Expedition to the Cloudbreak Islands

by Starglider

Fellis

The Equestrians were starting to become fond of their little twin-rotor aircraft, as they prepared it to venture out into the Cloudbreaks for the fourth time. No longer just a captured slaver ship, the Second Chance was almost part of the crew. Not long after dawn the supplies had been stowed, the freshly charged thermal crystals were installed, and six explorers boarded:

• Summer Scribe: the little cyan unicorn was bursting with excitement over the latest island and its mysterious pyramids. The mission to sneak into an ancient monument and disarm the mechanisms inside was exactly her kind of fun. As both senior researcher and senior diplomat, she was thrilled at the prospect of finding a treasure trove of native history (perhaps literally!) while also making a powerful ally out of the cagey dirt sharks. Her excitement was tempered only by the memory of the abandoned soda factory, and her promise to put the crew's safety first this time.
• Azure Feather: the newly minted pegasus, ready to prove she was a force to be reckoned with. Cloud Cutter and Crimson Sky had got her back in the air, even given her a crash course on weather manipulation. She'd followed up with a few exercises of her own to confirm she could still perform her core Air spells without a horn. The intense preparation left her optimistic about her ability to defend her squad, but still... The showdown with the drow pirates loomed large in her mind, and there was no way to be sure of her abilities without a field test...
• Reef Skimmer: the hippogriff doctor, or at least he had been prior to a close encounter with a voracious batch of 'animate magical waste'. Emerging after several days of self-imposed isolation, he was keen to show everycreature (and possibly one pegasus in particular) that he was still a useful member of the crew, not a horrible mutant monster. To that end he sat very still in the middle of the foredeck, concentrating on keeping his shape as close to his original form as he could. Certainly it would be nice to see the bipedal burrowing shark-creatures, sapient felines or indeed any other new native creatures. He couldn't afford to indulge himself though; he had to keep a close eye on Summer Scribe, who clearly needed adult supervision.
• Grenelda, the fierce griffoness: still stewing about the land-shark's lack of respect for her companions as well as her inability to do anything about it; at least up until she took the heroic initiative to draw the obelisk's fire. The hen considered herself a dedicated and confident fighter: she felt it was her duty to keep her pony allies safe and out of trouble. As such she worried about what kind of situation they were getting themselves into, stepping into a conflict between Abyssinians (or their kin at least) and bipedal sharks.
• Sprocket: the unicorn engineer, enticed by her friend's reports of trackless trains, balloon-free airships and other wonders of dirt shark industry. Her previous trip had involved long hours watching the engine and an abandoned and very drafty temple, but it had wetted her appetite for getting away from the Harmony's engine room. Even if they weren't going to see the sharks this time, it was already more fun: she was happily flying the copter, having been taught by Nutmeg Inferno the previous afternoon.
• Blaze Trails: untested by these lands, but well prepared, this toned green-furred redhead of an earth pony spent the previous afternoon preparing a full set of saddlebags for everypony, bedrolls, rope, extra rope, pots, hooks, emergency shoeing, waterskins, salt and seasonings, a hefty tent she carried herself, and a sharp knife shoved into everypony's pack. She had a field notebook to pencil in notes, illustrations, and maps - and her handy bush hat held on her head by her animate ears. There was a worrying looking brace on her hind leg, to which the mare clearly paid no mind. She would spend most of the flight out just gawking, as it was the first time she'd gone further than the meadow next to the ship. Every island they flew past was a new adventure to her just waiting to be discovered.

Ponies waved farewell as Sprocket took off and flew north, making a close pass over Triskelion Mine and sighing in admiration at the enormous armoured train. No sign of the fabled Megalodon, but the unicorn caught a glimpse of a self-propelled crawler pushing mine tailings around. Grenelda joined her in the cockpit as navigator, guiding them north-west towards the distant, cross-shaped island.

Meanwhile Summer Scribe was stuck in the engine space, rocking back and forth and muttering to herself while she watched the six dials Sprocket had pointed out. It was so boring! In truth she had only a vague understanding of what they actually indicated. Nutmeg had helpfully drawn some red lines on with grease pencil though, so she just needed to call out if any of the needles went out of range.

After a couple of hours in the air they were at last on approach to the island the sharks had called 'Fellis', the great cross spread out in front of them. High desert on one arm, thick low-lying jungle on another, a central valley running from a massive crater down the spine of the island to a grassy plain edged by a sizable (if ruined) town. There were certainly plenty of destinations to choose from.

