Expanding Horizons

by mechafone

20 - Yar, 'Tis Fate!

"...Anyway, that was it for me. I didn't finish school and I missed out on a lot of stuff..." Spark trailed off distractedly. He'd spent the last fifteen minutes getting Callie up to speed, at least up to the end of his school days, and of his mother's death. The griffon stared at him, tears in her eyes, claws gripping the steel floor under her feet. Even Ampelus, who had never heard this story before, looked like she wanted to rip something apart.

"That little 'lake' brat! If he were here, I would remove his spine and feed it to him!"

This outburst made Callie turn a shade lighter. "Thanks for the image...whatever happened to him, Sparky? D'ya know?"

Spark paused as the trio neared the exit of the bio dome. "Can't say that I really know...I heard once that he'd been sent to some kind of military camp, but that hardly seems fair after what he did...anyway."

Callie frowned, and took a moment to reflect on her own situations, which seemed rather tame compared to what Spark had been through. Though she and a few others had either been cast out or simply left their tribe, both of her parents were still alive back home. It seemed almost trivial to think that she'd ever felt sorry for herself.

"So Callie," Spark began, startling the griffon back to the present. "What are you doing here?"

Callie smiled and rolled her eyes with a sigh. "Well...to be honest, I'm tailin' a coupl'a harpies that came this way. Supposedly they're here to maintain a peace between the harpies and griffons."

Spark and Ampelus shared a glance. "And they're going to maintain peace by doing...what? Squatting in a greenhouse?"

The blue-feathered griffon bristled slightly. The question seemed to bother her, but she maintained her composure. "It's actually kinda private, I don't think they'd appreciate strangers knowin' what they're doin' here. They're kinda hidin' here, and if either griffon or harpy tribes knew where they were, there'd be trouble..."

Ampelus felt a twinge of anger. She already didn't like Callie simply for the fact that she was already closer to Spark Storm than she was comfortable with. "Excuse me, do we look like a couple of blabber mouths?"

Callie turned to the nymph, a look of calm sass in her eyes when Spark Storm intervened. "Hey hey, it's all right." He looked to Ampelus and back cautiously. "If we don't need to know, we don't need to know. I'm not really in the mood to discuss the harpies, anyway." Ampelus sighed and shook her head at the pegasus before moving on silently.

"Spark Storm!" Callie squeaked. "You talk like ya know the harpies..."

"Yeah, I know a couple..." Spark Storm cleared his throat and glanced at Ampelus. "So Ampelus, I actually have been wondering. Was there a specific reason you haven't shown me that before?"

Callie frowned, not particularly liking Spark's deflection, but this question was quite vague. What had happened when Mimosa asked to see the pegasus privately? And why had Ampelus been there, and what had she shown him? She watched with interest as the nymph's face grew quite red.

"Spark Storm, that's not for others to know..." she growled through clenched teeth. The pegasus looked like he wanted to pursue the matter, but an elbow from Callie interrupted him. He seemed to understand, now walking with the same air of uncomfortable silence as his old friend. Ampelus trudged along, now understanding that Spark Storm had not understood the reveal of her true form. Even more, she needed to speak with her father now. Today was shaping up to be the most uncomfortable day in her life.

Touchy, Callie thought to herself with a roll of her eyes. She paused, having caught sight of a familiar color that flashed in her vision. Having just exited the facility into the jungle, pink wasn't the sort of hue you'd expect. Pink and yellow. There - she spotted a large bird in the trees. She'd been expecting something - or someone - else, but the bird caught her off guard. It seemed to be eying the group with what appeared to be a look of anger. Some creature that escaped from the biodome, maybe?

"Hm?" Callie gasped as she was brought back to reality. "You alright there, Callie?"

She shrugged a shoulder towards the bird. "See it, Sparky? I think one a' Mimosa's birds flew the coup..."

"A bird? Where?" Spark Storm eased his gaze towards the trees, but without a clue of what to look for, he couldn't locate Callie's bird.

