The upper floors of the palace, mercifully, retained some degree of heat. The guest rooms were all on a corridor with a stained glass window at the end of it. They had five to choose from, so they left one for Spike, and Key and Oval elected to share - like their cabins. The rooms themselves were the most lavish things they'd ever seen. Magical lamps lit up as soon as they entered, casting a sparkle on the baroque gilded arches on the ceiling. A tall window cast the sky's dim purple glow through the room, leaving the four poster bed against the back wall lit from two sides. Its shroud glistened in the light, like the curtains had stars in them. They sat in awe of the place for minutes before talking.
"How do you think places like this survived?" Key said.
"Combination of luck and slave labour, I imagine," Oval said.
They admired in silence for a bit. "Do you think he's telling the truth?"
"Of course not. What kind of island ups sticks wholesale in the middle of their dinner?"
"Does he believe himself though?"
"Who knows." Oval went to the window and looked out. Key joined her a few moments later. The window looked out over the city. The horizon was short, but the spires and ornamented rooftops cut a dramatic skyline anyway. "Imagine what the view must have been like from here..." Oval was not looking at the skyline. After a few moments of tracing her hoof around the lower half of the window, trying not to fog it up with her breath, she tapped the windowsill and turned away.
"I think I've got it. That gap in the wall."
"Oval, what are you doing?"
She walked towards the door, double checked her saddlebags, and wrapped her scarf around herself again. "What we came here to do."
"Wait, what? The... there's the curfew!"
"What, were you gonna sleep? You never sleep anyway. Come on."
Key winced. He paced silently in a circle, then sighed, and scurried to join her. "Do you know where the caves are?"
"I don't know. Down? Seems like a good place to start."
"We're gonna have to climb all the way back up before they come looking for us."
She nudged him. "Bit of exercise."
The halls of the palace - as they had noted on their way here - were all but empty, and the cavernous hard floors and walls let them know about approaching guards and servants in more than enough time to find a shadow or some cover. They found a window with a loose latch on the ground floor, and squeezed out of it with some difficulty. They followed the shade of the mountain to the gap in the wall Oval spotted, and with an amount of climbing that neither were used to, they were out into the city.
In the hour or two that they were in the palace, the streets had gotten even quieter. They stuck to the shade and dodged patrols anyway, but they hardly had to worry about being seen otherwise. Lanterns on street corners went unlit, but the shardlight from the sky was more than enough. Without a contingent of guards hurrying them along, they could stop and admire the monuments and architecture of the old city. Oval kept mentioning how wonderful it would have been to live here in the old world, and Key eventually agreed.
The lower city retained a lot of the upper city's charm and style, but was not as well preserved. The Crusader, moored in the docks, stuck out next to all the sleek, ornate sloops near it, but not that much, next to the wear and tear of the nearby buildings. They began to follow the rockface of the cliff to look for an entrance. The worry that the way in to the caves was hidden inside a building began to sink in.
"Don't you think the entrance would be a bit more... y'know. Hidden?" Oval stared at the cliff.
"I mean, probably? I didn't see any open cave mouths when we landed."
Oval sighed. "Key, are we wasting our time?"
"Maybe. There's probably guards there too."
"We could try abseiling off the docks."
"That's a stupid idea."
"Is it any more stupid than what we're doing right now?"
Someone yelled in surprise. Then, Key and Oval jumped and yelled, and hid behind some dustbins. Then it was quiet.
"Oh! Excuse me," the stranger's shaky voice said. "I thought you were guards, I'm sorry."
They squinted. Oval risked peeking out. There was tan man in a long black coat, with tidy white hair and a pair of crooked glasses with huge lenses. Behind him was a shabby wooden cart with a tarp over it. He couldn't have been that much older than they were.
"We thought you were a guard."
The stranger chuckled with all the volume of a mouse. "Definitely not. Goodness, you're out late, shouldn't you be inside?"
"Shouldn't you be inside?" Oval said. Key hid behind her.
"I'm really on my way inside."
"With a great big cart."
"Y-yes. It's the groceries. It's my groceries."
She perched her elbow on the bin lid and smirked. "At this hour?" The stranger winced. "It's okay," she whispered. "You don't tell and we won't tell."
He sighed. "I've not seen you here before."
"We came on that ship at the docks."
"Oh, I'm..."
"That wooden one with the tatty sails."
The stranger paused, and looked around the street corner to the docks. "When did that get there?"
Oval smiled. "A few hours ago."
"Are you... visitors?"
"It's complicated. Listen, we're trying to find a way into the caves, you wouldn't happen to..."
He froze up and went wide-eyed. "What in the heavens do you want to do in there?"
She pulled out the wallet and opened it. He squinted and craned forward. "We're looking for this kid."
He brushed his chin. "I'm so sorry... Is he a... a brother of yours?"
Oval darted her eyes up a second. "Sure. Let's call it that for simplicity."
"How long ago?"
"About a week."
"Goodness. I am Father Corona. I was-"
"Father? You're like, twenty."
He smiled. "I'm a chaplain with the guard. I bring alms to the workers when I can. I was on my way to the caves right now, actually. I can take that to them, or..."
Oval looked around him. "Got room on that wagon?"
He winced. "I hope you're very quiet and very light."
Oval bounced out from behind the bins, and jumped on Corona to hug him. "You're a sweetheart!" As she was climbing on board, Key skulked from his cover and offered a sheepish smile as he followed her. The cart groaned under his weight. Corona cringed, muttered a prayer, and carried on.
From under the tarp, they could hear Corona's moves. He carried them a short distance before coming to a stop. He knocked on a door. Moments later, it creaked open.
"You're late, Corona," someone hissed.
He chuckled. "Trouble with the wagon."
"You've got fifteen minutes. Go."
"Bless you, Flash."
The cart bumped over a threshold. The bump made both Key and Oval grunt. "Did that thing just gasp?"
Key's stomach turned. Corona chuckled. "It makes all kinds of noises in its old age. Listen." The cart moved forward until it reached a part where the axle rubbed against something that made a heavy groan, not unlike a donkey's bray.
