Flight Rising Discussion

Deja Vu

Outside the Astolodome, astronomers Copernicus and Kepler were finishing their notes on the comet in the adjunct office of the Observatory. They were the last remaining at work. All the other astronomers and staff had set off to enjoy the festivities.

Kepler was eager to finish and go home to get ready for his presentation, though it wasn’t until tomorrow night. He still could hardly believe he’d been asked to give a presentation on the comet to the Astronomers Council. He simply must look his best. He had a set of golden silks in his wardrobe that would be perfect.

Copernicus was also thinking about the presentation, as she’d also been asked to present. Wanting to get the facts just right, she realized she had not gotten a chance to see the comet in the telescope the night before. She’d felt ill and went to lie down. So, she decided she couldn’t accurately discuss the celestial object if she’d never seen it.

“Kepler, I will be right back,” she said. “I need to see the comet!”

The Fae waved back at her and grunted, “uh-huh,” as he continued to compose his speech.

Copernicus ascended the spiral staircase and approached the eyepiece. Nobody else was around, so she settled herself in without signing the time slot reservation log.

She carefully removed the antique crystal-encrusted cover from the eyepiece and set it down in its velvet-lined case. Taking a deep breath, she put her left eye up to eyepiece. “Wow!” she said to herself. “It’s so beautiful! Those tails must be the result of different gasses being released at different points of the comet!”

Whipping out her journal, she quickly jotted down some observations to use during the presentation. About an hour later, she sighed, put the cover back on the eyepiece, and turned toward the door to the staircase.

Out of the corner of her eye, through the narrow window, she noticed a strange gleam coming from the surface of the Astrolodome. The dome was a fair distance away, but Copernicus was curious, so she grabbed a small spare telescope from a closet in the hall and set it up at a slightly larger window facing due south.

Through the lens, she saw the crystal of the dome was no longer clear. It was strangely cloudy. The light bouncing off it glowed a bit more than usual. Just as she nearly had herself convinced it was nothing a good cleaning could remedy, she saw all the shapes inside…shift.

“Wha-?!” She popped her head up and blinked her eyes a couple of times and looked again. Sure enough, all of the shapes had moved from their previous positions.

“How…?” she started and realized she needed to talk to real people about this. Running down the stairs, she called Kepler’s name, but to no avail. He’d gone home.

Filled with determination, Copernicus raced outside and went searching for her colleagues.

About four hours later, she returned with a cranky Kepler, as well as astronomers Gali and Whipple, one of whom was still eating his dinner.

Copernicus brought them all to the telescope that still stood pointing through the south-facing window.

“What is this?” asked Whipple, rubbing his pearl and then absentmindedly placing it in his satchel. “I thought we were here to view something strange about the comet.”

Copernicus sighed. “No, I said it was something I thought the comet might be responsible for. We’re looking at the Astrolodome.”

Kepler landed on Whipple’s shoulder and huffed. “Why are we looking at it from here? Why not just go to the dome and look at it there?”

Gali had snuck up behind the others and was peering through the eyepiece. “Because we might not want to get very close! Something strange is happening.”

Copernicus gestured toward her colleague. “Thank you! Yes, my fellow astronomers, there is something...hinkey...about the dome.”

“‘Hinkey’ is hardly scientific language,” Whipple said.

Kepler nodded, but hopped over to rest on Gali’s head. He swatted at him, so he settled on his shoulder. “May I look, please?” He obligingly moved his shoulder near to the eyepiece. After a moment, Kepler blew out a breath and looked around at the others. “This is strange.”

After Whipple finally looked through the lens, he stood up and then sat down on the floor, saying nothing. His eyes were distant as he finished chewing his last bite of dinner.

The others, quite used to the Pearlcatcher’s eccentricities, turned to each other while he digested - literally as well as figuratively.

“What does this mean?”
“How is this happening?”

“Is this really an effect of the comet? Where’s your evidence?”

“We should tell the Arcanist!”

“QUIET!” Copernicus yelled.

The other two, surprised by her uncharacteristic shout, stopped immediately and turned to listen to her.

“I have a theory, but it’s nowhere near complete,” she started. “I need you three to help me gather data before we do anything. I mean, what, exactly, would we tell the Arcanist at this point?”

A cricket chirped in the distance as they looked at each other, when Whipple suddenly stood up and went inside. A moment later, he returned with three more small telescopes. They got to work.

About an hour and a half later, they all gasped simultaneously.

Whipple knocked over his telescope as he stood suddenly. “Did you see that?”

They all started chattering at once. This went on for a few moments before Copernicus emitted a loud whistle. “This is what I was telling you about! You saw them all suddenly shift, right?”

The other three nodded. Kepler began scribbling furiously. Gali followed suit.

“Ok, Perni,” said Whipple, “what’s your theory, now that we’ve seen this?”

Grinning with excitement, Copernicus said, “I think they’re in a time loop!”

The other three erupted into chatter that made the cricket stop what it was doing and flee.

The Skydancer sighed heavily and stomped her foot. “Let’s stop arguing and put our heads together to figure this out! And we should get Bopp a gift basket...to say sorry we doubted him!”

Chastened again, they got to work.

Meanwhile, in the Astrolodome…

Halley and Bopp wended their way through crowded public spaces as they made their way to the forum. The going was slow. They were held up for an hour while an overturned food trolley was moved from the middle of one thoroughfare they wished they’d not turned down.

“This is taking forever, Halley,” cried Bopp, fins rippling. “By the time we get there, all of the scholars will have gone home!”

