G5 Adventures in Treasure Buddies

Another clue to the secret location of Cleocatra’s tomb had been revealed, and it would soon take Dr. Wellington, Ubasti, Thomas, Pete and the zebra family (Mariama and her young daughter, Skye) to an oasis deep in the desert, so Babi had told the Mane 6, Violette, the Buddies and their newfound friends.

And while they were going to go after their friends to warn them about Ubasti's secret agenda, our heroes were also going to help their camel friend Cammy and her little lion companion Tirako get back to their tribe, which was soon going to be migrating through the desert.

However, as she slept, Skye could feel that Violette, the older ponies and the Buddies were much closer than one might think, though she had no idea why.

Now, let's dive right back into the story to get back up to speed.

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By the time the sun began to rise that next morning, Babi already had a plan to slow the group down long enough so that way the Mane 6, the Buddies, Violette and their other friends had an opportunity to catch up to them when they were out in the desert environment.

While Tarik and Seti were busy getting the supplies loaded into the back of the truck, Babi snuck under the open hood and began to pull on the coolant hose, disconnecting some of it from the engine. “Got it!”

And once this was done, the clever little monkey giggled and snuck into the back of the truck where he wouldn't be seen, to make all the necessary adjustments so the others would not have to go so far in order to catch up to the travelers.

Not long after Babi snuck onboard, Dr. Wellington, Thomas, Pete and the zebra family, along with Ubasti, came outside with their gear to get into the truck and get started on their long, hot journey. “Chop-chop, my good man,” Dr. Wellington said urgingly, wanting to get all the luggage into the truck before they left the town entirely. “We're seven minutes behind schedule.”

XXXXXXXX

The sun was just beginning to peek through the windows as the Buddies, the Mane 6, Violette Rainbow and their new friends-- Cammy, Faith and Tirako, were beginning to get their bearings.

But as they did so, a faint sound began to reach Tirako's ears-- it almost sounded like whistling, but he wasn't sure where it was coming from. “Hey… does anyone else hear that sound?”

Cammy listened intently to this sound that Tirako mentioned, but after a moment, gasped as she recognized the tune. “I know that whistle! The man is coming to take me away!”

“Oh, no,” Pipp said with an angry tone in her voice. “Not if these ponies have anything to say about it.”

“But what can we do?” Hitch asked. “We can’t just unleash our magic on that guy-- we could get into huge trouble ourselves!”

Luckily, Mudbud and Zipp had been whispering to each other while this was going on, both coming up with the same idea, and after a moment, Zipp turned to look over at Cammy, a determined smirk on her face. “Mudbud and I have an idea, Cammy. You up for it?”

And of course, Cammy smiled and nodded in compliance. “Anything to get me and Tirako back to our moms.”

“Zipp?” Sunny looked at the white pegasus in surprise as Mudbud whispered the plan to Cammy. “What are you guys up to?”

“Trust me, Sunny,” Zipp winked. “Just wait for the right time, and then make a break for it!”

The whistling got closer and closer to the door of the work shed, and Cammy stood up and got closer to the door as she heard the man begin to unlock it, all while the Mane 6 braced themselves to protect Violette, the Buddies and their friends in case Mudbud and Zipp's plan went south.

Once the man got done unlocking the door, he opened it to reveal Cammy waiting for him on the other side. And then, when he least expected it, Cammy shot a bunch of camel spit into his face, causing him to scream and groan in complete disgust... and the ponies couldn't help but hide their disgust as well. “Wow!” Mudbud said, impressed that this actually worked. “Gnarly loogey, dudette!”

“Come on, everybody!” Faith said with an excited tone in her voice. “Let’s go go go!”

With that, she and Tirako leapt right onto the man, knocking him down to the floor and allowing Cammy to run past, followed by Faith and Tirako with the Buddies, the Mane 6 and Violette not far behind. “No!!” the man shouted in desperation. “My beautiful camel! Oh!”

“Sorry, mister!” Violette called back as the group ran through the bazaar. “You snooze, you lose!”

And so, once making it to the entrance of the town, the Mane 6, the Buddies, Violette and their new friends began to venture into the desert, hoping to follow the trail that the trucks had made and hoping to catch up to Pete, Thomas, the zebras and the rest of their group before they got too far out.

XXXXXXXX

At the same time, Babi was riding on top of one of the trucks as the group made their way through the desert, honestly a bit surprised that no one had discovered him already.