He could have sworn his thundering heart could be heard outside. 'Flash' snorted. "Go on. Get on with it." Without delay, the wagon rolled into motion again.
The light from the outside disappeared. The angle of the wagon dipped severely, and they trundled a little too quickly for comfort to the first bend, where they stopped. "Hey," Corona whispered. "You can get out now." They did not delay.
The only light was from a glowing charm Corona wore around his neck. The tunnel was barely tall enough for them, and barely wide enough for the wagon. Wooden struts cast long shadows along the cave.
"What is this place?"
"These caves used to be mines. There are access tunnels all over the city that have been built over. Keep moving." Corona set off again, and Oval and Key kept close behind.
Four descending bends of tunnel later, they arrived at a wooden door. Corona pulled out a ring of keys and put a particularly gnarled one into the door. "Last chance to turn back." They looked at each other, and said nothing. Taking that for an answer, Corona turned the key, and pushed the old door open.
The door opened on to an old mineshaft hanging out of the bottom of the island, across which boards had been laid to create a dock. Old tracks crossed their path, terminating a short way into the yawning beyond with the twist of torn metal. To their right, there was a great overhang, separating the city's docks above from the cave's docks below, and a couple of lazy guards sat by a single vessel, drinking and talking to each other. To their left, a row of bars as tall as the whole cave separated the labourers from the dock. They all looked dirty, miserable, or both. A few of them had noticed Corona, and shambled to the bars nearest them. His wagon bumped and clinked across the tracks, and he threw the tarp off to unload.
"What's going on?" Oval said.
"This is the holding area. They keep the new arrivals here, and the guards bring the sick and injured up for me to take care of. Your 'brother' is probably here too."
"Father, my daughter's fever..." a croaking mare called, reaching through the bars.
"Yes, I've got..." Corona pulled a bottle from a sack, and passed it over. "One sip twice a day should do it. Keep her rested."
"Thank you, thank you!"
Another pony pulled a canvas over with a stallion laid out on it. "Father, Roadworthy fell down a gully, we think his leg might be broken..."
Oval gulped, and touched Corona on the shoulder. "Should we, uh... what should we do?"
He pushed up his glasses. "Oh! Ask around. They're probably not far."
"Won't the guards... y'know. Do something about us?"
Corona shook his head. "You're with me, and they leave me alone. Who do you think brought them their wine?"
Oval winced, and with Key, they started circling the bars. She took the wallet out and squinted at it. The shardlight was weaker in the cavern, and the lanterns weren't doing much to help. Key nudged her and pointed. "There."
She nearly burst into tears on the spot. A little colt sprawled over a blue mare on her side, presumably his mother, splattered with mud and looking bored. They circled the bars and sat. Oval swallowed four times and looked at Key, as if he was going to provide her with something to say. Instead, he tapped on the bars and reached through them. "Hey!" he whispered. The colt looked at them. He said nothing. "Over here!" Key said. The mare stirred and looked at them. Her white mane was not coping well with the dirt.
"What now?" she whined. Then, she squinted at them. "You're not guards. What do you want?"
Oval chuckled nervously. "This might be kinda weird, but... is this yours?" She pushed the wallet through the bars.
The mare floated it over, and her jaw fell on the floor. She leafed through it, looking at all of the pictures. "This is my wife's wallet... how did you find this?"
"Well, it was..."
Oval cut Key off. "We're travellers. We passed through Hoofington about a week ago. Applebloom said the town was taken maybe only a few hours after we arrived, so..."
The mare rushed up to the bars. Her son found himself on the floor and a little grumpy. "You're travelling with Applebloom?"
Oval paused. "You know Applebloom?"
"Duh! All the small towns know the Apples! Well, maybe not all of them. But we know the Apples! Or... knew them. Before, y'know..." She looked at the floor and gestured loosely to their surrounds.
"Small sky."
"Does this mean the Crusader is..."
"We're visiting. It's..." Oval looked at Key. "It's complicated. We weren't sure we'd be here. But she's fine."
She sat back and looked at the wallet again, her smile returning. "I can't believe you did this. What made you... why this?"
"Well..." Oval sniffed.
"It's your son... that is your son, right?" Key asked. The mare nodded. "He looks almost exactly like our little brother."
The colt looked around in confusion as his mother dragged him over and sat him between her legs. "It's the little things, isn't it?" She hugged him. "Thank you for this. Thank you so much. It's not exactly gonna get us out of here, but it's nice to have a bit of dignity for a change." She threw a glare over at the drinking guards. They didn't notice. "What were your names? You didn't say."
"Oh! I'm Oval Cut, and this is my brother Key Stone."
"I'm Trixie, and this little magic trick is Double Lift. Say hi, Lifty!" He waved weakly and buried his face in Trixie's front. "He's had a rough week."
"Completely understandable."
Over by the door, Father Corona had started packing up his wagon again. "I think we're out of time."
Trixie sighed. "Yeah. Of course. Just visiting."
Oval looked at Key. Key frowned. Oval furrowed her brow and leaned in to whisper. "We'll come back for you. We'll find a way."
"Kids, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but..."
"We got your wallet back, and we never thought we'd get the chance to do that. Who knows! But we won't forget about you. We promise."
Trixie sighed, looking at the floor. "That's real sweet of you. Don't take it personally that I don't have high hopes."
Oval looked again at the bars. "Yeah. Okay."
Before Corona left, he passed around little paper bags of candy for the foals, and Oval made sure one found its way to Double Lift. He left the door unlocked behind him, and Key helped push the wagon back up the access tunnels. Corona had to pull it the last leg himself, and Key and Oval made sure to hold their breath for the threshold. He pulled them two more blocks before he pulled the tarp back for them. After a quick exchange of thanks, they scurried back the way they came, leaving Father Corona with his wagon.
They didn't tarry on their climb back through the Canterlot streets. But for the pauses to catch their breath and hide from patrols, they walked briskly, back through the gap in the palace walls, in through the loose window, and back through the silent corridors. They returned to their room, panting, and Key closed the door with a mouse-like click.
"I can't believe we did that." Key clutched his front. Oval said nothing as she loosed her bags and threw her scarf on the floor. "Do you really think we'll be back?"