“Nonsense, my new friend,” she said. “The forums last well past midnight when the subject is interesting. This comet is far too interesting to not discuss. I heard last night’s discussion lasted until dawn, when they all decided to continue the talk over breakfast!”

Seeing an opportunity, Halley grabbed Bopp and scooted behind a pile of stuff that had been pulled out of the trolley so it would be easier to rock back onto its wheels.

Behind the pile was a lone Veilspun dragon, staring at the pile of food quizzically. She looked up with big, pale pink eyes and asked, “Do you see those steaks there?”

Halley looked at the pile of food and then back to the small dragon and nodded.

The Veilspun looked into her small knapsack and then back to the pile and said, “I was sure I’d put them all in my bag, but there they are, not in my bag!” She flicked her long, blue hair out of her eyes and continued to look inside her empty knapsack, as though the steaks would suddenly appear there.

Halley and Bopp left the confused dragon staring at the pile of food and edged their way along the clearing and onto a different street.

On the other side of a very busy market, the pair were confronted with yet another blockade of excited Arcanites, blocking the street with their excited celebrations over the coming comet. Halley signaled to Bopp that she knew a shortcut and led him up the steps of one of the many libraries that seemed to be everywhere in the Starfall Isles.

Once atop the stairs, Halley led him along the side of the building and down the steps in the back, where they found themselves in a park that was markedly more quiet than the rest of the Astrolodome.

They sat down on a bench near a family of Skydancers and Snappers who were playing cards. “This seems familiar, Halley.”

One of the hatchlings, a rust-colored Snapper, waved and called out, “Hi Halley!”

Halley waves back, reflexively.

Halley turned her head to one side and then called out to the hatchling, “How do you know my name?”

The youngling looked at her with a big smile and said, “Because you tell it to us in a couple of minutes!”

The babe’s parents looked confused. “Swan, what do you mean, ‘in a couple of minutes’?” asked her mother.

“Well, we’ve played this game a couple of times already and I usually go over and tell Halley that I like her lab coat because I wanna be a scientist one day and we talk about what I like about science and we tell each other our names. This time is different, but I don’t know why. I know you don’t remember because you never do.”

All of the adults stare at the child for a moment before shrugging.

Bopp and Halley awkwardly say goodbye before continuing into the park.

On the other side of the park, a dragon was yelling into a two-way radio, “No, I did not forget to order that! I ordered it and I’m sure it arrived. I saw you put it away!”

After a few minutes walking toward the forum, Bopp turned to Halley and said, “Have you noticed something strange about the people we’ve encountered on this trek?”

Halley said, “Well, they all seem to be agitated.”

He nodded and said, “Yes, but they also all seem to be having that feeling that they’ve done something or heard something before. You know what I’m talking about...day...day zhah...something.”

“Oh, deja vu?”

“Yes! That’s it!” he said. “And that hatchling was convinced we’d been there before and even knew your name!”

“That is curious,” Halley agreed. “But what do--”

“Sorry kids. The doors are all jammed up. Have been all day’,” the Ridgeback sitting beside the gates tells Bopp and Halley. “Dome’s been all misty, too. Hope that’s somethin’ that’ll clear up before nightfall so we can see that comet. Hey, are you kids goin’ to one of them comet viewing parties they’re holding?”

“--we do about it?” Halley finished. Suddenly, they were both standing in front of a familiar Ridgeback at the gate to the Astolodome. “What the…”

“Oh, but you two should definitely go!” The Ridgeback continued. “Yeah, yeah, they’re holding a real big one outside the Astrolodome. Them decoration committee dragons look like they’re goin’ all out for Starfall this year, can’t wait to see what kind of stops they pull out. Especially after last year, right?”

Bopp stood mutely while Halley spun around, open-mouthed, eyes agog.

“Somethin’ botherin’ you, dearie?” the Ridgeback asked. “You look confused. The gates ain’t openin’ anytime soon, so you might as well go back an’ enjoy yourself.” The tall dragon turned to another group of dragons and started up her speech again.

Halley stumbled a bit as Bopp dragged her away from the gates as best he could, wings flapping furiously. He pulled her over to the side of the main street and tried to get her to sit on a small boulder, but all he managed to do was help her tie herself into a knot.

“Halley...Halley!” he said in a hoarse whisper. “Snap out of it! I don’t know what’s going on, but we have to go. You’re attracting attention.”

She seemed to wake up and nodded. “Yes, let’s go.”

On the way, the slightly less-knotted Spiral stopped suddenly, “Bopp! I know what’s happening! We might need to double-check our notes, but...I think we’re in a time loop...and we’ve been in it for a while!”

---

Day 2 Week 2: Deja Vu written by @SocklessWonder

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L.A.S.E.R

Copernicus had acquired a headache. The scholarly debate of what to do about the comet dragged on. Times like these were when the skydancer wished her sensitivity to others’ emotions could be flicked off with a switch.

“We can’t just leave them in a time loop!” argued Gali the nocturne. “And we need to study it!”

“No one said anything about leaving them in a time loop,” Copernicus finally interjected. “At least not indefinitely. The comet does have a projected time to leave our area of space, now that we know we’re looking at Aevum - or Codadoc, or Echo, depending on who you ask - and not an unknown comet.”

“The Astrolodome is changing the intensity of its effects, which could render previous data invalid.” Whipple’s tone radiated his lack of patience, pearl resting in his claws.

“Well, what are you suggesting? It’d be less than ideal to destroy it, and close to impossible to find a way to move its orbit.” Copernicus forced her tone more level, keeping irritation out of it. “And if we want to study it...”

