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Lonely Tempest on Solstice Heights


RainbowFoxxy

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(If you would like to join in, please post in the OOC thread before you post here. Thanks :D)

 

Meridian tossed her bags down on the thin cracked ice near the edge of the Quickrun River. She had been traveling since earlier that morning to make it to the meeting location on time. The emerald green mare bent down and used her muzzle to rummage through the contents on the top layer of an overstuffed satchel.

 

"Ach, let's see now...got to be 'er somewhere..." She lifted her head and glanced about. Nopony could be seen as of yet. Back to the bag she went. "Where? Hmmmmm, oh! Yes, here we go!" She lifted her muzzle once more, this time it was full of something. She chewed dramatically, savoring every last morsel of the treat.

 

"MMmmmmm, home made carrot scones. Naught like them anywhere but Wooly Acres." She smiled and closed her eyes as she swallowed the last of the bite. A cool breeze blew through, whipping tiny waves on the surface of the river. It was still frozen near the edges, a reminder that winter would still hang on for a few more weeks. Out near the surface though the icy water flowed freely. Meridian shivered and pulled her knitted tartan scarf over as much of her neck as she could. She also wore a dark brown bomber style jacket, zipped up tight against the elements.

 

"BBrrrrrr...och tis cold! Good thing I brought my warm gear!" She glanced up again. The earth pony started the trot in place a little, willing her limbs to keep warm. "Wonder where he could be..."

 

It was an exciting mission she was about to embark on! The crop yield at Wooly Acres was facing the cold winter months and soon, when spring came it would be time again to plant. It had been quite a few years since her father had last made the trek into the Solstice Heights to gather the roots of the special plants they used the graze their flocks. Hardly but soft, nutritious and flavorful, there was nothing quite like the quality of the Featherbrush grass that grew under a thin layer of snow on the craggy cliffs at the heights of the Solstice range. Though they could grow at lower heights but as of yet there was no way to get them to reproduce their kind at lower altitudes.

 

Along with gathering new seedlings of the useful plants, the trip served a few other purposes. Meridian was known to bring in extra bits for her family by leading expeditions into the mountain ranges near her home. Ponies paid to be led through the awe inspiring ranges that comprised the Solstice Heights. Some locations even offered amazing views of Canterlot and the Princess' castle! This particular trek would not start at the base of the mountains. As she was taking a group, and the destination was further up than she usually took groups, they would start from a base camp in the first ranges of the mountains. She had hired an airship to get them to the starting point! The funds she would get from those paying to be on the trip would be sufficient to pay for the airship and give her a little bit of bits for her pocket. Not all the ponies and others in the group were paying customers, some she had worked out deals with, and others were coming for various reasons. All reasons aside, the trek was sure to be an adventure!

 

Meridian looked up into a blue sky as clouds scudded by on the icy winter breeze. She thought that perhaps she could hear the distant whir of airship engines.

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((OOC: Posting from my phone, let's hope it doesn't junk up my post paragraphs.))

Luna's stars, one WOULD think spending half of one's time working above or in the clouds and the other half moving about in the moonlight would inure a pony to the cold. Apparently dressing in warmer tack had been a call of good intuition, because Nightflight seemed to have forgotten just how much chillier--and windier--the days this time of year could be down below the cloud line.

The coal-dark pegasus teen shuddered against another gust and tucked her snout further into the collar of her parka, glad that if nothing else, at least the flight had been short. Cold, yes, but that had helped to wake her up after another sleepless night, so that was helpful. AND, of course! These couple hours in the cold could only prelude something that made it all worthwhile, once she arrived at her destination. Her first real expedition! Not just another night of racing through woods or a canyon, or camping out a short ways outside of Las Pegasus in the summer, but a proper, fully geared, full party adventure into the upper mountainous reaches of Equestria! What new, monumental wonders and excitements surely awaited her on this foray! Not to mention the things she could learn, and put to use on that day far away when she could finally pack up and set off to fly across Equestria and beyond borders and dangers known!

...of course, before any of that, she had to find and meet up with the other ponies, first. Gosh, this forest was thicker than she'd expected.