Without answering, Oval picked up the chair and threw it at the ornate dresser, breaking two of the legs. The lamp and mirror fell, and both of them shattered. She screamed, and picked up the remains of the chair and did it again. The dresser wobbled, and she kicked one of the legs. The leg broke off, and it tipped over, cracking the marble tabletop and floor tiles, and scattering the table's contents across the floor.
Key, by now, had hidden behind the bed. "Oval?" he said, when she paused to catch her breath again. She looked at him with a beet-red, tear-streaked snarl. He cowered, and her snarl loosened into a grimace.
"I'm sorry, Key, I'm just..." She staggered over to the bed, threw herself into it, and screamed into the blankets. When she was done, she sniffed hard and wiped her face. "I hate this place. I hate its stupid luxury and its stupid aristocracy and I want out of here as soon as I can."
Key sighed and climbed on to the bed to hug her. He nearly fell over when she put her whole weight into him. He had nothing to say, so he just held her tight.
"Key, do you think they heard me?" Oval said after a while.
"If they did, they'd have come by now."
"They're gonna find out."
"You can say it was an accident."
Oval, despite herself, giggled. "Key! Look at what I did to that thing."
He smiled. "They don't deserve nice things."
"Oh my gosh, Key. I broke a priceless antique dresser. That dresser is driftwood now."
"I mean, we'll be gone tomorrow, so who cares?"
"Don't tempt me to break more of their stuff."
After clearing away the worst of the mess, they tried to nap, but couldn't sleep. Their chess set was still on the Crusader, so they spent some time with the crystal having a conversation with home. Everything at home was "OQ". They were starting to wonder if it was worth taking the time to negotiate the use of prosigns. As they did every night, they eventually gave up on the code and just hugged it.
When they were called for breakfast, they were already packed and eager to go. It was dinner for them, they'd had no lunch, and had become so bored they tried putting the chair back together. They were not taken to the main dining room for breakfast, and Shining Armor was not present. Applebloom had her eyes on the door, and Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle ate everything that came close to them. Key and Oval had pause when presented with the widest selection of breads, jams and fruit juices they'd ever seen, but again, hunger won out. Spike showed up late, didn't eat anything, and didn't say anything.
They were stuck in the palace grounds until Shining Armor came, with his bodyguards and retainers, to accompany them. He asked if they were sure they wanted to go so soon, and everyone agreed that they were. They didn't have much to say besides.
Against the advice of his guards, Shining came with them to the docks. Morning in Canerlot was no busier than the evening. The main difference was the kinds of smells coming from the restaurants. Oval and Key kept an eye out for Father Corona, but didn't see him. Applebloom disappeared into an office near the docks with Shining Armor, and returned a few minutes later with a dock worker carrying the confiscated rockets and blunderbusses. In the meantime, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Key and Oval had all boarded the Crusader, and begun preparations to cast off. Spike waited on the pontoon.
Applebloom passed by him, leaving him on the dock with Shining and his entourage. They looked at each other in silence.
"Library could always use more help," Shining said after an age.
Spike frowned, and produced the key. "Another day."
Shining sighed and put the key in his pocket. "When do you think you'll be back?"
"I'll be honest. It took me thirteen years to find a ship willing to take me to Canterlot. It might be a little while."
Silence fell again.
"At least I get to say goodbye this time," Shining said.
"It's a luxury these days."
Shining hugged Spike when he wasn't expecting it, and he swayed from it. He was still strong at his age. "Safe travels, brother."
Spike winced. "Okay."
After a little too long, Shining stepped back, and gestured at the ship. He sniffed. Spike didn't waste time.
A tugboat towed them out until they could get their sails up. The dock cleared quickly when the foul odour of the wake washed over them. When the tug released them, it left them between three corvettes - two above and one below - that waited until the Crusader caught wind, and then matched its speed. They were close enough that turning in any direction would be difficult.
A consultation with the charts confirmed that the escort was steering them towards Cloudsdale, which was another three days distant. Communications with the escort ships went unanswered. As soon as their course was steady, Sweetie Belle, Oval and Key went below decks. Spike, after giving a forlorn look back at the dwindling Canterlot from the aft banister, followed them.
Sweetie Belle and Spike busied themselves with inspecting their impounded goods and checking the ship for evidence of tampering. They found it had been searched, but nothing was missing, except for one of the eight remaining bowls of stewed apple. Key and Oval retired to their cabin, where the rest of the Hoofington belongings were. Oval went straight to bed, and Key, after the day they'd had, did the same not long after.
The following morning, the escort ships were still there. Sweetie Belle passed a comment about how quiet it was on the early watch without Oval there, before heading below deck for a break. Scootaloo and Spike were nowhere to be seen. They joined Applebloom at the helm, where she'd locked the stocks and was watching the escort ships more than her own. Oval brought the last few of her chess pieces with her to finish on deck.
"Slow morning?" Oval said.
"Well, there ain't much course correcting to do. Just waiting for these creeps to buzz off."
"When do you think they will?"
Applebloom gave them another look. "When we're as close as we can get to Cloudsdale without getting spotted." Oval sighed. They sat and watched the ships for a few minutes. They couldn't see much of their crew, but they were having a lazy time too.
"Hey, Applebloom..." Key said. "You never said you'd been to Hoofington before."
She squinted. "Course. Stopped in every time we passed by. What about it?"
Oval chuckled and rolled her eyes as she put the white king on the banister. "Just had to spill all of the beans right away, didn't you?" She gave Key a nudge. "We uhm. We might have done something crazy last night."
Applebloom glared. "What did you do."
"We might have snuck out to visit the slaves."
Applebloom choked on nothing, thumped the floor a couple of times, then grabbed Oval by the shoulders. Oval winced, and tried to keep up a smile. "You did what?"
"We snuck out of the palace with a wallet from the salvage from Hoofington, we found a chaplain who took us to the slaves, and we gave it back."
"Do you have any idea how lucky you are to be on this ship? You could have been thrown in with them! You could have gotten us all caught! We still ain't out of the woods!" Oval looked at Key, and he smiled awkwardly at Applebloom. "I got half a mind to turn this tub around right now and take you home for being a liability." The smiles slid off their faces. "Of all the dumb things to do in Canterlot, that was possibly the dumbest thing you could think of. Don't you ever do something that reckless again, y'hear?"