Ampelus did. Bird and nymph glared at each other. Deep inside, Ampelus remembered what horrible damage Sohl's departure had done to Spark Storm. It had taken him months to get better. Of all the stupid, selfish... Birds flew up into the canopy in panic as Ampelus lashed out suddenly, snapping a vine at the large bird. It disappeared into the foliage, angry but compliant.

"Geez, Ampelus, what'd ya do that for??" Callie demanded, rounding on the nymph.

"She looked at me wrong..." was her response, cold and barely composed. She continued quietly between the two, determined to keep her friend in the dark. He did not deserve to have his world turned upside down all over again. It might be inevitable with her here on the island, but this particular disaster wouldn't happen on her watch.

---

Birds burst out of the canopy, catching the gaze of the pegasus hovering in the air over his fellow pirates. Rising Mist normally acted as his crew's lookout, but on this particular trip onto land this was his secondary role. Today, he was lookout for a particular mare. The assassin Fire Lotus, as only he truly knew her to be among the crew. Here she was known as Steel Scabbard, an expensive concubine. How her reputation had not preceeded her out on the sea, neither of them knew. Mist figured it had something to do with the fact that she wasn't that well known outside of Neighpon, where they were both from.

Fire Lotus preened her dark reddish mane vainly. Her usually straight hair refused to obey her commands. It was this horrible humidity that did it, she told herself. She usually liked to keep herself looking perfect - one never knew when a good shagging could be had, and sometimes it all came down to appearance. Of course, right now she wasn't really free to sleep with just anypony. This trip she was acting as escort to the esteemed Gabriel, the "second Captain" of the Sea Pearl. What was the point of having a second captain? She didn't understand it, but she didn't need to. She wasn't here for him, or his crew.

This mission had not started as a vacation. In the weeks before this point, Fire Lotus had been preparing for a voyage to the nation of Breen. A great revolution had been stirring for many years in the military nation, and the royal family wanted it gone, as they had enough problems already within their own ranks. Several important family members had gone missing recently, and it was becoming difficult to keep order.

The red mare was pulled out of her thoughts when what she knew to be a brief shadow signal fell over her eyes from above. Rising Mist had signaled to her, and only her, that there appeared to be a disturbance in the woods just ahead. She pulled herself together and tugged her hair back into a bun, setting it in place with a senbon, which in itself was impressive considering her limp. No one in the crew was expecting trouble, Gabriel had said, but you could never be too careful.

Up ahead walked Gabriel, chatting it up with the crew's burly chef, Cinnablock. Shorter than Gabriel, the cinnamon-colored earth pony had a chin like a mountain and a stomach like an iron pot. Behind her strode the two mares Fire Lotus most wanted to avoid. One was Cinnablock's wife, Bertha, who boasted the greatest physical strength on the ship. There were legends about her prowess in battle, some the assassin had seen for herself. The other was Rossa Bellezza, the tall red beauty. Not just beautiful, she was highly intelligent, and far too nosy for Fire Lotus' liking.

---

She sang. She sang and ran among the tall, shady palm trees. A song played in her heart, the same song that had been playing there for many years. The joy in her heart allowed no words, for there were no words to describe it. Ramani Ya Dunia dashed and bounded from bush to tree to clearing, her hooves sinking in the dirt and the sand. It was almost too much for Dendalla, but the oryx had a few years of practice. She never let the little zebra out of her sight.

"Little one, not so fast! This island is strange to all of us," she called.

"Yes! Strange, and new!" Ramani giggled at Dendalla's reaction when she slid under her guardian's legs from behind. "It is an 'experimence!'"

"Experience, little one," she corrected, and neatly settled on top of the zebra's back, like a hen with her chicks. It had come to be an understanding between the two that when this action was necessary, it was time to calm down. The young explorer sighed, but relented. She knew better than to get on Dendalla's bad side. A few head butts on her posterior was more than enough incentive to behave.

"...I am still," Ramani offered after a moment, and remained so to prove that this was true. The older oryx smiled as her charge demonstrated that she could, in fact, listen to unspoken instruction.