Banking against the wind, Nightflight descended to perch on a sturdy pine limb, tugging her knit purple cap farther down past her ears before turning to rummage in her trusty saddlebag and producing a slightt crumpled, folded parchment. A glance at it and a ponderous study of the mountainscape in her view pretty much confirmed what she'd hoped--if she wasn't totally off, the other ponies in the group would be meeting up somewhere in the genera area. Near a creek, maybe? Night stashed the map back away and ruffled her wing feathers gustily against the chill air before taking off again, now keeping much closer to the tops of the trees as she glided along, eyes peeled for either running water to follow or any indication of where to land.

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“Well Sine, we're out here in pretty much the tundra, and I don't see a single pony,” A stallion named Java chirped to his companion, a female Desert Serval that was bundled up in blankets in a bed beside the ship's helm. The two were high in the sky sailing slowly as the stallion's eyes raked the ground below. His feline companion sound asleep comfortably in her basket.

 

“Tch... I should of given that mare a couple of flares to light,” Java mumbled to himself as he pulled the wheel to veer the ship off onto a different course. But eventually, his eyes caught something along the horizon. A very very small green dot that appeared beside a river bank. The stallion smirked, and kicked up the thrusts of the engines.

 

 

…..

 

 

Soon the ship lowered from the skies after circling over Meridian for what seemed to be minutes. It's decent was quick, but graceful. The metalic plates that lined the sides of the ship soon began to move. From their origional position, which was raised up to shield the deck from the cool winds, they began to lower and push outwards.

 

By this point the ship was touching down, bouncing off the metal plates that took on the function as struts, and slowly lowered back down to the ground. The thick metal left a light gounge in the wet dirt, but it eventually came to a halt. It's engines turned what snow was around the ship into a thick flurry that whipped about in the air.

 

“Don't be alarmed,” came Java's voice later when he stepped around the aft of the ship. He trotted up to the mare with a large smile, and an excited skip to his step.

 

“I'm sorry bout the delay! It's a little difficult to see much from above like that! Not to mention that a marking on a map... tends to actually sum up to a larger search radius than you think!” The stallion clopped his hooves together and took a bow.

"That being said! The Deruba Moja is at your service! Translates to The Lonely Tempest! Funny story behind that!"

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Russet Apple stood outside his forge, his frozen breath circling his face. He was used to the cold winters of Solstice Heights as he had lived here his entire life. There were probably ponies there that feared when winter was coming, but not him. As long as he had a good supply of wood for the fire and a storage filled with food he was quite content. Besides that unlike the farms in the area that were at rest, his work never needed to be as his forge was safely indoors and well heated. 

 

The quiet of the Heights quickly broke as he heard something flying overhead, At first his worst fears came to mind: a dragon. Was Solstice Heights in the flight path of the migration? He couldn't tell, but it was better to be safe than sorry as the roar grew closer. He dashed back into the forge and grabbed the closest and easiest weapon he could find and his favorite tool:a giant sledge used to pound large pieces of metal, and galloped outside. 

 

"Alright dragon," he said as the roar was just outside his forge, "Yer not gonna roast me or mah land without a fight!"

 

He stopped as he noticed that it wasn't a dragon but a large airship that landed near the river! He saw them before but never landing in Solstice Heights.

 

"Oh that's right. The expedition party. Ah' remember that one of the ponies mentioned having an airship. Well better give them the proper greeting."

 

Leaving the sledge inside the forge he galloped out to where he saw two ponies there. 

 

"Welcome to Solstice Heights y'all. Ah'm Russet Apple."

 

His attention turned to a younger Pegasus who clung to a nearby pine tree. 

 

"Well don't you look like a cat up a tree," Russet said with a laugh, "Ah' can tell yer all not from around here. Well if there aren't any other ponies comin' then y'all can come with me as mah' house is just right over there!" 

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Jenna had followed the river through the forest to the meeting place. She had been in Fet Loch, looking for adventure, when one presented itself. A party of ponies was going up into the mountains on an expedition. Well, that sounded like something right up her alley, so she signed on.

 

As the caribou doe neared the clearing, however, her heart jumped into her throat, then sank like a stone. An airship. Why did it have to be an airship? It didn't look much like the flying longships from back home. This one was as heavily armored as the biggest meanest viking warrior. But still, it meant flying, and no longer having her hooves safely on solid ground. She hoped that the trip would be short, and that she would have an interior cabin to ride in. As long as there were no windows, she could pretend that they were sailing on water, not air.

 

She adjusted her grey woolen cape, and stepped out of the trees to join the rest of the expedition. The wind blew through her antlers, making the little ornaments hanging in them spin and sway. A string of brightly colored beads, a bird skull on a leather cord, and a river stone with a hole worn through were her current treasures on display. Hopefully she would find some new ones while in the Solstice Heights mountain range.