They both looked at the floor, and mumbled an 'okay'.
Applebloom sighed. "Whose wallet was it?" she said after a long pause.
"We found a mare called Trixie who said it was her wife's. We matched a picture in the wallet to her son."
"Trixie, eh? Darn shame..."
"You know her?"
"I knew most of the Hoofington ponies. Trixie ain't had the easiest life, even by Debris standards. Canterlot is the last thing she deserves."
"Is there anything we can do for her? For any of them?"
"No." Applebloom slumped on the wheel. "Canterlot is too well-defended and everyone else is too disorganised. Sometimes this sky is just bigger than you and me, and all you can do is do your best to save yourself."
"No villains, only desperados?"
Applebloom rolled her eyes. "Yep."
Oval, with a pout, turned to her pieces again. The king finished, she pulled out the black queen to polish. "So what's the story when we get to Cloudsdale?"
"Wait until the goons peel off and stay as far away from it as possible. I don't know if Shining Armor thinks we're magic, but I don't think we'll be able to just rock up to the front door and parley like we did yesterday. Canterlot at least pretends to be its old self. Cloudsdale these days is just a den of pirates. If we're boarded, then we hand over our goods, or they take 'em."
Key grimaced. "So there's nothing we can do?"
"Well, there is one plan. But it relies on Scootaloo doing something I'd never ask her to do, so I wouldn't count on it. We'll see when we get there."
Oval put the two pieces together and inspected them. "What is it about Canterlot and Cloudsdale that made them like this? Everywhere else seems to have adapted without murder and pillaging."
"Mostly." Applebloom chuckled. "I dunno. Pride. Fear of the unknown. A lot of the time it smacks of old tribal politics. Unicorns and pegasi duking it out while the earth ponies get left in the mud. 'Course it's more complicated than that. Granny Smith used to tell me about all the wrongs of old in terms of tribe warfare, but the way my big brother saw it, it was more about the folks in charge taking what they can from the working folk." She looked at the banister and smirked. "S'funny that you've got that chess set with you. Canterlot and Cloudsdale have the two biggest armies in the Debris, and the rest of us ain't even pieces. We're the board."
With little to be done on deck, Sweetie Belle banned from baking, and their pile of unread books shrinking all the time, Key and Oval decided to inaugurate the newly completed chess set by spending the rest of the afternoon with it. Oval's moves were particularly drawn out, as she examined her craftsmanship on each piece at length. Key thought they came out lovely, actually.
Spike didn't come out of his cabin much, and didn't seem much in the mood to talk when he did. Nobody much liked being on deck with three warships sailing almost close enough to yell at, but someone had to. On the second late watch, they started hitting clouds at increasing frequency, and Scootaloo had to unlock the sails to make adjustments as they hit turbulence.
When Key woke on the third morning, the escort ships had disappeared. They surfed on one bank of a cloud, and based on the wide wake they left in the cloud, he surmised they'd come as close as they could to a complete stop. Everyone was looking off the starboard bow, where the clouds formed a halo around half the sky, and in a few places, the sky was tinged with a colour besides the usual lilac - a spray of green, or a burst of blue.
Scootaloo turned around when she heard him. "There he is," she said.
Key froze. "What?"
"You're just in time. We've got a navigation puzzle."
Applebloom winced. Oval didn't look too happy either. "Scoot, you don't have to do this."
"You're not my mom!" Scootaloo chuckled, then sat down next to Key. She pointed in the distance. "See that over there?"
"What am I looking at?"
"The tangle of clouds and shit, right there. In between those three bright-ish stars."
"Oh, that's the Summer Triangle." Key squinted. It was difficult to determine exactly what tangle of clouds she was referring to, since it was small and there were many clouds around them, and especially with a shard about thirty degrees to the left of where she was pointing. There was a shimmer of movement. "I think I see it."
"That's Cloudsdale."
"Any closer and they'll be able to see us," Applebloom said.
"So here's my cunning plan."
Applebloom rolled her eyes. "Cunning isn't how I'd describe it, but go on."
"The Crusader can't just waltz into Cloudsdale, but with a bit of ingenuity," Scootaloo whipped Applebloom's bandana off her head and put it around her own neck. "A lone pegasus can."
Applebloom snatched it back. "If you go in there dressed like that they'll whack you right away! You look like you went to a pirate gift store."
Scootaloo smirked. "It's your bandana, what does that say about you?" Applebloom snorted, and ignored her. "Anyway. I wander in, take a look around, see if I can't find me a Princess, and be back in time for lunch."
Key winced. "You're just gonna... blend in?"
"Yeah! It'll be fine. They take in new recruits all the time."
"Ponies join them?"
Oval looked a little queasy. "This is the part I had trouble with."
"Yeah. If you can keep up and know your stars, then they'll totally take you. Obviously nobody joins them unless they're desperate or already a criminal."
Key rubbed the bridge of his nose for a second. "So what do you need me for?"
"Yeah, uhm." Scootaloo laughed. "I'd make a terrible pirate because I don't know my stars. I can make my way to Cloudsdale from here, we can see it. Making my way back is harder, since by definition, we're staying too far away to see. So I need a bearing."
"Oh, the opposite stars from..." Key squinted towards Cloudsdale, and then looked the other way. He muttered some numbers, then paused. "Heh. Argo."
"What?"
He waited for the clouds to thin behind them, and pointed, tracing out the shapes in the stars. "Just below those two really bright stars. One of them is Sirius, the other is Canopus. There's the poop deck, there's the sails, and there's the keel."
Scootaloo squinted for a few seconds. "Oh, I see it..."
"If we keep Cloudsdale in the Summer Triangle from here, then on your return journey, head for Argo Navis."
Scootaloo looked both directions, then chuckled. "Y'know, if I'd gotten the star charts out, I could have thought of that."
Applebloom snorted. "But you didn't."
Scootaloo hopped on the banister. "So! Plate me up a lunch, I'll be back before you know it."
"And if you're not back for lunch?"