By this point Summer Scribe was pretty confident the engine wouldn't blow up if she abandoned her post for five minutes. So she poked her head above deck, and with relief caught sight of the approaching island. Almost there! Seeing that distant pyramid surrounded by all the valuable minerals reminded her of her purpose - the reason why they'd risked coming. She nodded her head with renewed resolve, and called out: "We all ready to touch down and talk with some cats? Hopefully they haven't picked up on our, ahem, conflict of interest, yet. This might be our only chance to pick their brains!"

"A lot more water than the shark island. Looks pretty wild," Azure shrugged as she turned to Summer. "Probably best if I let those who have been here before do the talking. From what I gather, the native cat guys aren't the friendliest type." She looked around the faces of her squadmates - they knew why she was here, and it wasn't to play diplomat.

"That's just what that sharks think. I for one sure do hope the cat critters are friendly," Blaze Trails replied, abandoning her perch at the bow to come stand close to Summer. "Where are we touching down? I'd like to get us setting camp up a bit so we're not carrying the world when we go out into it."

"Do we know anything about these, erm, felines? Other than that they don't like sharks?" Reef Skimmer inquired. "That settlement on the eastern tip is by far the largest we've seen out here, though... look, see that line of arches? Several broken ones in the middle." From this distance the equines had to take the griff's word for that, though Grenelda nodded in confirmation. "If that was their water supply, gone to ruin, perhaps the population is long gone...."

Summer squinted, and checked the map she'd 'borrowed' from the sharks. "Well, whether or not it has cats, it's still worth taking a look - after all, with enough persistence, you can learn almost as much from a departed population as you can from an extant one!" Her eyes gleamed at the thought of a whole city to excavate.

"Whatever you say, fellow," Blaze said, squinting that way cluelessly. "Azure's right though - that' a thick jungle below us though. You don't get a thick jungle without a lot of water. Maybe we should... hey!" At Summer's map, Blaze's mouth dropped open, and she rushed over to butt cheeks with Summer, saying, "Now when did you go and get a gosh darned map??"

Summer Scribe blinked and floated the map up in the air, protectively keeping it from Blaze Trails! "This is an important native document I spent precious resources bartering off of the Landsharks to get! ...By which I mean I asked nicely and pointed out it'd help me do my job, and they agreed. Ahem."

"Sure it's important!" Blaze protested, jumping up to try and get at the map, "If we have a map we'll know just where to go on this big old island!"

Summer Scribe relented, saying sheepishly: "Yeah, that's what maps are for, huh? Okay, okay, I guess I should share it..." She lowered the document to eye level so Blaze could get her hooves on it.

The earth mare was quite happy to look, as long as the unicorn was doing her the favor of floating it there in the air. "There's a big old lake in the middle!" she declares immediately, "With nothing close by in terms of dwellings. If we camp south of there, we'll have road access, and we won't be stepping on anypony's toes." She took pause then, asking, "What the hay happened on the east arm, with that huge crater and all? Probably best to stay clear of there until we know better."

"I'm not going to sound like a broken record today, everyone. You know what I'm going to say, just keep your eyes open." Azure's delivery was clipped and to the point. One can only state the same thing so often before others start tuning it out. And safety was one of the things she couldn't stress enough.

"We should set down soon, whatever we do!" Sprocket called out from where the cockpit, where the controls were held firm in the unicorn mare's magical grip. "I can't refuel this thing on the go, and I don't want it to run out of juice in mid-air!"

The Second Chance flew high over the southern tip of Fellis, where the dense jungle seemed to continue right off the edge, clinging to a flock of small islets floating near the main island. Several streams emerged from the vegetation and instead of plunging into the depths, simply continued snaking lazily through the air, pooling into small lakes around the outlying landmasses.

Further north, in the central part of the jungle the canopy was pierced by several tall spires of worked stone, the ornate carvings intact but obscured by moss and lichen. While there were thinner stretches giving the impression of a causeway below, the only outright clearing was that created by a pyramid nearly as large as the one to the north, the upper tiers of its stepped golden bulk poking up through the trees.

"Everypony, look! Floating rivers!" Sprocket shouted in excitement from the cramped shelter that barely qualified as a pilot's cabin.