 

"Hail, and well met, fellow travelers! Are we all to go into the mountains together, then? This shall be quite the jolly adventure!" the caribou greeted the gathered ponies. She looked towards the ship and shivvered, ever so slightly. Yes, quite jolly, once the unpleasant first bit was over.

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"That being said! The Deruba Moja is at your service! Translates to The Lonely Tempest! Funny story behind that!"

 

Meridian had watched the decent of the Deruba Moja with keen interest as it made it's way in a lowering circle towards her. The green earth pony stepped back, well out of the way, to give the ship proper distance for landing. Her keen eyes widened as the ship touched down. What a beautiful ship it was! Her heart began to beat faster, thinking of the adventure they would share together soon enough! Though she had not yet seen any of the other crew, having the airship meant the mission was actually going to go through! Not only would she get her Featherbrush seedlings, but she would have new companions for the journey!

 

The coffee brown stallion before her clopped his hooves together and bowed to her, a huge smile on his muzzle. Meridian returned the gesture, bowing her head gracefully in traditional Fet Loch manner. A breeze swept the ends of her tartan scarf back, tossing her forelocks about.

 

"Ach thank you sir, for your service on this mission! I can assume you are Java Sun then? Pilot of this amazing vessel? I'm Meridian, leader of the expedition. I'm quite pleased to meet you in person!"

Well if there aren't any other ponies comin' then y'all can come with me as mah' house is just right over there!"

 

Now a green stallion appeared over the rise, his greetings confirmed him as Russet Apple. He was on the list of those that would be attending the expedition. Meridian had been about to greet him when a caribou emerged from the forest.

 

"Hail, and well met, fellow travelers! Are we all to go into the mountains together, then? This shall be quite the jolly adventure!"

 

This must be Jenna. There was only one caribou signed up. She seemed quite nice, not at all as Meridian had imagined a caribou would be. All she had heard lately of them was not nice to hear however, by her brief application that Meridian had received the green mare had decided to give Jenna the benefit of the doubt.

 

"Oh yes! A jolly adventure it will be! I think we're almost all here too!" she spoke to all the assembling creatures. There's just... then she remembered Russet had been speaking to another pony. She looked up, spying Night Flight up above near the tree line. "Actually, that makes all of us! Perhaps we heed Russet Apple's invitation and accompany him to his home. A warm drink would do me fine while I explain the trip details to you all. Shall we?"

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So that was the airship! It had taken a bit to shake the blown-up snow flurry out of her eyes, but once her vision was unobstructed, boy howdy was that thing grand! These things were still new to her, so on the way over she couldn't help but doubt a little how well one would serve for actually carrying several ponies--oop, and a caribou, by the looks of it--but now all she could think of was how magnificent would it be to soar the skies on this! Oh, and it looked like there was a good sized party now around where it had landed. Well, now seemed as good a time as any to get down there and mingle!

 

"Well don't you look like a cat up a tree. Ah' can tell yer all not from around here. Well if there aren't any other ponies comin' then y'all can come with me as mah' house is just right over there!" 

 

"Actually, that makes all of us! Perhaps we heed Russet Apple's invitation and accompany him to his home. A warm drink would do me fine while I explain the trip details to you all. Shall we?"

 

"Oh my goodness, yes, that sounds SO good right now, thank you!" Nightflight dipped down out of the wind, flaring her wings a little bit above the ground to brake her descent and ensure a brisk, light landing. Aside from drops of cloud water festooning her wings, parka and cap, the pony seemed none the worse for wear, for having flown so far in this weather. "Good afternoon to you all, by the way!"

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The stallion beamed proudly to the compliment towards his ship. "Thank you very kindly! This ship was designed by yours truly with additions from a few of my colleagues! Though still an alpha model from Corona Engineering and not on market yet, she's proven to be quite the champion in the sky! Shoot, while she was still being put together, and going through her first iteration she was able to take on Sky-Pirates and win with an un-trained crew!" The stallion boasted! True this might be gloating. And bragging was not part of the stallion’s nature, he couldn’t help himself! How many ships could actually claim to make such an accomplishment? Especially when the ship originally started out as a fallen soldier in a Sea Faring ship graveyard!