"You can reheat it, it's fine."
"No, you dingus." Applebloom grabbed her by the bottle in her scarf. "I'm asking how long we wait for you."
"Oh, uh..." The smirk slid off Scootaloo's face. "If I'm not back this time tomorrow, get out of here. I'll try and find my way back to Sweet Apple Acres."
They waited in the quiet, but there were no more questions. Scootaloo shrugged and turned. Her takeoff immediately halted when her tail caught on Sweetie Belle's grip. Scootaloo turned, and Sweetie Belle and Applebloom waited on the bow. Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "Oh, fine. You can have one."
She dropped back on to the deck, and the three shared a hug.
"Come back safe, Scoot," Sweetie Belle said. It was muffled, with her nose somewhere in Scootaloo's neck.
"If you get yourself killed, I am gonna kick your ghost-ass the first opportunity I get," Applebloom said.
"Aw, you guys." After a parting squeeze, Scootaloo delayed no longer, and kicked off the side of the Crusader.
About a hundred lengths away - ten seconds of lazy flight - the chill set in. Every time Scootaloo flew solo, there was a chill, when she got away from the warmth of the engines and the company on board and could be alone for a day or more. She liked to imagine that it was a normal feeling to have on long flights, but she feared that it was an anxiety unique to the Debris. It was like when she took flight, her instincts were reaching for something that wasn't there anymore, and when they couldn't find it, it felt like she'd lost half her blood. It was a feeling that never went away. She could bear it for the sake of a task, but only just. She'd never found the opportunity to ask another pegasus if they experienced this - dock workers and lifeguards never strayed that far out, and message runners never stayed that long. And pirates... maybe she'd find out today. She just had to stop sweating and talking to herself.
She looked over her shoulder. Boy, the Crusader was getting small. She paid close attention to the shape of the stars Key had just pointed out to her. Every few hundred yards she checked again to make sure she was remembering it right. She did it again about a mile out, then committed to her approach. She tried not to think about how if she had to flee, the pirates probably had her beat. She also failed in that task.
Detail after detail came into focus as she narrowed the distance. She could pick out a few features of the Cloudsdale of her childhood - the arena, the facade of the weather factory, the Commander Hurricane monument - barely. She'd never seen them up close before, but even then she could tell the toll that time had taken on them. The city looked smaller than she remembered it. Maybe it grew and shrank as needed. Around the city she spotted dark patches buried in the clouds, and in a few places she saw the walls of improvised hard buildings sticking out. The weather factory had long since ceased to make rainbows, but the stains of the colours still lingered, and some of the nearby clouds had a few unexpected hues too. But most of all, the city's reduced size made the life that was there look abundant. Pegasi flew between the clouds, some of them performing ongoing construction, others just going about their business. Some lounged, others patrolled. Mercifully, not all of them were decked out in raiding gear. She looked for a quiet spot to set down and start snooping.
She touched down near the top of a tall cloud bank with a few of the dark patches in it, under the cover of a cloud awning. The gravity of the clouds was weaker than she was expecting. She bounced on her first touchdown, requiring a second. Walking required long, slow steps. Maybe it was just easier to fly around town. She weighed up the merits of blending in with the locals against staying out of sight. She cast a look back in the direction of the Crusader. It was too small to see at this point - just another black dot in the endless sea of black and white dots.
She decided this structure would be as good a place to start as any, and began to probe the clouds. It was so rare that she got to feel clouds up close like this. Sailing through them was a different story - there, they just pushed at her like she was swimming in water. Here, standing on a static cloud, she could reach in and part them like weightless clay.
"Hey," someone said. Scootaloo froze. This was it. She was done for. "I've not seen you here before." What? She snapped upright, pulling her hooves out of the clouds. There was a mare looking at her with a tired squint. She definitely had the ragged leathers of a pirate, with a prominent pair of reflective wing-shaped patches on each shoulder. She had a long braid in her crest, that made the silver strands in her mane weave with the orange like they were intentional. She had a pair of scars running from her cheek to her collarbone, and a pair of misty goggles hanging from her neck glowed from the shardlight they caught.
"Oh, I'm..." Scootaloo tripped over her tongue. "I just got here. I don't know where I'm going." Well, it wasn't strictly a lie.
The mare tilted her head back. "Huh. First rookie in a while. Where you from, kid?"
Scootaloo snarled. "Who you calling 'kid'?"
She grinned. "Everyone's 'kid' when you're my age."
"Trottingham," Scootaloo said.
"You don't sound it."
"It's complicated."
She looked at her for a moment. Scootaloo's heart leapt into her mouth. "Yeah, okay. I'd call myself a Filly girl, but last I heard I'm shoot-on-sight in all four pieces of it, so I getcha."
"That's rough."
She sighed. "Yeah, well it's all rough these days, isn't it? Fly with me. I'll show you around." When the mare gestured out, Scootaloo followed, and they took off.
"Did you see me coming?" Scootaloo said. Keep talking.
"Not that far out. I saw someone land at the back of the brig and thought it was a little weird. All good."
"This is a lot more civil than I was expecting."
The mare laughed. "You haven't recognised me yet, have you?" Scootaloo looked again at the mare. "C'mon. Don't make me feel that old."
Seconds later, she made the connection, and nearly seized up. "You're Spitfire?"
The mare smiled and nodded. "Relax, kid. Don't try to kill me, and we won't have a problem."
"I..." Scootaloo forgot to breathe. "Does that happen often?"
"Not anymore."
They landed in front of the Hurricane monument, which had been moved to the top of the city. There was a plaza around the monument, with the arena on one side, some kind of military buildings on two of the other sides, and the last side providing a view over the city. Pegasi loitered and walked, arriving and departing in groups. Everyone who passed Spitfire saluted, until two approached who didn't.
"So, this is the main barracks. When we're done, talk to Fleetfoot and she'll get yo-"
"Hey," one of the approaching ponies said. She wasn't looking at Spitfire. "I've seen you before." The left side of her face was mostly scar tissue, and she had a mane that looked like she'd stuck her head in a ballast rocket. The curly-haired mare behind her chewed on some kind of stick. Both of them had those glossy wing patches, and both of them looked like they could snap her in two. The worst part was that she was right.