"Very good, young one." Dendalla stood straight, allowing the zebra to crawl out from under her with an excited snort. This forest had so many interesting sights and smells! It was very difficult to contain herself. Even back in her home, Zebrafrica, things that she had seen and done every day for years still held excitement for her. No task was too mundane, no routine was too common. Life was full of excitement and wonder!

The two had gone on ahead of the others. Dendalla and her brother Xennen, who had remained on the ship, were both world renowned scouts, and were often tasked to gain intel on new places. As Oryx, they were well-equipped to tackle any terrain, especially vertical areas. Though the humid jungles were far from Dendalla's favorite, it was no more difficult to navigate than any other place she'd been. Judging by this place, the potential for hidden dangers and secrets appeared to be very high.

She had been informed of course of where they were going and who awaited them - a long-lived guardian of the planet, one of the first known Dryads. He was a local legend here on the island, his exploits and long-life disregarded or simply explained away by the fact that he was simply very creative and looked quite good for his age. Whether there was some kind of spell over the island or willful ignorance, that didn't matter to the oryx. What mattered was Ramani's safety, which she had been tasked to protect at all costs. There was so much here on this island that could threaten it, she could sense it. And no, it was most certainly not the hussy "Steel Scabbard" as the assassin she knew her to go by. She was not here for Ramani, or any of them. No...something was waiting nearby, a much more apparent threat...

---

Spark Storm squinted as he stepped out into the sun. How long had it been since he and his team had arrived on the island? Two, three hours? There was still Trixie to think about. The plan had been to anchor here just long enough for Rolling Waves to get properly treated. The ship and all it's crew would be stuck here for an entire week. Wouldn't that make it a little awkward to share the island with the showmare, whom they had agreed would simply stay on the island if she couldn't make good here? From the way she'd been enjoying herself it hardly seemed like she was going to even try. Whatever. It was her choice to come here and party instead of trying to earn bits.

"Few bits for your thoughts, Sparky?" Callie's ribbing, metaphorical and literal, poked Spark Storm out of his thoughts.

"Oh...sorry. I was thinking about one of our unintentional guests. She's a street performer, and she wasn't doing too well in Vanhoover, so she bummed a ride with us to the island. I don't know how much better she's doing to do here, but like she said, at least if she fails she'll fail at a nice beach. And I guess that reminds me, there are others to think about, too..."

"Uh huh," Ampelus chimed in grumpily. "Let me guess, you're worried about your little love bugs."

"Don't call them that," he returned chidingly, avoiding the curious look in his griffin friend's eyes. "...but yes, I am worried about them.

"Love bugs, huh?" Callie said with a grin. "Sparky, if I didn't know the kinda company you keep, I would go so far as to assume that you're travellin' with changelings."

Spark and Ampelus shared a glance. The nymph's already sour expression turned even more sour. This griffin was far too smart...and nosy, for that matter. She'd just mentioned that she was holding secrets for a friend, and was even offended at the idea of sharing them. Did she think she was going to get what she wanted by batting her pretty eyelashes at the pegasus she'd met just once when they were children?

"...Yes," Spark said after a moment. Ampelus began to formulate different ways to strangle a griffin. And possibly a pegasus. "That's the whole reason I'm here. Well, there's...a whole different reason why we're here on the island, but that's a whole other story...I'm helping a pair of changeling friends get to Breen."

"Breen??" The look of shock and and aversion in the griffin's face gave her friends pause. "What in the name a' all things good and just do y'wanna go there for??" Callie's accent was cute and light when she normally spoke, but it came out in spades now, complimenting the look of horror in her eyes.

Spark Storm frowned. Again, it seemed like Celestia had thrown him headfirst into a dangerous situation with next to no information about where he was headed."Uh...why? What's wrong with it?"

Callie brought her paws up onto the pegasi's shoulders, practically shaking him. "You'd have better results asking what's NOT wrong with i!! The whole country's full a' bigots! What's worse, they're bigots with POWER! Th' kirins there are conquerors, and wanna force their own twisted 'peace' onto the "lower life forms" that share the country!"