Kepler the fae ruffled his frills and crest. “All we would need is a piece of it to study. Then we could ensure the data is correct, and glean new information.”

“The L.A.S.E.R.!” gasped Gali, eyes shining. “We could use it!”

The nocturne meant the Learning And Space Exploration Radiotelescope, which had numerous capabilities, including... “Are you suggesting the death ray function?” Copernicus stared in disbelief. But the more she thought, it seemed like a workable solution. Not that she’d be around for it, since her headache was getting worse.

“You said it, not me!” Gali crowed gleefully.


Bopp stared woefully at the papers in his study, as Halley wrapped her long body around a bookcase. “We’re in a time loop.”

“Yup,” she said cheerfully. “You’ve said that a lot. Don’t worry, I don’t think that’s temporal distortion.”

“How are we supposed to convince anyone?” Bopp’s frills drooped. “I can’t get to the Archives to research anymore. I still have the book... but I can’t read most of it.”

“You don’t always need the Archives, Bopp! We have critical thinking skills.”

Do we really, he thought dryly. We’re lucky the spell you cast didn’t turn us inside out. “And what conclusion are your critical thinking skills leading you to?”

“We’ve got access to labs and research equipment still. We have to study the comet!” Halley’s tail had knotted itself together.

“You should probably be careful untangling your tail.” I’m glad someone’s enjoying this. I’m just worried! And... okay, kind of grumpy about being ignored by everyone over this. “All right, let’s go see what we can do.”

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Day 3 Week 2: L.A.S.E.R written by @silverbrook

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The Plan

It was already mid-week, and with the Astrolodome still firmly stuck in a time-loop, some of the dragons of the isles were starting to get a bit concerned. This certainly hadn’t been the Starfall Celebration they’d been expecting… but then again, it likely would’ve been more of a surprise if things hadn’t gone awry somehow.

While there were plenty of dragons still keeping things going for the celebration, a group of four astronomers had instead started getting hard at work on examining the Learning And Space Exploration Radiotelescope- L.A.S.E.R. for short- to figure out the best way to knock a chunk of the comet down from space.

“I say we just blast it!” Gali, a Nocturne and their (self-appointed) leader, opened the meeting with a grin. “Then, once we knock it down, we can gather up the chunks.”
“Um… no, we’ll need to be careful.” The Obelisk named Lyra frowned, her tail swishing. She hardly felt prepared for something like this, but she needed to keep calm. “Imagine if we destroyed the comet entirely while trying to get a sample- what would happen to everyone inside the dome if it blew up?”

“Perhaps, but worrying about that isn’t going to get us anywhere.” Kepler’s frills flattened out in annoyance, looking to the three-tailed comet in the sky. The Fae dragon was small, but was one of the oldest members of their work group. “We just need to do something, before we miss our chance.”

“Well, yes, but what if—”

“Kepler is right.” Azha nodded, interrupting Lyra before she had a chance to interject with another nervous comment. The Bogsneak just tapped their claw on the ground, before starting to draw something into the dirt. “We only need to break off a chunk of it. That should be plenty do-able, we just need to be careful when we go about it.”

The group gathered around close, watching Azha as they drew. The first one to speak up was a surprise, though- Lyra had only joined them recently, having been one of the stone Obelisks to awaken from a statue. She was usually pretty quiet but a keen student, who still had a way to go on getting used to how things could go in the Starfall Isles.

“……Why does the telescope have a death ray?”

“…Well, why not?” Gali replied, a sly grin firmly on his face. “You never know when the next giant space alien might show up!”

“Really, you can never be too careful,” Azha nodded in agreement. “It’s just good practice.”

“And who’s gonna mess with the astronomers with a death ray?”
Kepler’s fins wiggled in amusement, landing for a moment to sit on Lyra’s head.

“One wrong move, and KA-BLOOEY!” Gali snickered, his talons clicking as he made explosion gestures with his hands. “Not that we’d need much help making things blow up around here.”

The group nodded in agreement at that, with only Lyra jumping at the sounds of a distant glitter-filled explosion. The movement forced Kepler to get up, instead now choosing to sit on Azha.

“Um… well, okay then.” It was simpler to just go with the flow sometimes, so that was what Lyra was choosing to do for the moment. She’d ask questions after the celebration… maybe. “So, we’re going to use the… Death Ray? That sounds like it’d be a bit much.”

“Not if we modify it.” Azha had finally finished their drawing, tapping at a crude outline of a huge lens suspended above the radiotelescope. “If we make a new lens from jade, it should filter some of the ray’s power.”

“Filtering it using an opposing elemental stone? That’s genius! In fact, I was absolutely definitely just about to say that.” Gali exclaimed, nodding his head firmly. “But where are we going to get a big enough piece of jade for something like that?”

“…I think we’re gonna need to go digging at the Crystal Pools.”



Azha and Lyra had been selected for the excursion, alongside a Ridgeback named Spade who’d been pulled along for his talents in excavating. Together they’d made good time, landing at the pools with plenty of daylight remaining.
“Over there! That looks like a good place to start.”

Azha had filled them in on their plans for how to make the lens on the flight over. Spade was no slouch when it came to digging, so he’d be doing most of the hard work while Azha scanned for any and all useful pieces of jade, and Lyra kept her eyes peeled for any danger. And with the exception of some angered local wildlife, things were going pretty smoothly.

“I know they’re called stingers, but do they really have to… well, sting so much?”