The little craft continued on through the open air between the southern and western arms. Ahead, the details Reef mentioned were coming into focus; a lake and a mass of stone buildings with a long line of stone arches connecting them. Something else drew the eye of the explorers though, at least all of them who'd been to Witchway Marsh; the tell-tale shimmer of a bubble of magic, domed over a patch of particularly verdant green a little way from the lower lake.

Summer stepped over to the railing to peek out at the southern pyramid and its attending ruins came into view. She was immediately comparing and contrasting the architecture, wondering if it was built by a different species or just in a different historical period. "A magic bubble?" Definitely a similar effect to the one on the the gillfolk island. Another upwelling of 'elemental' magic? "Now what might that be there for?"

Azure stared at the mostly-hidden pyramid, her body tense. By all accounts the one in the desert had damned near wiped out their squad - this second one could be just as dangerous. To say nothing of who or what might be lurking in the jungle. At least Grenelda was a competent fighter - the doctor had been just as good at the chompy fight, but his transformation had clearly hit him hard.

It was her first time working with Blaze, the earth pony, but so far so good. Azure nodded to her: "Can't argue with steering clear of that crater." She gestured with a hoof at the dome of shimmering magic. "Hope we don't have to go in there..." Perhaps the fight with the goo worms was a freak accident, but if the circular gate was the only way in and out... just too easy to get trapped inside.

Sprocket brought the copter around in a lazy arc, descending towards the centre of the island. Here the forest was lighter, broken by numerous clearings and meadows. It was easy to make out a cobbled road cutting through the woods; the unicorn aimed for a crossroads, where the eastern, northern and southern routes joined. She spotted a convenient clearing, perhaps two hundred metres south... but paused at the sight of a small cluster of buildings nearby. Was she flying right into an ambush? No, the roof was collapsed, it looked like just more ruins... an abandoned farm perhaps.

Carefully, keeping the rotors well clear of the trees, she set the Second Chance down in the long grass, the noise and wind flushing out a small horde of wildlife that ran chittering to hide in the surrounding trees. Safely down, Sprocket cut the throttle and gave herself a little hug at a job well done. If only Static and Nutmeg could see her now!

Reef instinctively gave a flap of his wings as he jumped off the deck... to very little effect. Bereft of any mass-lightening wing magic, the big grey griff landed much harder than he'd intended and crashed to the ground, splayed out in the long grass. The shock of the impact was enough to make his claws revert to blue tentacles, treating the ponies to a choice selection of avian curse words as he struggled to get to his feet - or rather get back to having feet.

Some of the tension left Azure Feather's frame as she watched their craft land safely. The doctor was first off the deck and she spread her wings to join him, only to see him fall abruptly to the ground. Surely the hippogriff was an experienced flyer - something must be wrong. Rushing to her friend's side, she checked for injuries while asking "Everything alright, Doctor? That was a pretty heavy landing."

"Old habits die hard." Reef muttered through clenched beak. "No need for concern, Azure, the only injury was my pride. Better than hosing down the deck I suppose, that camping pony would doubtless be furious if the supplies were soaked."

Azure nodded quietly. Meanwhile Grenelda had also taken to the air, landing some way past the doctor and looking off into the nearby woods.

Summer Scribe had kept a close eye on the buildings as they came down - they certainly looked abandoned, but the sharks had been certain the island was still inhabited. She gave a sympathetic wince at Reef's plight, not expecting a splash landing - but he seemed to be fine. Guess you can't break bones if you're made of jelly! Not having wings she levitated the landing ramp into position and carefully trotted down.

"Eyipe!" Blaze Trails squawked in alarm, watching the doctor's accident. She was going to say something, but just turned her hat down as Azure rushed to his aid, and let the matter be. Once Summer had the ramp in position she followed close behind, glad to get her hooves on the ground again. The earth mare ignored the ruined smallholding and surveyed the terrain, her ears following the fleeing wildlife.

Sprocket called out from on deck, "So... should I stay with the copter?"

"Of course not!" Blaze called back to her in surprise, "We're gonna be here for a while, and we need everypony to stick together! Though it might not be a bad idea to try to hide the copter a bit better."

Azure was very much in agreement: "Best if we stick together, yes. New island, several known threats, who knows how many unknown ones." They'd have to be cautious - and Grenelda wasn't off to a good start. "Hey Grenelda, can we keep a tight grouping here?" She trotted after the griffon, wondering if the hen had spotted something in the trees.