Scootaloo scoffed. "What? That's impossible, I just got here."
Spitfire sighed. "Lightning Dust, leave the rookie alone."
Lightning Dust took another step closer. Scootaloo snarled. "What's your name, pipsqueak?"
"Who you calling pipsqueak?"
She smirked and leaned closer. Her breath wasn't pleasant. "You sure look like a runt to me. What's the matter? Can't even remember your name?"
Shit fuck. Names names names. "Skyfall."
Lightning choked on a chuckle and thumped her companion on the shoulder. "Seriously? Oh, this one's bad luck, boss."
"I said knock it off!" Spitfire barked. It at least startled them.
Lightning Dust circled them, eyes on Scootaloo. "Yeah. Okay. We'd better scoot." Scootaloo kept up her snarl and tried not to let the chill that ran down her spine show. "C'mon, Supernova. Let's get out of here."
The pair took off to somewhere else in the city. Spitfire rolled her eyes. "Everyone gets one, rookie. Next time that happens you gotta look after yourself. This is a tough town with tough ponies."
"Yes ma'am."
"You'll be staying in the barracks until you get your wings." She pointed to one of the shiny patches with a wingtip. "Until then, you're not a citizen, and not everyone's gonna trust you."
"Oh."
"Now let's move, I don't have all day." Spitfire kicked into the air, and Scootaloo followed.
They sailed over the arena and surveyed the training exercises going on within. A lot of the rest of the city was residences. Scootaloo had never seen such spacious living before - it made sense, now that she thought about it. She imagined the barracks were not quite so luxurious.
They passed over the top of a newer construction that she didn't recognise, when a high-pitched noise caught her ear. She couldn't tell which way it was coming from.
Spitfire chuckled. "Watch out, here comes trouble."
Scootaloo screamed when something grabbed her leg and spun her around. She immediately lost control and started free drifting. She flailed her legs and batted her wings to shake the attacker off, and succeeded only in finding a cloud roof to crash on. Spitfire touched down a moment later and pulled her out of it by the tail.
When she reoriented, she found Spitfire watching with a giggle, and a foal climbing on her chest. The foal grabbed her face and squeezed it. "Who are you?"
"Why is there a child in my face, Spitfire."
"Who you calling a 'child'? I'm way grown up! I'll slice and dice you!"
"Concorde!" Spitfire called. The foal looked up. "Leave the poor rookie alone."
"But moooom! I can take her!"
"Which is why you shouldn't. Come here."
Concorde pouted, then grabbed Scootaloo by the cheeks and pulled her close, so she could whisper in hissing tones. "This. Isn't. Over." Then, she threw her down, and scampered across the clouds to headbutt Spitfire in the side.
A stallion with a scruffy blue beard and a shaggy mane touched down close by. He clutched his chest while he caught his breath. "She's getting too fast for me, babe."
Spitfire chuckled, and lifted his chin with a hoof so she could nuzzle him. "It's just the gravity."
He smiled. "You don't need to protect my ego, but thanks."
Scootaloo rubbed her face as she got up. "Did I just get threatened by your daughter?"
The stallion snorted. Concorde climbed on Spitfire's back and giggled. "Getting a bit big for that, aren't you?" she said.
"Nuh-uh." Concorde slumped on the back of her neck.
"Rookie, this is Soarin," Spitfire said.
"Believe it or not," he said with a wave.
She bucked her back to jostle the foal on it. "And this little buccaneer is Concorde. Soarin, this is the new rookie, Skyfall. Just washed up twenty minutes ago, and your daughter was busy trying to wrestle her."
"I can take her!" she yelled.
Soarin squinted. "A name like that? Are you..."
Scootaloo nodded. "I know. I have thought about changing it."
"Maybe a good idea for peace of mind." He chuckled. He walked alongside Spitfire, and scooped Concorde off her back with a wing, and on to his. "Come on Concorde, leave Mom to her business."
She squealed. "This is obstruction! Abduction! This is a robbery!"
Spitfire smiled and gave her a quick tickle. Then she smacked Soarin's flank. "Take her away!"
"Ow. Was that really necessary?"
"Yes," Spitfire looked like she was trying really hard not to burst out laughing. Soarin rolled his eyes, and took off with a squealing, wriggling filly on his back.
"Cute kid," Scootaloo said.
Spitfire allowed herself a giggle. "Yeah..." She looked at the floor for a moment. "Anyway. Let's go. Still got a stop or two." Scootaloo nodded, and they returned to the air.
After flying around a building Spitfire described as the Castle - her personal residence and office - they circled around the back of the weather factory.
"That get used for much these days?" Keep talking.
"Construction and drinking water, mostly. Retrofitted with some condensers. That's probably gonna be your first job - we gotta round up clouds on a regular basis or we have to start drinking our houses."
"Makes sense."
They touched down at the rear of the factory. Spitfire sighed. They stood beneath the great rainbow spout, which still bore the stains of colours long gone. It was easily four times her length across. "I should really get some of this place torn down. The old rainbow plant is a hazard, and this thing makes me sad every time I look at it."
"How did it go down here?" Scootaloo said.
"What, the..." Spitfire knocked her temple. "What do they call it in the mudhuts. Sundering?"
Scootaloo swallowed. "Yeah."
Spitfire sat, looking up at the empty pipe. "You really wanna know?"
Scootaloo's heart leapt into her mouth, and she kicked the clouds bashfully. "I mean, I'm just curious, is all."
"No, it's fine. Someone's gonna tell you either way." Scootaloo sat. "I remember... man. I remember running rescue duty with the rest of the 'bolts the day it happened. Nobody had a fucking clue what was happening. Half the city up and left for stable ground when things started floating away. The rest of us stayed, trying to keep everything together. You might have noticed that the place is a little smaller than when you were a kid."
"Yeah."
"We weren't able to save all of it."
"Oh."
"We also weren't able to keep Rainbow Falls close by, so we immediately had a world of problems, with food top of the list. Things spiralled from there. We were on daily forage trips just to bring back enough food for everyone, and... how old would you have been, eight? Ten?"