 

Now with new life breathed into it’s bones, here she was ready for a new adventure. “She also assisted with the rescue of those inside the Crystal Tower during the invasion… morbid day.” The stallion sighed with a frown. Definitely something he didn’t need on his mind, so he waved it away with a hoof.

 

“Anyways,” the stallion began with a chipper tone, “The offer sounds wonderful, and I’ll be willing to accept after I waken my traveling companion! Though… I wonder how smoothly that will go. She’s quite the aggressive riser.” The stallion offered a light shrug.

His sight looked over the group for a moment. His eyes flicking quickly to and fro, before settling on the Caribou. His eyes flickered for a moment, reliving unneeded memories till his eyes finally pulled away. “I should note that I do not blame all Caribou. Just have reason to be weary.” They soon returned to Meridan, “If you like! Once we get it into the sky, you can take the wheel! You’ll find it’s quite the bewildering experience!”

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It was quite an assortment of a group of ponies who were going to explore Russet Apple's homeland from a pony with a rather interesting accent to the Pegasus who decided to join the group, to the captain of the airship. 

 

"Well it's settled then. Let's get out of this cold fer awhile until we can come up with a plan as to where y'all want to go."

 

Before leaving Russet noticed and interesting creature, a caribou.

 

"Well isn't this an interesting sight. Ah must admit that Ah've heard of caribou from other travelers but not here. Well it's nice to meet you as well. Alright, the house is just a quick trot from here, so let's get going."

 

The house had an old rustic look to it like whoever built it did so years before Russet was ever born. Still it looked sturdy even after many winters. It was more of a cabin of sorts with a large open room that acted as a living room with several comfy chairs and couches, an eat-in kitchen, two bedrooms, and a bathroom all on one floor. There wasn't lots of things there, but what was a recurring theme was that many items from the grate in the fireplace to several bookshelves were made of iron. 

 

"Welcome to my humble abode. Make yourselves at home! So are you all from the same place or different areas of Equestria?" 

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It seemed that the airship ride would wait for a bit, while the group convened in a nearby house to discuss the planned excursion. Jenna let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding in. The caribou turned to look behind her, and whistled sharply through a small gap in her front teeth. A moment later, a crystal ram came bounding out of the trees. His wooly coat was amethyst in color, and he had great curling horns on either side of his head. Snowflakes caught in his wool made him extra sparkly in the sunshine. "Come along, Erik. You can wait outside the cabin while these ponies and I discuss our 'venture." The ram snorted in response.

 

The captain of the airship gave her a sidelong glance. Apparently, he had been in the Crystal Empire during the... series of unfortunate events. “I should note that I do not blame all Caribou. Just have reason to be weary.”

 

Jenna sighed. This sort of thing had been happening to her many places in Equestria. She flicked her ears in subtle annoyance. "The actions of the Red Jarl were reprehensible. I assure you, he does not represent all caribou. The village I come from is mostly farmers, loyal to the High King. We seek peaceful relations with ponykind, not war." She had not meant to be an ambassador for the Caribou Kingdom, but it was the role she now found herself thrust in. She shook her head sadly. It would take quite a lot of work to repair the damage to her species' reputation, but she would do her best.
 

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“If you like! Once we get it into the sky, you can take the wheel! You’ll find it’s quite the bewildering experience!”

 

Meridian blinked in surprise at the offer. She smiled broadly as she spoke. "Och, well now that would be a treat! I would love to take the wheel once we're on our way! Speaking of which, let's get going!"

 

"Good afternoon to you all, by the way!"

 

The dark pegasus had come to land among them. Meridian took up a trot beside her as they made their way to Russet's home.

 

"Good afternoon! You must be Night Flight. Glad you could make it here for the expedition. Doesn't look like the best of flying conditions out there." She eyed the wintery sky ruefully. "Not that I know too much about flyin' seein' as I'm wingless." She nodded to the airship. "Though it looks like we'll all get a shot at flyin' soon enough!"

 

"Welcome to my humble abode. Make yourselves at home! So are you all from the same place or different areas of Equestria?"

 

She entered the cabin and let out a breath. It was so warm and cozy! Meridian knew she better make the details go fast or she might end up snuggling up on a couch and sleeping!