Lyra found herself pouting a bit as she smacked away another crystalline bother, resisting the urge to lick at her paw pads. It didn’t help to hear Spade laughing, his low rumble temporarily interrupting the sounds of digging.
“We’ve almost got enough, so it shouldn’t be much longer.” Azha gave a sympathetic smile, pulling a salve from their bag. “This should help the stinging- you’ve been doing a good job, keep it up!”

“Thanks, Azha.” Lyra nodded, letting out a sigh of relief as the stinging finally started to subside. “I knew this place could get a bit dangerous sometimes, but this does feel like a bit much, doesn’t it?”

“I’ll admit, it’s more than usual. It’s making me wonder if we’ll run into a—”

“JESTER!!”

Spade’s sudden shout cut them off, the Ridgeback facing down the giant turtle with a fierce snarl. Lyra wasted no time leaping to his aid, tackling it away. Together they managed to drive it off, all slumping to the ground once the coast was clear.

“Well, that was a lot. But hey, we’ve got enough jade!” Azha grinned, looking at the others. “Let’s get that all gathered up and head back now. We don’t have much time left to set things up.”

“Already bounced back from that?”

“Yep, those things show up pretty often around here. But Lyra, you don’t seem too phased yourself.”

“Maybe I’m just finally getting into the Starfall spirit?”

“Ha, good to hear it.” Looking to the sky, Azha got up to stretch their legs. “And you’re alright too, Spade?”

“Yep, I’m tougher than any turtle. It should be smooth flying all the way back to the LASER now, assuming the weather holds up.” With a quick leap he took to the air, holding position until the others joined. “The skies look nice, so let’s fly!”

Nodding, Lyra followed along after the others. There was still plenty of work left to do once they got back, but there was still enough time… so long as nothing blew up on them.

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Day 4 Week 2: The Plan written by @spacedaydreamer

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Bang!

“There’s a what?!” Sateen squealed. The rest of the decorating crew stood behind her, their jaws hanging slack.

Whipple winced, but nodded. “It’s true. The comet’s inherent magic has interacted with the Astrolodome’s arcglass, and it’s trapped the entire area in a time-loop. There’s no way in or out, and we haven’t been able to establish contact with those trapped inside.”

“That’s crazy,” Ribbon said, shaking her head in disbelief. “How does that even happen?”

“We don’t know. That’s why we’re in the process of breaking off a piece of the comet with the L.A.S.E.R. shortly, so we can recover a piece of it and study it.”

Bubbles shot a concerned look towards the Astrolodome, still coated in the murky mist that made it hard to see through its glittering shell. “Are the people inside okay?” she asked worriedly.

Whipple gave her a small, tired smile and a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “Yes, as far as we can tell. The time loop doesn’t cause any harm. Most, if not all of the dragons inside the Astrolodome probably don’t even realize what’s happening.”

“Probably?” Tango repeated, the Mirror dragon squinting at Whipple in suspicion. “That doesn’t sound very reassuring. You don’t really know what’s going on in there? I thought you Astronomer-types were supposed to be smart.”

At once, Whipple’s face darkened in irritation. “You know, we have a lot going on right now, trying to make sure that the L.A.S.E.R. is calibrated properly so that we don’t miss out on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study a magical comet up close! I’ve already told you, we can’t communicate with those inside the Astrolodome, but all you have to do is walk up next to it and squint, and you can see for yourself that everyone inside looks fine!”

He was still puffed up with annoyance as he snapped, “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to work. Enjoy your Starfall Celebration, you really outdid yourselves this year. Good day!” And with a huff, he took off.

The decorating committee watched him go, and then turned to look at one another.

It was Bubbles who broke the silence first. “I know they’re probably fine, but I can’t help but worry about the folks trapped in the Astrolodome,” she murmured.

“Can’t communicate with those inside, my tail!” Tango hissed, said tail lashing in irritation. “They’re right there! Why not just hold up a big sign that says “you’re in a time loop!” or something?”

“Maybe they don’t have a big enough piece of paper,” Bubbles suggested mournfully.

“Or bright enough paint,” Punch added, his fluffy ears drooping.

There was a short pause.

“...we have bright paint,” Cupcake said slowly.

“...and a lot of banner fabric left over,” Confetti continued, his fins slowly flaring with excitement.

“And GLITTER.” A devious grin spread across Tango’s face as she looked back towards their leftover supplies.

Sateen had so far been silent, but as the others turned to her, they could see that familiar tremor travelling through her body that meant she was about to burst with excitement. “Team?” she called out, her smile so wide and bright it was blinding. “I think we’ve got a bit more work to do!”

---

“Hold it up higher! No, Ribbon, you’re too high now, can you drop down about a - yes! That’s perfect!”

Satisfied at the banner’s position, Sateen turned to squint through the strange mist that coated the Astrolodome’s arcglass. “Alright, everyone, now just hold your positions...and...yes! I think I see someone looking our way!” She started waving frantically, trying to catch the attention of the dragons on the other side.

She was confident that their plan would work. Their giant banner, reading ‘You’re stuck in a time loop!’ in glittery purple paint, was stretched out behind her, six feet tall and ten feet wide. Surely it would catch the attention of anyone who saw it. And once it did, they could start talking with the dragons inside! It was such an obvious solution, she had no idea why the Astronomers hadn’t thought of it sooner! Well, the joke was on them, because the decorating committee were going to be the ones to solve this little problem!

Sure enough, a pair of Coatl dragons inside seemed to be coming closer, as if to read their banner.

“Higher, guys! Hold it steady!” Sateen directed her team. Ribbon and Confetti groaned, but obeyed, pulling the banner out taut so that its message was clear. Below them, Cupcake and Punch anchored the bottom corners to keep it from flapping in the breeze.