Sprocket jumped down into the engine room, as the creak of a metal door echoes from within and somepony fussing about in the belly of the beast. Sprocket came out then, the creamy unicorn followed by a few large, floating red crystals as she trotted down the landing ramp they recently installed. "We can jus' take these with us," she explained, "They need ta be charged in a fire anyways. The copter's a brick without 'em."

"Ah yes, I must say a splendid job flying us over here my dear, I understand you only started practicing yesterday!" Reef winked at the unicorn; in his experience these ponies tended to need lots of encouragement to perform best, the junior ones particularly. "Any room left in the saddlebags, or shall we find a cache for those valuables?" he called over to Blaze Trails.

"Hey I can't carry these all day," Sprocket complained, looking back at them, then at her own unfortunately heavy saddlebags, "They're still pretty hot though, so give them a few minutes to cool off before you start hoofing 'em." She glanced at Reef's... appendages, currently somewhere between claws and tentacles. "Or uhm... whateverin' 'em."

Reef considered showing off by blasting the crystals with a quick water jet, but he'd shattered enough test tubes to be wary of thermal stress destroying their only means of powering the Second Chance. "One could certainly take a little more weight, if you need to make room in your pack." he offered. "Assuming, of course, that we genuinely need that collapsible kitchen sink."

"Soap on a rope isn't a collapsible kitchen sink!" Blaze protested to Reef.

Sprocket seemed more amiable though, saying, "Sure, thanks a bunch! Just gimme a sec here." They waited a moment with Sprocket testily touching the crystals with her hoof, more and more firmly, until she could hold it against one. "Okay lessee uh..." she nosed at Reef's saddlebag, "Do we really need all this rope?"

"You don't wanna run outta rope," Blaze Trails cautioned. "We can probably ditch the towel though. I don't know why I thought it was a good idea to bring one along."

With things shuffled around, there was barely enough room among the six of them to pack the thermal crystals. Once they were done, Blaze trotted over to Summer Scribe and took another look at the map.

"We don't want to do anything reckless... and yeah, staying together makes sense," Summer said. She peered out into the distance, then at the map. "We could peek quickly at those abandoned buildings or head, mmm... I'd like to go eastward, closer to the jungle pyramid, but it's a bit of a trek, especially if the trail is overgrown, so perhaps we could check out something closer?"

"That all sounds great," Blaze replied, "but we should head up towards the lake first, to set up camp. I didn't mean for us to carry this stuff all over creation and back. We need a nice cosy spot to set up a tent, and then we can get out an on our way."

"Wouldn't mind that plan myself, miss." Azure came trotting back with an annoyed griffon in tow, nodding to Blaze. "I'll have to stand guard, though, as..." She paused, shaking her head. "Right. First time you and I work together. Should just keep it to the short story and say that well, I don't trust much around here except my own crew. Keeping us out of trouble, that's my sole mission." Trying to, at least - so far she'd had limited success at best.

Summer Scribe nodded in agreement. "Yep, for sure - camp comes first." She hadn't though about how long they'd stay, but if they had to explore the whole island - would make sense to have a base of operations.

The group made a token effort to cover up the copter with boards from a collapsed shed, then headed out. Marching north through former fields, heading away from the farm and onto a cobbled road. Unlike the fields it wasn't overgrown - someone was doing at least minimal maintenance. The terrain on the far side was very heavily forested, with a lot of thick bushes and bracken blocking the way.

"Oh you know this is just great," Blaze said in hearty anticipation, "Nopony's been north of here for quite a while. Follow me!" The earth mare reached for her side and pulled out the biggest knife anypony had ever seen, considering anything bigger would qualify as a sword. With quick swings of the sharp blade, she made short work of the branches and steadily pushed through the undergrowth, squeezed her way into the shady forest floor beyond. The bushes were thickest by the road, since the sunlight was there for them to feed on, so soon Blaze was just cutting away a thorny vine here and there, as they stepped over fallen logs and around lonesome trees.

Summer Scribe gawked. That knife was big enough to be classified as a war crime! Yet it seemed to be just the thing as its owner quite literally blazed a trail, hardly seeming to exert herself. Summer Scribe happily following along, appreciating having an expert along this time to forge their path.

The lake glimmered as they approached, but well up the bank from it, Blaze declared, "Okay! Here we go. The forest really opens up here." She stomped around the area littered with leaves, then stopped to listen, then looked at the lake, then turned back to fast the rest, saying, "How's about right here? Trees aren't too old, and it's outta the flood plain. We'll set up a tent, drop off our valuables, and nopony's gonna spot 'em back here."