Ampelus rolled her eyes before politely putting some distance between the two. "Look, this is all fine and well, but it's not like we're going over there to...restore order, or whatever it is you think Spark Storm does. We're going to Breen to drop the kids off at the murder continent and then going home."

"Goin' home, huh? Well ain't that just nice...for you!" Callie sat up and crossed her paws over her chest. "Those changelings won't have a home to go to - the only hive in the country was decimated three weeks ago!"

Spark Storm felt a cold, empty wave, like chilled liquid metal sloshing around in his insides. Could this be true? Had they come all this way for nothing? "I...is that true, Callie? Anorax told me Madalah had been called back very recently. I guess there hadn't been an update for a while, but...wouldn't she be able to tell if...?" He trailed off, casting a hopeful glance at Ampelus until he realized she wouldn't know, or care.

"I don't know where you're gettin' your information, Sparky, but it's really outdated. You're just gonna have to tell your friends to stay in Eques..."

Callie's sudden silence caught the attention of the two as a few familiar faces popped through the bushes nearby. "...Anorax? Madalah? Uh...hey..." Spark began awkwardly. There was no way to tell how much they had heard...

Another head popped out from behind them. Kecnic, tall and blue and looking quite panicked, though silent. "Oh good, you all found each other, listen, uh...uh..." Spark trailed off this time as two more faces popped out of the brush. Neither were hiding their true forms, both changelings he had never seen before. One had a luminous green glow about her, two antennae instead of a horn. The other was taller, and while he resembled the average changeling, he had large circle patterns over his body, somewhat resembling...something familiar, that that the pegasus couldn't quite put a hoof on.

"Uh...Heeeey, Spark..." Anorax began slowly. "Look, we know about the Breen hive, you don't need to tell us. Actually...it's these two that called us a few weeks ago..."

Spark Storm could feel a headache coming on. "Wh...what? Why the heck did they meet us here? Do we still need to go to Breen??"

Ampelus made a face. She hadn't seen this many changelings together for...how long had it been? Since an entire hive had tried to tear her apart? She felt a rumbling deep inside her, an anxiousness that had been building inside of her the second she'd stepped onto this stupid island. It leapt to new heights when the new female changeling set her sights on the nymph. "Oh...my gosh..." she whispered, stepping towards Ampelus, antennae twitching. "Is that what I think it is??"

"Oookay..." Spark put himself in the changeling's path. "Can we not aggravate the nymph, please? Let's stay focused! Why did you call your friends back, and what happens now that you're already here?"

The two newcomers shared a glance, then looked to their new changeling friends. Anorax smiled encouragingly. The male sighed and turned to Spark Storm. "Well, it's kind of a long story, but-"

"Just over there, my lads!" a new voice called. Spark, Callie and Ampelus collectively groaned in frustration. What now?? Suddenly a blur of black and white jumped out of the woods, a creature that Spark was sure he'd spotted once or twice in the Everfree. She was a young creature, probably younger than him. She pranced about and stuck her nose into personal space all through the crowd, even into the changeling's faces before the two newcomers slunk back behind the bushes with wide, surprised eyes.

"Ramani!" a female voice called. The zebra gasped with an air of disappointment before she turned her gaze to Callie, nose inches away from beak. The griffin smiled amicably, but found herself easing away from the invasion of privacy.

"I like you," she told the older griffin before bounding away just a brief second before Dendalla rushed out of the brush, head lowered threateningly at the present company. Ramani leapt to her side, a bright smile on her face. "It is fine, Dendalla! We have found safe friends."

"Not everyone that we meet is a friend!" the oryx chided, eyes darting between pony and his creature company. She had seen many varieties of creatures roaming the planet, but to see such variety here, in one place...

"Sheesh, so much noise..." a male voice said, nonchalant and relaxed. A stallion, at least as tall as Celestia herself, with a coat like cream and a brilliant white mane stepped into the clearing. A Saddle Arabian, Spark noted. His gaze glided over the growing crowd, a brow arched. "Not exactly the crowd we were expecting, but..." he paused, eying Callie. "...certainly not unwelcome." When the griffin's plumage puffed with indignity, he chuckled and laid eyes on the blue pegasus. "...Definitely not unwelcome."