 

"Well, I'm from just over the rise really, Fet Loch's my home. Thank you for having us inside Russet!" She glanced around and noticed the caribou had been followed in by a ram. A few trusty companions never hurt for this kind of adventure! "Well, I know we're all on this journey for different reasons. As for me, I shall act as your guide once we make base camp. We will scale the Solstice Heights on a three day excursion from this base camp. My goal is to reach the top to gather some of the fine plants my sheep like to graze on. As far as the path we will be taking, it can be quite treacherous. There will be obstacles we will need to cross and though we don't know each other yet...we will need to act as a team."

 

She took a parchment out of the small traveling pack she had brought with her. "I have your names on the list but it would be a great start for us to share why we are on this venture."

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Java’s lips pursed at the thought of the Caribou even being capable of farming. It wasn’t for the fact that he thought they were all war mongering monsters. But more on the lines of hearing that their lands were plagued with snow. Thus… farming would likely be impossible for most if not all crops. But the stallion offered the Caribou a smile, “Sorry. I feel that might need to be gotten out of the way in  the case of unwanted behavior from my part.” The stallion hummed.

 

He then turned around and began to trot back to his ship to rally his companion.

 

 

Soon Java returned with a nervous smile and a large, spotted,  and lanky feline streatched out across his back. The Serval was sound asleep with her nose buried in her master’s mane.

“Please don’t try to wake her up… her claws are kinda sunk in my neck…” he pleaded to everyone in the room before lying on the floor. Doing his best to do so gently to  not stir the sleeping feline. Once he was situated, his gaze began to wonder about the room, exploring every nook and crany with great curiosity and admiration.

 

Admiration for the sturdy quality, and balance between form and function of the architecture. And curiosity for the structure, before finally returning back down to their party leader.
 

“Hmm… Well I suppose I can start! I am simply here for the adventure. I don’t necessarily have any real ulterior motives.” The stallion openly stated. Though… he was being paid for the airship…. But he honestly would have done it for free.

 

 

 

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Well…that didn't sound very good, what Jenna and Java were on about. Nightflight must not have been as up to date with her world happenings as she'd thought. Or…maybe she had heard, and was just too sleepy at the time to remember. Making a mental note to discreetly ask someone about that later, she stopped to briskly shake the dew off her wings and give the sparkling ram a wistful look of curiosity (and stall her own impulse to reach out and try petting such strange wool) before stepping into the cabin, giving an audible sigh of relief at how much warmer everything was.

 

"Oh gosh that's so much better. Thank you again for the invitation! Oh, and actually I'm kind of a long ways from home here. Like…Las Pegasus far." Giving a short little laugh, she tugged off her cap and gave her short mane a quick ruffle. "Makes perfect sense for a desert pony to be up here in the snow, right? But, you know, I've been outside a lot of nights when it was pretty cold, so I figure I'll get used to this pretty quickly." Barely had she taken a seat against a wall before Java--accompanied by large feline--made his way gingerly inside, prompting the pegasus to wince at his explanation.

 

"That…does sound painful. Duly noted." So much for that urge to try and pet the kitty. Maybe later, if she woke up on her own… 

 

Nightflight listened attentively as the green earth mare went through the long and short of the journey's plan and purpose, and as Java provided his own explanation. With a little start she realized the conversation seemed to have cycled around to her. "Oh. Well uh, I can go next, I guess. I'm pretty much here for the adventure, too, except I'm hoping to also learn some things while we're traveling. It's kind of my dream right now to fly cross country beyond Equestria someday, and I figured coming along for this would be some good experience to start preparing for that."

 

"That said, I do work as a cloud surfing station monitor back home, and I spend most of my nights out in the wilderness, so I'm not here to be a complete bum! If there's any help needed with running the airship or pathfinding, or anything, really, then I'm happy to help!"

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Jenna could tell by the expression on the airship captain's face that he doubted her statement. Oh well, she wasn't going to waste her breath trying to defend herself or her people. Deeds spoke louder than mere words anyway. She would prove herself to be a valuable and worthy companion on this trip, and then maybe the stallion would change his mind about Caribou.

 

Coming up to Russet Apple's house, her eyes grew bright when she saw his forge. "Oh, you're a smithy! My father and brothers are also blacksmiths. I spent many long winters helping pump the bellows when I was a small one." she exclaimed. Wandering through the room, she examined the ironwork with an appraising eye. "I admire your work. Very well crafted."