“Oh look!” Bubbles bounced in excitement. “They see it!”

For a moment, it seemed as if it was working. It was hard to see the Coatls through the mist, but to Sateen it looked like they were trying to read the sign. But then she saw one turn to the other, shaking her head and shrugging her shoulders. The other shrugged back.

“No!” Sateen moaned.

But alas, the pair was already walking away.

The group glumly watched them leave, Confetti and Ribbon sinking slowly down to let the banner slump to the ground. After a minute, Punch decided to speak up.

“Now what?” he asked.

Sateen thought furiously, determined to make this plan work. “Maybe if more dragons saw the banner, one of them might be able to read it. Or at least figure out that someone is trying to talk to them. We have to get some attention. But how?”

Silence. But then, she heard a low chuckle. That low chuckle was rapidly turning into a scary laugh, and then into a full blown evil cackle. “Oh no,” Sateen closed her eyes in pain, knowing exactly what that meant.

“Oh yes!” Tango yelled.

“No! You’ve been banned from fireworks ever since the fiasco of ‘18! There's no way.”

There was a notable lack of agreement from the rest of the committee. Sateen stared at them in betrayal.

“You must admit,” Cupcake said slowly. “Tango’s firework displays will certainly get everyone’s attention.”

When the others just nodded along, Sateen knew that she was outvoted. Her shoulders slumped in defeat. “Alright, fine -”

“Yesssss!”

“But!” Sateen cut her off before Tango’s celebration could get too out of hand. “Can we at least try to keep the ground intact this time?”

“No promises,” Tango told her, her grin positively sinister.

---

Inside the Astrolodome, all had been business as usual aside from the strange mist that had decided to gather outside, when suddenly, the sky seemed alight with explosions right outside the arcglass. Bright flashes of colour in pinks and purples and pale blues danced across the sky, glitter raining down like shooting stars, comet-crystals trailing ribbon tails crashing into each other and sending shards scattering across the sky.

It was a massive display, absolutely breath-taking. The dragons inside paused and looked up to watch, ooh-ing and aah-ing at each new explosion. Unfortunately none of them noticed the source of the fireworks, too caught up in the spectacle to see the giant banner that was being waved at them by a group of very burnt dragons.

“Man, the decorating committee does great stuff,” one dragon said to another, “but it’s strange. Why are they doing a show like this on the first day of Starfall? The comet’s only just arrived!”

Her companion shrugged. “The committee is a bit crazy,” she offered.

“If this is what they’ve got planned for the first day of Starfall,” another dragon piped up, “I can’t wait to see the finale!”

---

The dust finally settled outside the Astrolodome, revealing a group of very frazzled and filthy dragons, their feathers, fur, and scales covered in soot and dirt and glitter. The ground around them was a smoking crater.

Sateen wobbled a bit, before deciding she needed to sit down. Right now. “Did it work?” she croaked out.

Confetti, who was draped over Punch’s horns, lifted his head and groaned. “Doesn’t look like it.”

“And the fireworks burnt up our sign,” Punch reported.

“It nearly burnt up us!” Ribbon snapped.

Tango didn’t even bother apologizing. She was still cackling with delight over the destruction she’d wrought.

“I think…” Sateen said, sounding a little bit shell shocked, “...that Whipple was right. I don’t think we can communicate with the people inside. I’m just going to lie down now.” And she promptly did just that.

Ribbon helpfully flew over, licked her clawtips, and pinched out the little flame burning on Sateen’s headfeathers.

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Day 5 Week 2: Bang! Written by @CupcakeNova
(sorry about the lateness, no one could get to me... this dome is an issue...)
@//KairiDragoness how'd you know! :D

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Radio Waves

Bopp and Halley yet again found themselves in Bopp’s study. Bopp scrunched his eyes shut, his frills pulled down in distress at the sudden disorientation. Halley, however, let out a delighted laugh.

“Ooo, that doesn’t get any less weird!” she said. “Refreshing, though — I do like the not-needing-to-sleep thing, that is super-cool! I wonder … if we ever get out of this, could we figure out a way to maintain a loop that only affects an individual? Then I wouldn’t have to waste any time at all on sleep …”

“If?” Bopp squawked, opening his eyes and interrupting Halley’s musings. “What do you mean if we get out of this? You don’t really think we’ll be trapped in this loop forever — do you?”

“Well, it’s a time loop: forever is relative,” she said with a shrug and swept past him to the door.

“What does that mean?” Bopp asked as he followed her out into the bustling crowds milling between the Starfall stalls.

Just like all the previous loops, no one seemed to have noticed that they’d been magically transported back to wherever they were twenty-four hours ago. He couldn’t quite believe that his companion was as unconcerned as the dragons who had no idea anything was going on — especially if she thought this looping thing might be permanent!

“Absolutely technically speaking, we’ve only been in here for one day — we’ve just repeated it several times,” she explained. “And we have no idea what the passage of time is doing outside of the Astrolodome, it could have been a few hours or ten-thousand years, for all we know. That’s part of what makes it so exciting!”

She grinned at him, but Bopp’s frills lowered in horror.

“Oh, don’t look so glum. There are way worse days to be stuck in than the first day of Starfall!”

To emphasise her point, Halley spread her arms and wings wide and spun in a circle to indicate the happily chattering dragons, the cheerful decorations hung between buildings, and the many stalls and entertainments filling the Astrolodome’s streets. Bopp had to grudgingly admit that she was right: if he had to be trapped in one specific day for the rest of eternity, this wasn’t a bad one. He’d just rather not be trapped at all.