Spark Storm felt his fur stand on edge. He'd never been flirted with by another male before, it left him feeling open and awkward, especially since the tall pony kept his eyes on him. Since coming to the island, all these weird things kept happening! What else was going to come out of those woods? His thoughts were answered almost immediately when Anorax threw him a look of horror and panic, an approaching presence that alarmed him. Even Ampelus looked like she was ready to murder, vines curling out from her shoulders and corkscrewing into points.

"Gabriel," a familar voice called. Spark felt his nymph friend's body tensing, the ground beside her trembling. "How long are we going to be in this awful humid jungle? My mane is a mess..." Fire Lotus stepped out of the forest into the clearing, messing with her mane. She was so preoccupied that she didn't stop until she'd passed the others, now halfway inbetween the pirates and Spark's friends. She looked up to see the new figures and immediately froze.

Fire Lotus had an instant to move as two sharp vines shot down at her. She spun as the vines twisted to avoid the ground and followed her. With no time to think of a plan, and having had no time to set up traps, the earth mare did the only thing she could think of - she quite literally danced, twirling to avoid the vines until she came to rest right before Spark Storm. Though wary of his ability to shock, she had to take a chance and say: "My old dance partners! Still as spry as ever, I see!"

The pegasus glared at her grin, her eyes pleading 'please please please play along...' She glanced back at the crew she was traveling with - they all looked ready to jump in and help, especially Gabriel, and Rising Mist overhead. How had the birdbrain not seen this?? Perhaps he had, he had warned her of something. These were the last two she ever hoped to see again, but to meet them here, of all places?

Spark Storm looked ready to speak when Ampelus finally caught the mare around the neck and middle, squeezing. "Aaughcc...y-you're so good...(cough cough)...at hugging!" she rasped, still trying to diffuse the situation. The stallion regarded her for a moment, watching his enemy's face getting darker. He winced when Callie nudged him harder than he was expecting, and finally signaled for Ampelus to drop her, which she did abruptly. Fire Lotus barely caught herself, breathing as quietly as she could. Stupid nymph had nearly broken a rib...

Gabriel, unsure of what had just happened, stepped forward slowly. "So...no feuds, here?"

"No," Spark Storm said with a grin. "After all, we're all old buddies here," he said, putting a leg over Fire Lotus' shoulders amicably.

"We used to work together," she told them all rather quickly. "Steel Scabbard and the Angry Flowers." Spark Storm glanced at Fire Lotus, grasping at her words. She did not go by Fire Lotus here. She had gone under cover, apparently, but coming to visit the island? He needed to know what she was doing here.

"Don't sound like any group I ever heard of," chimed Rossa Bellezza from the back of the group, a small smug look in her eyes.

"Not all performance artists come from Istalia, my dear," Fire Lotus retorted with forced charm.

"Sure don't take a talented puttana to poke around and discover new talents to stuff between your legs," Rossa shot back with no shortage of hostility.

As the pirates chuckled at the cattery, Spark Storm snorted, earning him a threatening smile from Fire Lotus. "You're making new friends all over, aren't you?" he said with a grin, daring her to strike at him.

"Look..." she started, whispering and closing the distance between the two. "Let me make this clear. I don't trust you enough to turn my back on you, and I'm sure you feel the same way. We're heading inside to give Mimosa Palm our respect, we're anchoring here to celebrate some...thing happening in the ocean, new princess or some such. I'm not here for that. I've been hired for some business in Breen. Why are you here?"

Spark had to admire the earth mare's sudden trust in the why she was here. Could he really trust her? Did he have a reason not to? She was as surprised to see him as he was to see her. Then again, if she was headed to Breen, this couldn't just be a coincidence. "Well...that might be a problem. We're also headed to Breen."

Fire Lotus scowled. She couldn't believe her luck! Or lack thereof. This mission just kept getting more complicated. "I swear to Tartarus, you better not be on your way to help some princess overthrow some rebellion I don't know about...!"