He could actually be a very sneaky monkey when it came down to it.

Inside the truck, however, Skye was looking down at her compass, thinking about Violette and the others, who she thought were back in Fernfield, but after a lot of thinking... she wasn't so sure anymore.

And then again... she was also thinking about someone else who would have loved this trip as much as she and Pete were... her father.

According to Mariama, Tomas (Skye's father) died when she was only a few weeks old of a mysterious illness, and her mother didn't really talk much about him... other than the fact that he was a brave explorer who captured her heart.

Mariama seemed to read her daughter’s thoughts as they drove along, and frowned sympathetically at the sad look on her daughter’s face. “You thinking about Dad again?”

“He would love this, Mom… you know that,” Skye sighed. “I guess… being here in Egypt is making me think of him more and more.”

Mariama sighed and nuzzled her daughter close. “I understand sweetheart… but he would also want the both of us to enjoy the time that we have together, and make the most out of this wonderful trip.”

“...do you think… when we get back to the states… we can stop by his grave and I can tell him about the trip?” Skye asked hopefully. “You know talking to him by his grave always makes me feel better.”

“Of course, sweetie,” Mariama smiled. “I was just thinking the same thing.”

Skye seemed to smile at this, leaning into her mother just before the truck seemed to slow to a stop. A small tribe of travelers, the same tribe that Cammy and Tirako needed to get back to, was blocking their path, much to Pete’s confusion. “Who are they, Grandpa?”

“They’re Bedouins, Pete,” Thomas explained. “They're a nomadic people of the desert.”

“Nomadic?” Skye tilted her head. “That means,” Mariama explained, “that they move around quite frequently, instead of staying in one place.”

But as the tribe made room for the trucks to pass through, one of the camels, belonging to Farah's father, was still in their path, much to Dr. Wellington's disliking. “Hey, you, move your disgusting beasts. I'm in a hurry.”

Farah’s father, at the time, was with someone else-- a lioness named Haruma, who was sleek and well-built, with a gold-tinted tan coat and yellow eyes. And needless to say, both of them seemed a little bit wary by the archeologist's wording. “You should be very careful,” Farah’s father warned. “This area is known for bandits and thieves.”

“B-B-Bandits?” Skye asked nervously, her ears pinned in fright. “Oh, not to worry, sweetheart,” Mariama said gently. “We can handle ourselves if something of the sort were to come up.”

“I’m sure you would, but sometimes, the desert has a will of its own,” Haruma said to the group mysteriously, her golden eyes reflecting something that Mariama could not place. “Safe travels.”

And without another word, Farah's father got the camel to move from their path, letting the group continue across the desert. But as they drove past the tribe, Pete and Skye saw Farah and waved to her, causing her to smile and wave back.

However, none of them had any idea that Babi was hitching a ride on top of the truck, ready for another opportunity to slow the group down and give his friends a chance to catch up... hopefully before it got too dark and dangerous out in the desert sands.

XXXXXXXX

Speaking of the others, Cammy, Tirako and Faith bravely led the Mane 6, Violette and the Buddies across the desert, the Buddies and Violette panting slightly from the heat.

But even though she, her brothers and her friends were all tired, Rosebud knew they had to keep going one way or another. “Come on, guys. We just have to make it to the oasis.”

“I’m running on fumes,” Budderball panted as the group eventually stopped to take a breather. “Cammy, aren't you hungry?”

“We camels were born to survive in the heat,” Cammy explained, “and go a long time without food and water.”

“Yeah,” Tirako nodded. “Camels can even regurgitate the food in their stomachs and re-chew it, so they can go longer without a meal.”

“Eww!” Pipp groaned in disgust. “That is so TMI, Tirako.”

“Good idea,” Budderball said before intentionally trying to retch, trying to pull some food out of his stomach, to regurgitate and re-chew. However, this only made Hitch sick to his stomach as he watched the process. “I think I’m gonna be sick if Budderball keeps doing that.”

“Yeah, Budderball,” Rosebud deadpanned. “Gross.”

“Mmm,” Budderball commented in delight, getting a hint of flavor from his regurgitating. “I love leftovers.”

“Okay… let’s just put that out of our minds for now,” Misty said with a shudder. “We have to keep going-- our friends are counting on us to warn them about Ubasti’s plans.”

“Still not sure if she’s an agent of Alterro, Sunny?” Zipp asked. “She does have a pretty malevolent mind.”

