cocking his head. His hope died as his eyes went to the floor again, "Pegasus stallions, I imagine."

"Pegasus stallions," Set Sail agreed warily, "Unicorn stallions, o-other stallions, any stallions, I just... wouldn't know what to do with a mare. Anything I can do with a mare I can do by myself. M-maybe you don't understand but I like stallions because they're... different from me, so... they can do things I... can't?" her voice trailed off to a blushing squeak.

"Indeed?" Reef said, almost hopeful. "Well perhaps..." he reached out with a claw, intending to place it on Set Sail's shoulder, but it wasn't a claw, it was a clump of blue tentacles seemed to only loosely follow his direction... with a frustrated squawk he whipped the appendage away. "...perhaps we could discuss that another time! Erm. So. Cloud Cutter... perhaps you should talk it over, straighten things out. I doubt she wants to speak to me again." He sighed, turning away.

"Although I don't quite understand her animosity, I admit... she was my patient, and... I failed her. I failed them all. No idea where to start with a treatment, except... well. There is one slight possibility." Enthusiasm crept back into his voice as he shared his idea with the Captain. "Look at this," he said, picking up the book and flipping back to the final section. "It lists, oh, sixty or so 'water nexuses', of assorted size and importance."

"But look... this one is marked with the symbols for Water and Life. And this one, Water and Fire, even though one would expect those elements to be in opposition to one other. And this one... 'Kestrel Baths'... combines Water and Air." He looked back to Set Sail, expression enigmatic as ever but voice eager. "The book calls them 'nexuses of concordance'. One... has no idea what that means, in truth, but it suggests the possibility... if we could find a nexus that combines Undead and Air..." He ducked his head. "A long shot I know, but that's all I can think of to help her. Help them."

"Let me see that," Set Sail said, zipping up and looking down at the book. She read that final section too together with Reef, and asked him excitedly about a ton of things that he had no idea about either. Giddy with her success and the relief that Reef was okay after all, she assured him she'd be back to visit again, though he didn't ask her to do that, and that she would welcome him up on deck whenever he felt comfortable enough to do so.

Then after thanking him, and giving him a wing-hug she said he was long overdue for, Set Sail pulled free and hurried away. She needed to go talk with Cloud Cutter about whatever had been bothering her during Reef's conversation - whatever it was that the troubled pegasus hadn't seen fit to tell her captain. Reef waved as she went, though one good look at his strange wiggling tentaclaws thoroughly dissuaded him from following her out into the early morning sun.

Author's Note:

This story is a collaboration between myself (playing Sunburn, Reef Skimmer and Sprocket), Ferret (playing Set Sail, Nutmeg and Gearshift), Patashu (playing Summer Scribe) and Spearmint (playing Azure Feather), based on an online RP.

The second scene is from the second half of the thirty-first session, with me as the GM. The first and last scenes were 1:1 RPs we did later, the former with myself & Spearmint, the latter with myself & Ferret. Illustration of Reef Skimmer's nightmare by ValyceNegative; I think she had fun with it. :)

This chapter and the previous one were some of the quieter, character-focused segments. Coming up next: burrowing anthro sharks, death rays and executive monster trucks.