Halley slung an arm around his narrow shoulders and pulled him close. “And think of it like this: we have all the time in the world to learn as much as we can about this temporal anomaly — and we can remember all the previous loops! We’re the lucky ones! Now aren’t you glad I had the foresight to cast that spell?”

“No,” Bopp grumbled. If she hadn’t, he would be blissfully oblivious, just like the rest of the dragons in the Astrolodome, and not beside himself with worry about what they were going to do.

“You’re welcome,” Halley said in a cheerful sing-song voice. “Now come on: I want to check out the actual dome this loop, we haven’t done that yet. I wonder why it’s fogged up ...”

She continued to think aloud as she led the way across the square. Bopp trailed after her, but stopped short when he caught a snippet of conversation:

“Come along, Flux! We have to hurry if we want to get everything set up before the next temporal shift!”

He gasped and fluttered into the air to look for whoever had spoken. There, in the midst of all the Festival-goers, were two dragons moving with unusual purpose. The elder was a silvery-maned Tundra dressed head-to-toe in protective apparel, the younger a Spiral draped in loops of wiring and carrying a teetering assortment of boxes and parts.

“What is it?” Halley asked, stretching her long neck up towards him.

“Those two dragons — I heard one of them mention something about a ‘temporal shift’,” he said, pointing. He didn’t dare say it out loud and jinx them, but … could they have found someone else who was aware of the time loop? Maybe even someone who could help?

“Ooo!” Halley squealed. “And it looks like they’re up to something. Let’s find out what!”

With that, she corkscrewed into the air and dragged Bopp over the heads of the crowd towards the pair. She overtook the Tundra at the edge of the square and flitted down in front of him.

“Hi there! I’m Halley, and this is my friend Bopp. We saw you had all this stuff to carry and we thought we’d give you a hand!”

The other Spiral sagged in relief. “Ugh, would you mind? That would be awesome.”

“Wait!” the Tundra said, pushing in front of her to peer at Halley and Bopp through his goggles.

“C'mon, Doc — I know it’s delicate scientific equipment but my arms are going to drop off —”

“Why did the two of you approach us?” he demanded, ignoring his assistant. “We’ve crossed this square at more or less this exact moment three times now and you’ve never done that before!”

“So you do know about the loop!” Halley crowed, dancing around in a jubilant figure-eight. “Bopp, you were right!”

“Great Sparks —” Doc gasped, looking between them. “You two are aware of the temporal repetition? I thought I was the only one!”

“What about your apprentice?” Bopp asked, turning towards the spiral, but she shook her head.

“Nope: Doc was wearing his full radiation suit when whatever it was that happened … happened. I wasn’t.” She grimaced as if she expected to be told off, but Doc just patted her on the shoulder without comment. Probably because he’d already scolded her in a previous loop, Bopp guessed. She went on: “Unfortunately, putting the suit on now apparently doesn’t help me keep my memories, so the Doc here has to explain it to me over and over.”

“And I’m very grateful that you’ve always trusted me when I told you what was going on,” he said.

“Of course, Doc,” Flux said quietly, returning his smile. She looked back towards Halley and Bopp. “How come you two know what’s going on?”

“Bopp found a spell in an old book about the comet and I cast it. Turns out it protects us from temporal disturbances — we still get reset but we retain our memories of previous loops,” Halley quickly explained. “So what’s with all the equipment? Are you doing an experiment? Can we help?”

“Ah, yes — Flux and I have been conducting experiments on the dome over the past few loops. You are aware that it has become sealed?” He waited until Bopp and Halley had nodded before he continued. “I noticed during the second temporal reset that the comet gave off a pulse of energy right before I was transported back to my lab. The flare was visible right through the dome —”

“But we can’t see the comet from in here,” Bopp said, looking up at the opaque surface of the dome above.

“Not at the moment. But over the course of the day the arcglass starts to clear!” Doc said, spreading his arms wide as if he was miming wiping away the fog.

“I thought it looked cloudier now than it did earlier!” Halley cried. Then she scrunched up her face. “Or — later, I guess …?”

Doc nodded. “My working theory is that the comet’s energy pulses are interacting with the Astrolodome’s arcglass to cause the temporal effects. How, exactly, I don’t know, but the reaction continues over the course of each ‘day’ — or loop, as you call them —”

“And the arcglass turning clear indicates that the comet’s energy is depleted?” Bopp finished, his frills waving in sudden excitement as he understood.

“Quite correct! Or at least, that was the conclusion I reached,” Doc agreed. “Our experiments have revealed that physical objects remain quite unable to pass through the boundary of the dome, no matter how close we time it to the comet’s energy pulse. However, we have been able to send intangible things through: spells and, more importantly, radio waves!”

“You can communicate with the outside!” Halley cheered.

“We haven’t managed to yet,” Doc sighed, running his claws through his mane. “Last time we didn’t have enough power, or a large enough aerial, and we ran out of time.”

“Well, now you’ve got two extra pairs of hands,” Bopp said, glancing at Halley. “How can we help?”

\|/
O

It took far longer than Bopp expected to get everything set up. First there was the challenge of gaining access to the roof of the Astrolodome’s tallest crystal tower, where they would have the maximum range without anything but the dome to interrupt the signal. Then there they had an enormous antenna to uncoil and set up, plus the radio itself, which was powered by the last of Doc’s chalcedony supply.