"Jolly good." Reef said, absent-mindedly shrugging his pack off and staring out at the lake. "Hmmm, one wonders..."

Giving an absent nod in concurrence with Blaze's opinion, Summer followed Reef's gaze out over the lake. "Ooh, it is a pretty lake, yeah..." Hopefully its serene surface didn't conceal anything carnivorous and hostile!

It seemed that the camper pony would be fiddling with stakes and guy wires and such for a while, so Reef Skimmer took the opportunity to wade out into the water. It was quite unlike the crystal-clear lake where he'd shared a picnic with the kirin engineer; the brown tint probably came from peat bogs upstream. Still, it did feel good; just standing in it was invigorating. His sliver of the great pearl was long gone, but if he could become an enormous eagle, surely the familiar change to the shape of a seapony would be possible? First he relaxed, letting his feet revert to tentacles and grimacing at the still-disconcerting feeling of gaps opening up in his torso and neck. Then it was just a matter of concentrating; hooves to fins, legs to fluke, feathers to scales...

Summer Scribe looked on with clear interest. From an academic perspective, watching new kinds of transformation in real time was fascinating. And seeing how he used it would be even more exciting! Hopefully no one would object to her intense stare and note-taking...

There was no sign of glowing ribbons of light this time; just bits of the ex-hippogriff's body reverting to goo before warping and shifting. After a few false starts things suddenly clicked into place, the feathers and tentacles disappearing as Reef's form swelled... and kept growing... and solidified into a huge grey aquatic creature, much bigger than the already sizable seapony shape they'd seen before. This was a sleek, feral monster, like an enormous sea lion with the scales and fins of a fish, not to mention an impressive pair of curving horns and set of spikey spinal plates that reminded the ponies more of a dragon than anything else.

A wave of displaced water lapped up against the shore as Reef Skimmer splashed and thrashed around in shock, trying to get a good look at himself. "I say! It seems... oh, erm Summer?" As with the roc form, his voice had deepened though this time it was more of a bark than a squawk. "Do I have horns? It feels like I have horns!"

"Interesting!" Summer's own horn glowed as she scrawled some more notes. "Apparent violation of conservation of matter. May be magical effect? Able to manifest water perhaps. Full control over body type and stature with applied focus... Oh!" She jumps to alertness as she's addressed, squinting. "Wait, you were trying to turn into some kind of sea dragon thing, right? You didn't do that by mistake, right?"

"Looking great doc!" Grenelda cawed. That new shape looked like it could do some real damage, if anything lurking in the water tried to mess with them.

"Well, erm, I must confess it wasn't exactly intentional, but... you know, I truly believe I've become a bunyip... oceanic, of course, not tri-horn. Ha, who would have imagined!?" With a delighted and throaty chuckle the grey-and-pink sea creature disappeared into the murky waters, leaving only ripples on the surface.

Summer grinned broadly. "A bunyip, yeah! So wait, do you not know what you're going to get?" She twirls her quill out loud. "Does your body just kinda do what it wants, and you have to hope it's listening? Still, very cool - lots of potential here for sure!" sploosh "...Oh, there he goes!" Summer giggled. "Hmm... half tempted to go for a swim myself, but I think I'll watch and chill for a bit." She contented herself with gazing out onto the lake's waters.

Azure Feather seemed a little startled at the... beast Reef Skimmer had just become - this was a far cry and then some from the gentle seapony, the well-mannered hippogriff, or even the giant predatorial bird she'd come to know the doctor as. No, this just looked like a beast ready for a fight and more. Still, could be useful, and... at least he was back in his element, right?

Leaving the griff to his fun, she headed over to Blaze Trails. The only pony to have brought a real weapon that wasn't part of their form... and what a knife it was. Blaze had left it on a stump while she set up the tent; Azure stared at the blade appreciatively, saying "Quite a piece of work, isn't it?"

Blaze Trails let the tent slide off her back: it landed on the forest floor with a heavy thud. She sat on it like a log, looking up as Azure approached. "Ooh, yeah," Blaze Trails said agreeably to Azure, taking out a cloth and carefully wiping it across the blade on both sides, "You can't make your way forward without a good blade, my dad always used to say. She's a carbon steel blade with a stainless edge, earth pony forged ore straight from the Smokey Mountains. Cuts through bushes, vines, branches, you name it! You must know a thing or two about knives, bein' in the guard and all."