 

It was much warmer inside, so she took off her heavy woolen cape. Underneath, she wore a harness with pack saddlebags on both sides, made from dull red dragonhide. The caribou listened as the others in the group stated their homelands and their reasons for coming along on this venture. When it was her turn, she replied "I am from a small village in the southern part of Whitescar. I am travelling through pony lands seeking adventure, and treasures. I decided to come along on this excursion because I wanted to see what lies buried in these mountains. I am strong, and sure of hoof. I spent many happy hours in my youth exploring the sides of the volcano near my village."

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As the stallion prepared to venture back to his house, a strange looking ram with a crystal coat bounded out and walked up to the caribou in the party. Russet didn't understand what the caribou meant by an uneasy relationship and a previous event not going well. The stallion wasn't one though to delve too deep into the personal lives of others unless they were willing to talk about it. 

 

"Well, I'm from just over the rise really, Fet Loch's my home. Thank you for having us inside Russet!" She glanced around and noticed the caribou had been followed in by a ram. A few trusty companions never hurt for this kind of adventure! "Well, I know we're all on this journey for different reasons. As for me, I shall act as your guide once we make base camp. We will scale the Solstice Heights on a three day excursion from this base camp. My goal is to reach the top to gather some of the fine plants my sheep like to graze on. As far as the path we will be taking, it can be quite treacherous. There will be obstacles we will need to cross and though we don't know each other yet...we will need to act as a team."

 

"Fet Loch huh?" Russet Apple said as he poked the fire to get it going for a little bit, "Well I've been living here my entire life so I know much about the area. I take hikes around the hills but never climbed the highest of the hills like we're planning. Guess there's first time for everything. I'm looking to help you all with getting up to the top and to check one more place I haven't seen off my list." 

 

“Hmm… Well I suppose I can start! I am simply here for the adventure. I don’t necessarily have any real ulterior motives.” 

 

"That's a good reason as any, as I like the adventure of going to new places." 

 

"Oh gosh that's so much better. Thank you again for the invitation! Oh, and actually I'm kind of a long ways from home here. Like…Las Pegasus far." Giving a short little laugh, she tugged off her cap and gave her short mane a quick ruffle. "Makes perfect sense for a desert pony to be up here in the snow, right? But, you know, I've been outside a lot of nights when it was pretty cold, so I figure I'll get used to this pretty quickly."

 

"Ah so you live mainly in the desert. Never been to Las Pegasus, but I've heard that the nights in the desert can be cold. It does get really cold especially being in a valley where it can be colder. That's why you have to get used to it and the snow." 

 

"That said, I do work as a cloud surfing station monitor back home, and I spend most of my nights out in the wilderness, so I'm not here to be a complete bum! If there's any help needed with running the airship or pathfinding, or anything, really, then I'm happy to help!"

 

"Well I didn't expect you'd be a bum, you just like the outdoors. Someponies think that I'm a little scruffy, especially those in Canterlot. But I just don't care about fashion and flair like some ponies do." 

 

"Oh, you're a smithy! My father and brothers are also blacksmiths. I spent many long winters helping pump the bellows when I was a small one." she exclaimed. Wandering through the room, she examined the ironwork with an appraising eye. "I admire your work. Very well crafted."

 

"Thank you" the stallion said to the caribou, "Nice to meet somepony that has family that is in that trade. My parents actually were farmers but I didn't want to farm like many of the other Apple Family members. I felt bad like I was betraying them, but I knew as a colt it wasn't my destiny. But I found an elderly pony who taught me how to smith and that gave me my cutie mark. So then I made my own home and farm and have been making anything from silverware to weapons depending on what ponies want."

 

He then looked over the group and thought about something that he normally did when he had friends over. 

 

"Oh were are my manners! does anypony or caribou want something? I have coffee, tea and hot chocolate." 

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Well, this was turning out to be a grand traveling party indeed. It seemed many of them had things in common and the talk flowed easily enough. Meridian peeked out the window, noting the time of day. They would have a little longer to stay inside but soon enough the airship would need to be boarded and underway!

 

"Oh were are my manners! does anypony or caribou want something? I have coffee, tea and hot chocolate."

 

"Thank you Russet. i'd love a mug of hot chocolate. But, perhaps you have a traveling container or two? We really should be taking off soon. I want to have base camp good and prepared and we have a fair bit o' air travelin' to see to."

 

The mare hoped she wasn't coming off as rude but they really did need to get started soon!

----------

 

It wasn't long until the crew was headed back towards the ship. Meridian looked to Java again before boarding.

 

"So, anything we should know in specific before we go aboard Captain?" She smiled at the brown stallion.