He grumbled as he attached the crystals, sheathed behind his protective apparel despite the fact that they were contained in an insulated case. Bopp eyed the container warily, wondering if he too should be wearing some sort of safety equipment.

“Don’t worry,” Flux said, patting him on the shoulder as she passed. “You’re an Arcane native. Chalcedony’s only dangerous to dragons hatched outside the Starfall Isles.”

“There,” Doc said, sitting back on his haunches and looking at their collective handiwork. “Excellent job, everyone! I think we’re ready.”

With a flick of a switch, he turned the radio on.

The speakers immediately crackled with a burst of static that fluctuated and hummed as he turned the dial and scanned through the frequencies. Bopp looked up at the dome — was it any clearer than it had been before? Was that vague shape the comet? He crossed his foreclaws and hoped this was going to work.

“Hmm … no one broadcasting,” Doc said after a minute. “Let me try sending a signal.”

He turned the dial back to find the frequency with the least static and picked up the microphone. Bopp held his breath and exchanged a look with Halley, who stared back with the same look of anticipation on her face. Doc pressed the button to transmit:

“This is the Astrolodome calling the Observatory. Does anyone read me? I repeat, this is the Astrolodome calling the Observatory. Over.”

There was silence, apart from the same hissing as before.

A sudden crackle in the white noise made them all jump and Doc leaned closer still to the radio, turning one ear towards the speakers. “Was that —?”

“I think it was!” Flux cried. “Turn on the noise cancelling, Doc!”

She leaned over his shoulder to flick another switch. The buzz diminished. A moment later, it picked up again, but this time Bopp could just pick out a voice.

“—ome, this is —servat–y — you copy?”

The four dragons on the rooftop let out a collective cheer. Doc activated the microphone and shouted, “Yes! We read you, Observatory! Please advise: are you aware of the temporal anomaly affecting us here in the dome?”

The signal remained faint and choppy as the dragon on the other end replied: “—trolo— we are aware — stuck — time loop. We believe — caused — comet, but — worry, you should be — normal very soon!”

“Oh, thank goodness,” Bopp said, his frills relaxing slightly. From the sounds of it, someone somewhere in Arcane had a plan!

The dragon at the Observatory was still transmitting intermittently: “— comet — almost passed — gone — end the time loop. — worry: the Astronomers — going to use — to fire a — the comet and break —”

The excited voice through the speakers dissolved into crackling static.

“They’re going to blow up the comet?” Halley asked in a small voice as Doc and Flux tried to retrieve the signal. She looked up at the dome, which was becoming more and more transparent now. Bopp followed her gaze and easily found the comet now, its trio of tails streaming behind it.

He murmured, “It sounds like it. The Astrolodome can’t stay locked in this time loop forever.”

Halley sighed. “I know. But it seems such a shame to destroy something so ancient … and beautiful …”

Bopp hesitated, then reached over and took her hand. “Then let’s enjoy it while we can, for as many loops as we have left.”

She stared at him in surprise for a moment, then her face lit up in a grin and she nodded in agreement. Together they turned back towards the comet, and were just in time to witness the nucleus flare with an incredible burst of light.

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Day 6 Week 2: Radio Waves written by @Lundlaeva

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Mission Complete!

After having contacted the dragons inside of the Astrolodome, the astronomers outside had started working faster than ever to be certain they could make their deadline. Work on the Learning and Space Exploration Radiotelescope (L.A.S.E.R.)’s new lens had been going relatively smoothly, with things now gearing up for their final stages.

“A little to the left! Careful now, careful!”

Gali was back at work again giving directions, the Nocturne doing his part to guide the others in his crew. The jade lens needed to be set at just the right place, so it would filter the death ray’s beams properly. A little too far, and it might not work. And a little too close, and the refractions from the beam would mean they might end up needing to rebuild the entire radiotelescope. Needless to say, there had been many hours spent on calculations hoping to avoid that particular outcome.

“Aaaand… there! Perfect!”

With his call of approval, the group flew back to the ground to admire their work.
“I have to say, it turned out better than I would’ve expected.” Azha laid down as they spoke, the bogsneak grinning as they looked up at the lens. “You think it’ll work?”

“Who knows,” Kepler said with a wave of his frills, though it was clear that the Fae was just as excited as the rest of them. “but if not, at least it’ll be an end to Starfall that nobody could forget.”

“Uh… I don’t think hitting everyone with a death ray is the sort of ‘unforgettable’ we want to be going for?” Lyra just sighed, shaking her head. The past weeks had been a quicker crash course for her about life as an astronomer than the Obelisk ever could’ve imagined, but she’d still enjoyed it immensely. “Let’s just hope we did everything right.”

“Hope? We don’t need to leave it up to hope, we’ve definitely done it right. I mean, you had [/i]my[/i] guidance after all!” Gali lifted his head proudly, cackling to himself. “And you’re all no slouches yourselves! After this, I say we find an excuse to get some ‘field work’ done somewhere nice. How are the waters at the Crystalspine Reaches this time of year?”

“Glittery, usually.” Kepler perched on a good-sized rock, his frills posed in careful thought. “A lot more meteors, too.”

“Sounds like a good time to me,” Azha nodded. “Maybe we could look to see if any of them have been impacted by the comet?”

“We could compare them with our sample. I’d be curious to see if there’s any differences.” Giving a nod of agreement, Kepler turned to Lyra. “What about you? Are you coming?”

“Well, it sounds great and all… but shouldn’t we fire the L.A.S.E.R. first?”
“Excited for the best part, huh? Well, I can’t blame you!” Gali’s grin hadn’t left his face once, and it seemed to have gotten more excited as the conversation went on. “Hey, I know- why don’t you fire it? Celebrate your first Starfall in style!”

