Daring Do and the Tears of the Clouds

by TheLegendaryBillCipher

Chapter 8: The Forgotten Sister

“Bring in the ship as close as you can,” Yearling said to Celaeno. “I want to get in and out as quickly as possible.”

“Aye aye!” Celaeno said, angling the ship towards the center island. The winds whipped at the ropes and rigging, but the ship continued on until it halted just outside of the central island’s structure’s door.

Yearling secured the four Tears in her saddlebags before departing from the ship with Elytra close behind. The changeling scanned the surrounding landscape as Yearling approached the door.

Pulling out the Tear of Lightning, Yearling held it up to its symbol on the door. The symbol glowed white in response, and when Yearling pulled the gemstone away, the glow remained. Systematically, she pulled out the Tear of Ice, Tear of Rain, and Tear of Wind, holding them to their corresponding symbol and stowing them away when the symbols glowed.

With a great rumbling that shifted dust from the structure, the stone door ground open. A rush of icy wind met Yearling and Elytra as it opened, followed by snow flurries and wispy clouds that dissipated once the door was fully open.

The air inside was frigid, much colder than the snowflake island had been, and even Yearling felt the chill through her Pegasus magic. The room was much smaller than the other temples, though taller in size. Towards the back was a great mass of ice.

As Yearling and Elytra slowly approached it, they recognized that there was a figure deep inside the ice, their form too blurry to make out. The general shape of the figure seemed to indicate it was a pony – and something above what would’ve been their head was casting light throughout the chamber.

“We’ve got to thaw this somehow,” Yearling said. “We don’t know if this Sister is still alive or—”

She was cut off when Elytra, in a burst of red fire, changed into a purple dragon and breathed a jet of flame on the mass of ice. Yearling blinked in surprise at the color of her transformation.

Slowly, the ice began to thaw and flow under them as a steady stream of water and around them as a cloud of steam. The figure came more and more into focus. She was a white Pegasus, with black primaries along her wings and a short black mane and tail. Her cutie mark was a spotlight of light. Floating above her head, curiously, was a large ring of crystalized ice with four round slots in it.

Elytra snuffed out her flames once the Pegasus was free, and Yearling rushed forward to catch her as Elytra changed back. Yearling checked for a pulse, and the Pegasus gave a groan, stirring in Yearling’s forehooves.

“She’s alive,” Yearling said. “We need to get her back to the ship.”

“I’ll carry her,” Elytra said quickly, gently grabbing the Pegasus around the barrel and flittering out with her. Yearling followed, noting that the strange ring followed the unconscious Pegasus as she went.

Celaeno was at the side of the ship to greet them, taking the Pegasus from Elytra and calling to her crew for a blanket. Yearling and Elytra touched down as one of the crew wrapped a blanket around the Pegasus, and she blinked open her pale grey eyes.

“Wha… Who… Are… You?” she asked, her voice croaking as her now wide eyes darted between the figures around her. “Can… You… Understand… Me?”

“Hey, calm down,” Yearling said gently, walking forward and setting a hoof on the Pegasus’s. “You’re among friends. What’s your name?”

“My name… is Sister Azazel.” The Pegasus swallowed and glanced between them again. “What… do you know of the Tears?”

“Just what I’ve read on the plaques on the islands,” Yearling said. “And I know the Tears and the islands are supposed to be at the bottom of the ocean by now and they’re not, but that’s it.”

Azazel frowned, nodding as her mind wandered. “Have… Have you found the Control Rod yet?”

Elytra and Yearling looked at one another, confused, before Yearling turned back to Azazel. “What do you mean ‘Control Rod’?”

There was a sudden roar from the side of the ship, and then another and another. Masked, furry creatures landed on the ship as a shadow fell over them all. One by one, Celaeno and the crew were grabbed.

The last thing Yearling saw was two of the figures reaching for Azazel and Elytra before she was knocked out by a blow to the head.

Author's Note:

"Lucifer! I'm a pony now, Lucifer!" -Azazel, probably.

I know, the halo was probably a bit on the nose.

-The Legendary Bill Cipher