 

(short post is short...see the OOC for this thread)

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Java tapped his chin a bit as he looked over the group with a thoughtful expression. To be fair, this was probably only the third time he had flown with a group. The second being a significantly larger crowd of ponies, mostly frightened and shaken nobles. And that group certainly didn't need to be told how to keep their hooves on the stupid boat.

 

 The stallion hummed. His eyes once again giving the group a one over once more.

“Uh... well... unless we run into some critter in the sky... I'd say nothing on mind...”

“Well... actually. I am sure you lot are the adventuring type. Sooo... for any reason you fall off the ship annnd... no pony can catch you. Try to aim for a patch of snow.” The stallion hummed with a lilting tone. And... oddly enough, as musically as that was said, the Engineer seemed to have said that quite fondly. That suspicious smile he presented, could easily be a dead pan expression for any pony who's just as much as a mental odd ball as he was.

 

Of course, this was further assured when he continued, “If... you can't find snow. Then dirt. Never water, you're better off landing on a rock than water. Open wide, and land on your back. Most of your bones may be broken... but we have plenty of first aid supplies.”

 

 

The stallion then added a few more details. "There are of course a few areas below deck you can relax as well. And maybe store your equipment. Somewhere there... I stowed some supplies for the group..." The stallion then glanced up to the air, and reached up like he was going to gingerly tap a fly in the air. "I.... think? Don't quote me on that, because it may be something accidentally placed, and volatile."

 

With the slightest shift and a gesture of a hoof his feline companion, Sine, soon rose her head. She blinked the sleepiness away from her eyes, and opened her jaws wide in a silent yawn. When her jaws closed, she began to curiously peer around the room observing every creature from her mount.

 

When Java felt the movement on his back, and more importantly the claws leaving his neck, he added in one more final detail.

“Oh! Yes, and when we land, my crew mate will be shadowing us from the sky. For emergency reasons of course. If something goes wrong, I'll pop a flare, and she'll land the ship in the closest possible area.”

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Gosh...the pilot sure did have a lot to say about falling off the airship. Like, enough to sound like he'd seen it happen. It probably didn't apply to HER specifically, what with having wings and being gifted with flight and all, but...eesh. Hopefully that didn't happen. She was almost relieved when Java went on to talk about where to stow their stuff--until he went on to mention something volatile possibly lying around. Probably best to just pretend she didn't hear that bit.

 

"Um...well, I mean, I could probably help catch anypony--or caribou--who does happen to fall off. But--yeah, I guess, it sounds like not falling at all would be a really good idea." Nightflight's thought train was tapped off its track by the serval waking up in the corner of her vision, and she offered the cat a little hoofwave and a smile, not wanting to move too quickly and alarm the creature. "So the cabins are below deck, then? What else is there?"

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Jenna's stomach did little sumersaults as the airship captain described what happened to anyone who fell off. So the deck wasn't safe for non-flyers. And apparently there was something dangerous in the hold as well. Not to mention, the captain himself seemed a little...off. The caribou racked her brain trying to think of a way to back out of this expedition without coming across as rude or cowardly, but had no ideas. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves, and let it out slowly, sharpening her focus. She was a caribou, born and bred to be brave in the face of adversity, and to fear nothing. She could handle a short flight in a dangerous ship with a possibly crazy pilot.

 

The young caribou swept her cape back on her shoulders and headed towards the door. "Meridian is right, we should be heading out soon. We want to arrive before we lose too much daylight. We can go over the safety lecture when we get on the ship."

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"Thank you Russet. i'd love a mug of hot chocolate. But, perhaps you have a traveling container or two? We really should be taking off soon. I want to have base camp good and prepared and we have a fair bit o' air travelin' to see to."

 

Russet nodded and helped distribute the drinks to others. The talk then shifted towards starting the mission aboard the airship. 

 

"Well, honestly Ah've never been on an airship before, but there's a first time fer everything Ah guess."

 

The talk of falling off the airship was a little frightening to him as Russet Apple had no wings. Could he trust the flying machine to get him there safely? Was it better to walk than to risk flying and crashing. Well, if others were interested then he would too. 

 

"Alright then, Ah can tell that y'all are itchin' to get goin'. Ah' do have some things that y'all can use in mah shop. Grapplin' hooks, snow shoes, canteens fer water, really anything that you can think of that's made of metal Ah' have." 

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