“H-Huh, me?”

“So he can escape blame if it goes wrong, clearly.”

“GASP! Azha, I would NEVER let someone else take the blame for an explosion I caused!” The Nocturne’s exaggerated look of outrage made everyone laugh, stamping a foot on the ground. “Can’t you believe I would do this out of the kindness of my heart? Besides, it really would be quite the treat! Not many dragons have the chance to say they fired a death ray.”

“For good reason, I’d hope.” Lyra laughed, nodding her head. “Why don’t we all fire it together?”

“I like the sounds of that.” Getting to their feet, Azha lead the group into position. “On ‘fire’, then. Three…”

“Two…”

“One…”

“FIRE!”

Four hands pressed down onto the button in unison, and at once the L.A.S.E.R.’s death ray started humming to life. In what seemed like an instant the energy gathered beneath the jade lens, glowing brighter and brighter. For a minute, it looked as if the lens would shatter- before the filtered beam finally fired, shooting a brilliant column of pink and green energy directly towards the comet.
All throughout the Starfall Isles, dragons who’d been enjoying the last moments of the celebration turned to look towards the sudden pillar of light. As it contacted the comet there was a massive flash of pink-hued light, before a chunk of the comet could be seen breaking away- it was a success!

The astronomers cheered as the comet piece started to drift towards Sornieth, surrounded by an impromptu meteor shower as other shards from the comet burnt up in the atmosphere.

“It’s amazing…” Lyra couldn’t help but gasp in awe, but after a couple moments, paused. “But, uh… do we know where it’s going to land?”

“Can’t say I thought about that part.” Kepler waved his frills in a shrugging motion, eyes following the comet fragment as it continued to fall. “We’ll probably hear it when it lands, though.”

“That’s the best part! Ka-BOOM!” Gali’s cackle only earned a sigh from Lyra, who’d at this point come to expect this sort of thing. “Let’s follow it- to the skies!”

Without waiting to see if the group was following, their self-appointed leader took flight. Of course, they were all just as excited to collect their sample- the rest of the group joined him in their meteor chase without delay.

Their flight took them to just outside the Tourmaline Archives- luckily they had avoided any active destruction, but they’d certainly earned quite a few stares. Some dragons were gasping from the proximity of the sudden meteor crash, while others were cheering the spectacle, but all had been covered in a shower of pink glitter.

“Sample recovered!” Gali shouted with glee as he landed beside the meteor, eyes shining with excitement. “Oh, just think of all the research we’re gonna get done…”

“I can’t wait to talk to everyone who was inside the Astrolodome, too…” Azha sighed, a contented look on their face. “What an extraordinary experience. I almost wish I’d gotten a chance to be in the time loop too, just to experience it.”

“Who knows, maybe next year?” Kepler had landed on top of the meteor, examining it closely. “If we study this, maybe we’ll find a way to make time-loop effects whenever we want…”

“Could you imagine? You could learn so much!”

“Well… you certainly could…” Lyra couldn’t exactly relate to the enthusiasm about willingly being stuck in a time-loop, looking up to the sky once more. “Wait a minute- the Astrolodome! Are they still stuck?!”

“I guess we’ll just have to go find out.” Gali looked to the sky as well, watching as the last trails of the comet finally faded from view. “Lyra, can you carry that? It’s pretty big, we can come back later for it.”

“It’ll be no problem; I can handle it.”

It took a bit of time and work to get it properly handled, but once that was sorted the group set out once more, this time to the Astrolodome. To everyone’s relief, it looked like it had finally opened- dragons were filtering out, all with varied looks of confusion on their faces.

“Huh? Where’s all the Starfall decorations?”

“Why are you guys packing up?”

“Wasn’t there supposed to be a comet or something? I don’t see it!”

The astronomers all exchanged glances, before catching sight of a pair of dragons waving them over. Halley and Bopp were among the group exiting the Astrolodome- glad to be out of the time loop, probably.

“So… Starfall is over, then?”

Gali nodded, but pointed to the meteor chunk.

“Yeah, but look at that!”

“Oooooh, fantastic!”

Halley immediately joined Gali in gushing over the chunk of the comet, the two of them quickly getting deep into discussion. After a few moments Bopp moved over to Lyra, the both of them watching as more dragons continued to filter out of the dome.

“So… I guess we should tell them what happened, huh?”

“Yep.” Nodding, Bopp looked to Lyra. “I can tell everyone what we were up to, but… you might need to explain quite a bit about what was going on outside.”

“I could imagine…”

Sighing, Lyra looked at the crowd once more. The murmurs of confusion were only getting stronger- so she cleared her throat, drawing what attention she could.

“So, um… as you might have noticed, Starfall is over now. You’ve been trapped in a time loop the past two weeks, everyone.”

The group of dragons went completely silent, staring at the astronomers. Lyra felt herself growing nervous, unsure how to cut the tension- but Azha did that for her, tapping a claw against the comet chunk.

“Surprise! It’s been quite a time, and it’s a long story, but I think all of you would enjoy hearing it.”
Turning to Bopp, they sat down to let him take the stage. “Well, Bopp, do you want to start us off?”

“Okay,”
the Fae nodded, settling in for the story. “Well, it all started when Polaris, an Astronomer at the observatory, decided to give a name to an unusual comet she found…”

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Day 7 Week 2: Mission Complete! Written by @spacedaydreamer

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Thank you so much for joining us during Time for a Comet's Tale!