The other mare's words brought a smile to Azure's face, as she watched expert weapon care for the first time since she'd left her post in Vanhoover. "Wise words from your father," she replied, nodding softly and clearly impressed by the description. "Just between you and me? All this magic, these wondrous items here... sometimes it's just nice to see a solid Equestrian weapon doing its job. A piece of art, this blade."

"Weapon?" Blaze Trails asked, giving Azure an incredulous look, then looking down at her knife, then blushing as she looked to Azure again, saying sheepishly, "Oh, oh no, this isn't a weapon. You could use it in a pinch, but the blade's far to wide to stab anything with, and too thick for quick slices. This's is just for brush clearing, cleaning up the campsite, chopping vegetables, that sort of thing you know." Having cleaned the blade, Blaze gripped the handle in her mouth, sheathing it in a thick scabbard behind her saddlebags.

After a moment's thought, Blaze pulled out a knife from the second scabbard, smaller and thinner, with a tapering curve to its edge. "Now this's a weapon," she said emphatically, idly twirling it on her hoof, "They call her the Griffon's Claw. Ain't no critter gonna make a meal outta me with this to mouth with."

Spotting the actual weapon instead of the "tool", Azure chuckled a bit. "Now you see why I was in the magic division of the guard... goodness, with that knowledge, you're set..." She took a closer look at the Griffon's Claw, and nodded. "Yeah... as much as I can understand a big heavy blade as more of a tool... hit a drow with that and they're not seeing much afterwards..." she mused. Then her muzzle twisted into a bit of a smirk: "Speaking of drow... you want that claw to get some work done? There is a little battle brewing in the near future..." Sure Blaze was a civillian, but they needed everypony who could hold their own for this fight.

"You're talking about the slavers, aren'tcha?" Blaze asked Azure solemnly, "Boy howdy, I hope not." She looked down at her second knife, saying, "Killed a puma once. Couldn't scare the poor thing away. Can't imagine killing something who could ask me not to. I'm not gonna let 'em put the reins on me, even if I have to use this, but... I don't wanna have to. There's gotta be a better way than just sinking a knife in 'em all, you know?" She gave Azure a thoughtful look, adding, "I'm glad some of us like that sorta thing, though. Simple ponies like me need ponies like that, when we can't do what we need to."

Azure Feather nodded softly, hearing the other mare's thoughts on the matter. As much as Blaze knew her craft, and had weapons that could make any guard member proud - she was still just a pony. Most ponies didn't like to fight, she knew that. Blaze... just seemed to be normal. "I respect that..." The pegasus gazed into the distance, as if lost in her thoughts for some time. Was she the abnormal one? Was wanting to step up to the plate and fight wrong? The Lieutenant sure didn't make it look like that...

Grenelda, ever the reclusive sort, had retreated to the edge of the clearing. The griffon perched on a fallen tree, wings flicking as she settled, cat-like, and watched the perimeter unerringly for anything that might constitute a threat - it kept her calm and at ease. Her repose was disturbed by an explosion of spray out in the lake, as a huge pink-trimmed grey shape breeched the surface and rocketed skyward.

Reef Skimmer reverted to his default, tentacle-festooned shape as he flew towards the shore, supported by numerous jets of high-pressure water shooting from the flared tips of his wiggly appendages. This time his landing was smooth, albeit noisy and destructive, scouring away several bushes and blasting deep ruts in the soil, which immediately filled in with lake water. "Now that was just the ticket!" he enthused. "Do you know there's a whole shoal of something like perch down there, quite unlike any... erm..." Looking around at the damage, he sheepishly admitted "...one supposes that follow-on career in landscape gardening has slipped out of reach."

Grenelda fluffed her feathers, only to quietly sigh once she realised it was 'just' the doctor.

Summer Scribe perked up, paying careful attention to the way Reef flew now - fascinating! She wondered what kind of airtime he can get now, and if he has to restock periodically? "Heeey, nice!" The unicorn grinned, drumming her hooves as though in applause. "Well, just don't land anywhere where we're camping and I think you should be set!" she chuckled.

Azure's eye twitched: Reef Skimmer's landing was... destructive, to put it mildly. "So the Doctor has... that," she muttered to herself, quietly thinking about the uses of such a technique.