"Twelve or thirteen. About Concorde's age, I'd say."
Spitfire chuckled. "Don't make me feel old, Skyfall. But you remember what it was like back then. Whole sky was just full of gravel. We'd have days when we were flying in the dark - no stars to navigate, no sunlight." She rubbed her nose. "Did you have a favourite Wonderbolt back in the day?"
"Uh..." Scootaloo chuckled. "Fleetfoot, probably."
"Okay. I don't have to completely crush you." She paused anyway. "We lost three of them in those runs. Two got lost and we never saw them again, one got hit by debris. There's just me, Soarin, Fleet and Rapidfire left." Scootaloo winced. "Brave new world, rookie."
"So what happened then?"
"Well, riots. Finding food was hell. There wasn't enough to go around, and there never has been. There weren't enough guards for martial law, so we ended up doing it. Most capable fliers and the most organised. Weeks rolled by and it got easier to fly, but everything got further, and abandoned places started running dry. You'd know as well as me that nobody had much to spare. So that's..." Spitfire's eyes drifted to the sky. "That's when we made the call. If we didn't start taking supplies, Cloudsdale was going to starve."
"That was going to be my next question."
"We don't take everything. We always leave half of what we find. We're not barbarians. Not like those slavers in Canterlot."
Scootaloo didn't say anything. Spitfire nudged her.
"Enough about me. What's a well-fed workhorse like you doing in a pit like this?"
"Heh." She rubbed her shoulder. "Funny you mention Canterlot. They hit my home about a week ago. Everyone just... gone while I was running mail."
"Ouch. Trottingham? That's a pretty big city."
"Hoofington. I haven't lived in Trottingham for years."
"Couldn't go back?"
"You ever been?"
"They literally try to kill me."
Scootaloo bopped her forehead. "Oh. Yeah. Duh. They're kinda dicks to pegasi in general? It's way easier to leave than to move there. Like I said, it's complicated. Kinda hit the end of my rope."
Spitfire nodded. They sat quietly for a moment, looking at the sky. "You got a family?"
"I'm adopted. Twice, actually. Second time was Sundering-related."
"Yikes."
"All too common."
"Ain't that the bitter truth." They fell quiet again. "I like you, Skyfall. A lot of the washouts who turn up here are thugs. This place feels like a penal colony sometimes. But you're... you're just lost. I can respect that." She put a hoof on her back. "Put in the work and you can make a home for yourself here. Maybe even a family, if that's what you're looking for."
Scootaloo flinched. "Thanks."
Spitfire sighed, and stood up. "You know where the barracks is, I gotta jet. See you around, rookie."
Scootaloo saluted weakly. Spitfire jumped into the air, disappeared around the corner of the factory, and she was alone.
Now that she knew where the brig was, all Scootaloo had to do was get access. She could see it from where she sat. It was lightly guarded - any non-pegasus captives would be adequately detained in Cloudsdale with just a raft. One of the guards was asleep, and the other - from this distance at least - looked incredibly bored. A distraction would be sufficient.
She looked in the chute. Flammable rainbow residue? No, that would be a bit much. It would be quite the distraction, but given that her mission here was ostensibly saving lives, it was the one distraction that ran the risk of costing them. She thought she could start a fight in the barracks and slip away, but after her run-in with Lightning Dust, that didn't strike her as all that smart. She slumped back down, and that's when it hit her. It being the bottle of rum in her scarf thumping her in the stomach.
If there wasn't enough food to go around, there almost certainly wasn't enough booze to go around. She looked in the bottle. Half-full. Worth a shot.
She touched down behind the bored guard. He slumped against something long and bladed, that he tipped in her general direction without getting up. "Get outta here, rookie, you're not supposed to be here," he mumbled.
Scootaloo chuckled and nudged the blade to the side. "Hey, about that. Wouldn't you say..." She licked her lips and lowered her voice. As she stepped around him, she produced the bottle and lifted it into his eyeline. "Now's a good time for a bathroom break?"
He furrowed his brow. He sucked in his lips, tilted his head, squinted and more, for several seconds. Scootaloo kept smiling. "And what if I just stab you?"
She twisted the cap. "Then you can enjoy a bottle of clouds." He lowered the spear and made a sequence of increasingly pained grimaces. "I just want a word."
He snorted and huffed and stared at the bottle. "You've got five minutes." She screwed the cap back on, and let it topple in his direction. He caught it, and with his spear, disappeared around the corner. Five minutes - if he kept his word.
The cells were simple wooden doors on wooden boxes. They looked not unlike farm sheds, ripped from the ground whole and taken back to Cloudsdale. Crude windows had been cut in them for air and, presumably, passing things in and out. The smell wasn't great either. The first cell was empty. The second cell contained a pegasus with a number of bruises on their side. She moved on when the prisoner looked at her and snarled. The third cell had a pale lump in the far corner. There was a flowing pink mane around it, but in the darkness of the cell, it could easily have been a blanket. Then, a pair of small hooves peeked over the top, followed by a small yawning head. A pair of glittery eyes blinked under a scruffy, curly blue and pink mane. Scootaloo leaned in and whispered.
"Flurry Heart? Is that you?" The filly blinked. After a few seconds she nodded. "Is that your Mom?" Another nod. Scootaloo cast a look at the sleeping guard. He was at the end of the row, with another cell between them. "Can I talk to her?"
"Mama!" she said. She sounded a little croaky. She looked about the same age as Concorde. Scootaloo grimaced. "Mama, the lady wants to talk to you."
The lump on the floor stirred. From the shadows, she saw shapes emerge; a wing, a horn. Her mane shimmered, and took on a faint pink glow. When she turned to rise, she looked weary and gaunt, despite her youthful features. She sneered. "What do you want?"
"Hey, relax. I'm getting you out of here."
Cadance squinted. "What?"
"Just a sec."
Clouds, mercifully, are extremely quiet surfaces to walk on. This allowed Scootaloo to approach the sleeping guard silently, lean in to his belt, and begin threading the ring of keys off. She looked over her shoulder every few seconds and held her breath the entire time. She had no idea how long five minutes was. The keys knocked together and jangled as she worked. The sleeping guard sniffed. Scootaloo froze. Her eyes darted, looking for cover. He didn't wake. Slowly, she resumed her work. She looked over her shoulder again. No sign of the other guard. The keyring made a little snap when it came off, and the guard stirred again. Scootaloo dared not even blink.