"No, not this time. It's a transport. I'm taking some clients to Breen." He paused, an idea coming to him. "You wouldn't happen to know about the changeling population there, would you?"

Fire Lotus blinked, ignoring the impatient looks the two were getting from their comrades. "I've heard that the kirins aren't nearly as peaceful as they could be, and go around 'cleansing' any cultures that don't bow down to theirs. The changeling hive there was recently destroyed, thoroughly wiped out. Why?"

So at least that confirmed what Anorax and Callie had told him. He needed more information on what to do next. If the changelings that had called Madalah to come home were in fact here on the island, was it still necessary to go to Breen? There were a great many other questions to ask, and some of them were in fact intended for Mimosa. They had a week to go before Rolling Waves would be ready to leave, whether for Breen or back to Equestria. "All right," he said. "Look, for right now, the mission to Breen is in question. I need to speak to my changeling friends and get back to the rest of my party in town. I think we'd both like to know what our intentions are before we decide it's safe to go our own way, so meet us back there tonight."

"Spark Storm, we can't trust this bitch-"

"Ampelus, trust me. And get those tendrils away from her limper."

Fire Lotus glanced back at the vine creeping up her leg towards the entry point of the needle that Ampelus slammed her on back in the caves and winced. She'd had quite a lot of pain inflicted on her, but that four inch needle going straight into her glutes was very unpleasant. She turned again to Spark Storm. Had the kid been this in charge before? She'd thought that the alabaster unicorn was the smart one. "Fine. I'll find you."

Callie sighed, her head all a-flutter with so many sudden new faces. She didn't know this Steel Scabbard that Spark seemed to be so familiar with, definitely a story to be had there. She watched as the earth mare seemed to usher the large group she'd come with into the biodome, then turned to see the five new faces emerging from the bushes. The female changeling gave the griffin a smile, antennae reaching forward to lightly tickle her face feathers. Callie giggled and shook her head. "Love bugs! You weren't kiddin', Sparky!"

Anorax, Madala and Kecnic all looked offended at the term, but the two new changelings seemed to shrug it off. "Well this has all been very interesting to witness," the male said, looking warily back into the woods. "If it's all right with you, let's get back to this village you mentioned and allow us to regale you of our journey. There's something in these woods that makes me rather uneasy."

"It's that girl," Anorax told Spark. "When we were getting off the ship, remember? The one that gave everybody chills. She followed you, and I'm not getting a sense that she's handled those issues. She's blood-thirsty, and something's off with her mind."

"Is that what that is?" the female chimed in. "I've been receiving a crushing sense of guilt, and anger..." she trailed off, her gaze going to the canopy in the distance.

"Heh, if I didn't know any better I'd say that feels an awful lot like-" Anorax did not finish before Ampelus shot him a look, coupled with an emotion screaming for silence. It was very loud and intense, and it was the first time the nymph had tried to communicate with him or any other changeling in a way that only his kind could understand. "Uhh...well, I guess I couldn't place it..." he trailed off awkwardly.

Spark Storm sighed and shook his head, not about to ask what that was about. There was too much to catch up on at this point, and everypony had questions. "Okay, well...let's head back to the bay before something else happens." He groaned and shook out his mane. "Seriously, does nopony else feel that bloodlust? Fire Lotus went inside already..."

"Fire Lotus?" Callie asked. As Spark Storm explained, Kecnic took up the back, frowning intensely as he cast his gaze back towards the biodome, his eyes scanning the forest. The girl that Anorax had mentioned was definitely here somewhere, hiding quietly and assessing, waiting...

Author's Note:

Comments

[lordofstorms2000]

Woot new chapter glad to see this back.

[mechafone]

10314108
Woo thanks!

[Topranger96]

Well this is a welcome surprise. Was worried it was dropped.

[mechafone]

10315170
Nah. Nice long sabbatical, worked on me, had a couple kids, you know how it goes, lol. I'm glad there are still readers around to entertain :D

[AZUR3]

Dude nice well worth the wait

[mechafone]

10316067
Thanks! I'll try not to make the next chapter a four year wait XD