"Anyhoo, want me to help set up the tent?" Blaze asked more cheerfully, after sheathing her less utilitarian knife. She started unrolling the thing, tossing Azure some stakes, then apologizing profusely when Azure didn't just catch them in her wings. They got it rolled out, and unfolded, and sat there for a while, screwing segments of tent pole together. Pushing them through, staking them in. Sprocket joined in, not bothering telling the others by the lake since this wasn't going to take too long anyway.

The tent was... very large, easily the size of three regular tents combined. It almost didn't fit even in the big area Blaze picked out. "Sorry," Blaze said sheepishly at one point, "I brought tents in case of a dozen expeditioners or so. Didn't think it would be this touchy to explore around." They got the tent put up though, and a thick canvas rain cover stretched all over atop it. "Alright, lemme just work out the inside a bit," Blaze said happily as they stepped back to look at their work. She unzipped the tent, and headed in alone, stomping around in there for quite some time. Then she stuck her head out, saying, "Okay looks like it's good to go! C'mon in!"

Azure looked at the massive tent before her, only to tilt her head at Blaze's apology. "You just gave all of us an opportunity to rest in comfort or even to just take a minute to do so. Nothing to apologize over, in fact, thank you for it." Still she hung back, looking into the trees and waiting for others to go in first. Shelter was all very well, but it came with the risk of somecreature sneaking up on you.

Summer Scribe happily trotted inside... "Dang, this is impressive stuff. You work fast!" She grins happily, turning around in a circle. Of course, all they really needed was protection from the elements, but this much area was luxury: particularly if they would be excavating more ruins.

"I wonder if I could make it faster..." Sprocket said, looking at the poles. "I m-mean... all those stakes you had to hammer in! If you could make a telescopic geodetic structure out of lightweight struts, hmmm..." she fell silent under the weight of a sceptical glance from Blaze Trails.

Reef Skimmer had to dip his head to fit through the entrance flap, but once inside found there was plenty of space even for his larger body. "Hmm, I see that should we require a field hospital, you have us covered."

"T'be fair it would have been crowded with a dozen ponies, but sure, let's get everypony's stuff where it won't get rained upon." With everycreature inside save Grenelda (who insisted on keeping watch), Blaze set up six bedrolls, with plenty of space to walk between them. Whether Reef Skimmer could actually use his bedroll as he was, was debatable. Blaze was carrying a small folding table on her, that she opened up near the entrance, and dropped down her field journal on top of it.

"You can use this for writing if you need to," she called over to the ponies and other creatures clustered by their sleeping mats, "And the tent has a quiet charm, so we shouldn't be too noisy to any critters creeping around outside. All the comforts of home except a fireplace, right? Well, we can get to that later. For now let's go out and explore!"

Summer Scribe confirms that her bedroll is as it should be, and then waved a hoof! "Yeah! We've got plenty of daylight and I'm full of motivation. We have a case of one laser-armed obelisk to crack, after all!" She was more than impressed, and this would be a great home base to retire to. "As for our first destination, I'm thinking we should do the relatively normal one first - the abandoned town to the north." She gestured with a hoof at somewhere past the tent flaps. "We might find extant cat-folk to talk to, we might not - either way, we can try and get questions we have answered, and should walk away with a better frame to tackle the pyramid next. Sound good?"

"We could find out why it got abandoned," Sprocket suggested, "Might have something to do with the pyramid you said is on high alert. Or maybe they jus' abandoned it cause of the sharks. They'd hafta go through there to reach that upper plateau."

"Or maybe there's vile creatures crawlin' all over it," Blaze said at the exit to the tent, hopping excited, even if her leg brace gave her a bit of a limp, "We won't find out until we get going!"

Author's Note:

This story is a collaboration between myself (playing Reef Skimmer), Ferret (playing Blaze Trails and Sprocket), Patashu (playing Summer Scribe and Grenelda) and Spearmint (playing Azure Feather), based on an online RP.

This chapter is based on thirty-seventh session, with me as the GM. We return to exploring Skylands, after another interlude on Blissful Pastures. As with the trip to the sky river, the first session was pretty chill, just flying over and getting used to the place. Of course, high-stakes encounters will follow in the next few chapters. The roster of secondary characters continues to expand, with a first outing for Blaze Trails and a little more characterisation for Sprocket.

For readers following along as this is published, I've added a new illustration to chapter twenty-nine : Lakeshine and Set Sail, by DomiDeLance.