Slowly, she stood. The sleeping guard wiped his nose with a hoof, then resumed his nap. Scootaloo didn't let herself exhale until she was back in front of Cadance's cell. Panting, she dangled the keys at the window. "Look what I got."
"Who are you?"
Scootaloo started trying keys. The first one wasn't even the right type of key. "Me? Some crusty trader who's in way over her head."
"But who sent you?"
Key number two went in but didn't turn. "Your husband."
Cadance scoffed and slumped back to the floor. "Great. One of his goons has come to get me."
Scootaloo pouted. Not the reaction she was expecting. "Excuse me, I am not a Canterlot goon." Key number three almost fit. She cast a glance both ways, and behind her.
"You can just... go ahead and leave me here."
"What? I thought you were kidnapped." Key four went in and showed promise. It just needed some jiggling.
"I ran away, okay?" Cadance spat.
"Oh." The lock finally turned, and the door swung open with a louder creak than she'd have liked.
"I've had enough of being a slaver's queen. I'm not going back!"
Scootaloo inhaled deep. "Well, that's good, because if I never see Canterlot again, I'll consider that a win. Listen, do you want to just like... go?"
Cadance's sour glare slipped. "What?"
"We're running out of time, but the only reason I'm here is because we're doing Shining Armor a favour, because we're doing a thing, and we needed help from this dragon, who wanted to see him to s-"
"You have Spike with you?" Cadance jumped into the doorframe and grabbed Scootaloo.
"Yes, also shhh!" The sleeping guard yawned. They waited until he settled again. "We have a ship. Can you fly?" She nodded. "Follow me."
Cadance scooped Flurry Heart onto her back and stepped out of the cell. She looked even skinnier than the pirates. Scootaloo locked the door again. She looked at the keys for a moment. If she left them in the door, they'd be on their trail right away, but if there were a distraction...
"Here. Have fun." She tossed the keys into the cell with the snarling pegasus. She didn't stick around for their reaction - without another look, they were away.
Scootaloo figured that if they were going to be followed, they'd be caught in the first sixty seconds or so. Five minutes passed, and there was no sign of pursuit. The clouds shrank on the horizon a little more every time she looked over her shoulder, as they sailed into Argo and watched for the black speck that moved the fastest. The chill on the return trip was even worse. Minutes ticked by with their destination unclear. She had trouble remembering whether she'd rolled in transit. She should have checked her poles at both ends, she thought. She double-checked that Cloudsdale was in the Summer Triangle. She really would make an awful pirate with navigation confidence like this.
"Is that it there?" Cadance called her attention to the ship. Above them, apparently upside down, sails on the sides and slack.
"That's the one.."
Warmth restored to her blood, they inverted and touched down on the deck of the Crusader. Cadance managed a delicate flutter, even if she stumbled on contact. Scootaloo landed with a four-legged thud. She was immediately tackled.
"Scootaloo! You made it!"
"Applebloom, if you don't let me breathe, I'm not going to make it."
Key, descending the stairs instead of leaping from the quarterdeck, chuckled from nearby. Applebloom (eventually) stood up and let Scootaloo catch her breath. Flurry Heart had jumped down, and was exploring the deck. Cadance just looked relieved to be on board a vessel that wasn't part of the Canterlot navy. Applebloom looked at her sidelong. "Ma'am."
"Are... are you the captain of this ship?"
"I might be."
"Hey, uh. Applebloom?" Scootaloo smirked and rubbed her chin. "There's been a bit of a twist."
Sweetie Belle, Oval and Spike arrived shortly after to investigate the commotion. When Cadance spotted Spike, she limped over to him as quick as she could. "Spike! Is that... is that you?"
Oval and Sweetie Belle gave her a wide berth, but Spike couldn't help but smile. "You look just like you did before, Princess. Well, a little roughed up, but that's not... hang on, I've put my foot in my mouth."
Cadance broke into a giggle and grabbed him in a hug. "It is you!"
"I don't know how to feel about being identified by social awkwardness."
Applebloom cleared her throat. She frowned. "So. Canterlot?"
"You wanna tell 'em?" Scootaloo said.
Cadance gave her a curious look, then nodded. She rubbed her face a little. "Right. The truth is... I wasn't kidnapped. Not straight away, anyway. I ran away from Canterlot, and got captured by pirates in open sky."
"What?"
She winced and sat. "Spike, you… you were just in Canterlot, weren't you?" He nodded. "Then you… you talked to him?"
He sighed. "Yep."
"I had to leave. He wouldn't listen. Every year, I begged him to stop, and… I didn't want to give up on him. That's why I waited so long. But I don't know if there's anything left of the Shining Armor I fell in love with…"
"I hear you," he said. He left and outstretched arm to her, and she leaned into his chest and stayed there.
They went quiet for a moment.
"Do you know if..."
"We're still looking for Twilight."
"I see."
"Not to hurry you guys, but we'd better pitch sails before we start attracting attention. Where were you headed to, Princess?" Applebloom said.
"I... I don't know. I was just heading... away. Anywhere."
"Come with us," Spike said. Applebloom winced. "You need to recover."
"That's very kind, Spike, but they're going to be looking for me. Both of them will be." She cast a glance back at Cloudsdale. "I wouldn't want to get you caught up in that."
"Then stay for dinner," Applebloom said. "We can point you to Manehattan and drop you closer."
"We've got plenty of stewed apple that needs eating!" Sweetie Belle said, while levitating a flailing Flurry Heart away from the hatch that she'd managed to open.
Cadance sighed. "We might as well. We haven't had a good meal in... days."
"A good Apple family feed'll do you good, Princess."
"Thank you, Captain Applebloom."
"So, uh..." Key cleared his throat, then coughed harder than he meant to. "Where to? I need a destination if I'm gonna give you a bearing." Applebloom looked around. Every face was tired, and every gait sagged. It was time.
"Let's go home."