Sunny sighed to this. “I’m not sure, Zipp. All we can do right now is stop wondering about the what-ifs and get Cammy and Tirako back to their tribe… we owe it to them for helping Cammy escape from the clutches of that creep back in the bazaar.”

And so, the group eventually decided to keep going, with Faith retaking the lead, hoping to reach the oasis before it got too dark to keep going.

XXXXXXXX

In another part of the desert, the truck that Seti and Tarik used to carry supplies eventually broke down, thanks to Babi pulling one of the hoses loose, causing the group to stop in their tracks temporarily. And needless to say, Seti was very aggravated with Tarik’s supposed carelessness. What happened? What you do? I told you, check out the truck before we left!”

“But, I did!” Tarik protested. “You did?” Seti groaned wearily. “I swear, your brain is the size of a monkey's.”

Babi, being able to hear this remark, stuck his tongue out at them, even though they were still unaware by his presence, and a few moments later, Dr. Wellington got out of the truck, holding Ubasti, clearly not pleased. “For heaven's sakes, what's wrong with it?”

“Is broken,” Tarik admitted as Thomas and Mariama got out of the truck to join them. This caused Dr. Wellington to turn to look at Thomas, a hopeful look plastered on his face. “I don't suppose you know anything about motorized vehicles?”

“Well, as a matter of fact, I do. Well, let's see what the problem is,” Thomas said as Mariama held a flashlight up for him to take a look at the problem, which Thomas immediately saw, causing him to partially chuckle. “Oh, my goodness. Hose came loose!”

“No wonder that thing was smoking!” Skye realized. “With the hose loose, the truck must’ve overheated!”

“Just put some coolant in it,” Mariama told the boys, patting Tarik on the shoulder, “and the truck should be up and running in no time. Besides, we’ve only got a little longer to go till we reach the oasis.”

This caused Pete and Skye to smile at each other from inside the truck, knowing they were only a little ways from hunkering down for the night and finding the next clue that would lead to the lost collar of Cleocatra.

But if only they knew about Ubasti's hidden agenda.

XXXXXXXX

The trucks were soon up and running within half an hour, and the group was able to continue driving south by southeast, just as the map said to, and soon, a patch of green trees were seen in the distance. “Look,” Thomas pointed out. “There’s there's the oasis just up ahead.”

“Wow…” Skye said with wide eyes. “It’s so pretty! And green!”

“But… how did all this grow in the middle of the desert?” Pete asked out of confusion. “Well,” Mariama explained to the kids as the trucks drove into the oasis, “even though we're in the driest of places, centuries ago, in Cleopatra's time, there was a river here. And that river is still running deep underground.”

That was when Dr. Wellington turned back to them, still holding Ubasti in his arms. “We'll set up camp, look for the next clue at daybreak.”

“Sounds good to me,” Skye shrugged. “It’ll give me time to see if I can get some cool pictures of the oasis for Violette! I wonder what she and the others are doing right now…”

XXXXXXXX

In another part of the desert, the Mane 6, Violette and all their friends were still trapsing on, even as the sun began to descend over the sandy horizon. After a while, Rosebud looked over at Faith, Cammy, and Tirako, who all seemed intent on figuring out which way to go. “Are we close, you guys?”

“Well… we’re not exactly sure, Rosebud,” Faith responded back with an uneasy shrug. “But the way my ears are twitching, I’d say we’re definitely getting close.”

“Aw, snap. We're doomed. Doomed!” B-Dawg howled mourningly. “Come on,” said Sunny with a kind smile. “Think positive, B-Dawg.”

“I am positive,” B-Dawg responded back. “Positively sure we're lost in the middle of the desert!”

“He’s… not wrong, Sunny,” Pipp said to the earth pony/alicorn mare, pulling out her phone and waving it around. “I can’t even get my GPS app to work out here!”

“Do not worry, everyone,” Cammy reassured. “My tribe has been here. There's some camel poop on the ground right there.”

Turns out, Cammy was not wrong-- on the ground was a pile of stinky brown pellets that Izzy unfortunately got a whiff of, causing her to gag and cover her nose with her hoof. “That's camel poop all right...”

“We're gonna need a bulldozer to clean up that mess,” B-Dawg spoke up, “cause a pooper scooper’s definitely not doing it.”

“Uh-oh, guys,” Faith frowned as she looked up at the sky. “We may have a problem. It's getting too dark to follow their trail.”

“The dudette is correctomundo,” Mudbud told the others. “We'll rest here for the night, and get our groove back tomorrow.”

However, this decision didn't seem to settle well with Violette, who was wondering what Skye and Pete were doing at the time... and she was also wondering if they were all right.

XXXXXXXX

Back at the oasis, the sun had fully set, and camp had already been set up too.

Skye and Pete were roasting marshmallows over the campfire, and Mariama and Thomas sat in chairs beside them. And knowing that it was nearly time for bed, Thomas turned to his grandson and his zebra friend, eager to hear what story they wanted before going to sleep. “So, kids, what story would you like to hear this time?”

Luckily, Pete had just the story in mind. “Can you tell us the story about the Cat's Eye necklace?”

“Oh, yes, Mom! Please?” Skye begged. “That story is always SO good!”

Mariama giggled enthusiastically to this. “All right, all right, hold your horses,” she smiled. “If that’s the story you want, that’s the story you’ll get.”

“The cat goddess, Bastet, gave a special necklace with a Cat's Eye jewel to Cleopatra, the ruler of Egypt,” Thomas began the story, catching Skye and Pete’s interest immediately. “Cleopatra's favorite feline, Cleocatra, was furious that Bastet gave the necklace to a human. She decided to steal the necklace. But a vigilant puppy, Buddasi, saw Cleocatra.”

“And upon realizing that she had been caught, Cleocatra fled the scene just as Cleopatra heard Buddasi’s barks and came into the room,” Mariama continued in Thomas' place, a mysterious twinkle in her eye. “And Cleopatra was so mad over being betrayed by her trusted cat, that she used the necklace to make dogs man's best friend. And cats were banished from the palace.”

Suddenly, a lightning bolt shot down from the sky, as well as a clap of thunder, causing Skye to yelp, so into the story that she didn’t hear the thunder and lightning approaching.

Pete, however, became a bit curious at the sight of the dark clouds in the distance. “Grandpa, is it gonna rain?”

“No, no. That's just dry lightning from an electrical storm. Happens all the time out here in the desert,” Thomas told his grandson and Skye, looking out at the storm clouds in the distance for a few moments. “Ah, looks far enough away. I'm sure we're perfectly safe.”

Mariama then let forth a tired yawn. “I’d say it’s time to hit the rack, though. We have an early day tomorrow.”

“You’re right,” Thomas told the zebra mare before turning back to the kids. “You get a good sleep. I'm gonna go stretch these old legs of mine, and then me and Mariama will be right behind you.”

“Mom? Mr. Thomas?” Skye spoke up. “Thanks for taking me and Pete on this adventure-- it’s been the best.”

“Aww… it’s our pleasure, sweetheart,” Mariama said as she nuzzled her daughter. “We could never ask for better partners.”

XXXXXXXXX

Elsewhere in the desert, the Buddies and their friends, both Equestrian and desert animal, were settling down beside some large rocks for the night, far enough away from the electrical storm where they would be safe.

However, Mudbud's thoughts kept drifting to Pete, Skye and Mariama, and he knew how worried Violette was about them, even if she wasn't saying anything.

And he reciprocated her feelings to an exact T.

Sunny and Rosebud seemed to sense both of their distress, but Sunny was the one to speak up out of genuine concern. “Violette? Mudbud? Are you guys okay?”

“Yeah,” Violette nodded sadly. “We’re just sorry we got you guys into this mess.”

Mudbud nodded in response to this claim. “We’re really worried about Pete, Mariama and Skye.”

“Fate put us on this path, you two,” Buddha said gently. “Every journey has a deeper reason.”

“Maybe it was because you guys were meant to help me and Cammy get back to our tribe,” Tirako said. “Not just to stop Ubasti and her plans.”

“I guess you’re right,” Violette nodded with a slight shrug. “Doesn’t make it any easier, though.”

“We understand,” Misty nodded gently. “We’ll get started again first thing tomorrow morning, and if things work out, we should catch up to them within the next day or so.”

Cammy yawned tiredly after Misty said this, not sure if she was able to keep her eyes open for much longer. “Good night, everyone. You’re the best of friends.”

“Sweet dreams, everybody,” Rosebud bid her friends and brothers good night, and under the flash of the dry lightning storm, our heroes retired to sleep for the night, ready to continue their journey by the time the sun rose into the sky the next morning.