The sun was setting as the pony landed by the riverbank, Right carefully climbed off her and began searching the modest clearing for a good spot to put up the tent. From the corner of his eye, he saw her lumber over to a flat rock and sit on it to catch her breath. Right had to give her credit, she was good at hiding her pain, but not good enough to fool him, and she was going to run herself ragged at the rate she was going.
He found ground flat enough for the tent and removed his hat, opening a compartment in the side and pulling out a collapsible tent. It would fit one of them, but it was better than both of them being out in the elements. With his hat back on, Right started to put the tent up.
"Do you need help?" the pony asked.
"No," he said, then added "if you want to be useful, could use some stones and wood for a fire."
Getting a few rocks and branches was easy enough and if she wanted to help it wouldn't do to just have her sit around. She had more work ethic than she did self-respect, he needed to put a stop to that. Something to work on, he supposed, but she had some fight her which Right respected. He didn't need a yes-man, he need a teammate and someone who could do their job without the kiddie gloves. Unless she earned a high rank in the clan, her passiveness was going to make her a target.
He stepped back to look at his handiwork, the tent was easy to set up, he nudged it with his foot and smirked when it didn't collapse in on itself. Turning around, Right looked for the pony. Her bags were left nearby and faint hoof prints in the dirt led into the small thicket of trees that surrounded their camp. He had to remind himself that she wasn't some hopeless rookie, with how calm she was Right found it hard to believe she was an ex-mercenary, but he saw the way she held herself during their first encounter.
She was a wolf in sheep's clothing.
Right would give her fifteen minutes to get back to camp before he went searching for her.
Right watched as the pony made a campfire. Once the sticks were organized with the ring of rocks, she stepped back and Right started to walk over to light it. The pony held up a hoof, he paused and was surprised to see the pony extend her left wing.
Sparks of lighting danced across her feathers as she concentrated, she aimed her wingtip at the campfire, and Right took a step back is shoch as a bolt of lighting arced off her wing and struck the wood, setting it alight.
He raised a brow at her. "You could've warned me."
"Sorry." she replied sheepishly but she still looked proud of herself regardless.
Right dragged over a log to use as a seat by the fire. "S'that somethin' all pegasi can do? Or jus' you?" he asked as he let go off the log.
The pony hesitated, Right sat down and waited. It was no skin off his nose if she didn't want to share.
"It's... Complicated," she settled on. "Pegasus magic enables the manipulation of air currents, moisture, sunlight, and a whole host of things that connect to the weather. Lightning manipulation is a skill only used by law enforcement, environmental specialists, and ponies whose special talent revolves around it. I use it as a survival tool."
"I wasn't sure I could still do it," she added. "I've lost so much of my magic it's only a matter of time before I'm grounded for good."
"The monochrome syndrome?" Right commented and got a nod in return. "Any way to treat it? Get you back on your feet?"
"Even if I'm able to express my talent in some capacity, the underlying issues are still present. It's just something I have to live with," the pony looked frustrated. "Barring black magic, nothing can be done."
Right had a hunch. "An' I suppose there's a price to pay if you went with that option?"
"Who's to say I'd still be me at the end of it all? Would I be willing to throw away my morals for an easy fix to my problems?" the pony suggested seriously. "I'm not out of the running yet, so I'd rather save that as a last resort."
Right silently agreed with her.
The pony walked over to her bags and pulled out a metal container, carrying it in a wing as she took a seat next to him by the fire. Popping the lid off, she offered the contents to him. "Rice crackers, want some?"
Right wordlessly reached in and grabbed one, their conversation falling to the wayside as they ate.
"You'll get the tent, I'll keep watch outside." he stated after a while.
She just nodded and made a noise that sounded like confirmation. Right looked up at the darkening sky, it was still strange to look up and see unfamiliar stars, a different sky. Right wondered if the clan would ever fully recover, they'd certainly been in dire straits before but this was on another level. The Toppat name didn't have any clout here, many of the ship's crew were now permanently separated from their families, and Reginald was the one who had to pick up the pieces.
Still, Right supposed there was a silver lining to all of this, the clan would come out the other side stronger, they had an entire world at their fingertips, and the pony was already showing promise.
Mist walked out of the tent the next morning dressed in a black T-shirt and a pair of gray, plaid shorts. She slipped her saddlebags on and pulled out her flight googles and a small, wooden charm on a twine necklace. As she put her googles on, she passed the charm over to Right, who was clearing up the remains of the campfire.
He looked skeptical as he examined the charm. "Some sort of ID?"
"Cloudwalking charm, can't walk around the city without it."
"You're joking..."
Mist wasn't fazed. "You'll see."
They packed up the tent, removed any traces they'd been there and took off.
Mist enjoyed the early spring weather, flying with the wind, towards the giant clouds that made up the foundation of Las Pegasus. As she began to climb higher into the air, she felt her passenger tighten his grip on her mane.
"Oi! 'ow far up are we going?" he asked.
"We'll be flying up for the next few hours, Las Pegasus is a cloud city."
"Don't you dare drop me..."
"I won't fly straight up, we'll gain altitude at an angle." she said reassuringly.
She heard Right grumble but the rest of the trip was relatively smooth. Mist wasn't sure if it was the increase in physical activity or the fresh air but flying felt easier than it had been yesterday. She shrugged it off as simply having one of her good days.
It felt nice to be out on a job again.
She reached Las Pegasus hours later, hovering above a cloud road. Warily, she poked it with a hoof, the surface responding to her touch and providing resistance. She landed gently, the cool, soft clouds a novelty after spending so much time on the ground.
The flashy lights and extravagant buildings of Las Pegasus lay before them, she glanced behind her, Right was still sitting on her back, staring wide-eyed at the magical marvel of pegasi architecture and engineering.
"But, these are clouds."
"Yup."
Right looked at her. "You're standing on clouds."
"Yup."
"An entire city on bloody clouds..."
"You can get off, it's safe as long as you wear the charm." Mist explained and Right cautiously got off her, testing if the clouds could hold his weight.
He realized what he was doing and cleared his throat. "Right then, where to?"
Mist kept her voice down as she lead Right into an alleyway. "Getting the parts from a licensed distributor would be ideal, pretend we're a couple of co-workers on a business trip, or some hobbyist tinkerers on vacation," she picked up a second pair of hoofsteps from behind them. "Cutie Marks are the main way to identify a pony, I've packed this outfit on the off chance someone recognizes me, or we need to head to the black market if legal channels are a bust."
The sound of a wing concealed blade was familiar, Mist acted on instinct, pivoting around to stand on her hind legs and jab her would-be assailant in the eye with her hoof. The stallion stumbled back. Grabbing at his injured eye, he lunged at her with the knife.
She sidestepped the sloppy attack, a sweeping kick knocked his legs out from under him, the fall taking him by surprise, and she used it to her advantage. Mist dropped back onto all fours and pinned the other pegasus beneath her, snatching his knife out of his grasp with a wing and pressing the blade to the side of his throat.
The stallion tried to struggle, she put her hoof on his wing. She applied pressure, just enough to convince him to stop moving.
"W-what are you going to do?" he asked shakily.
Mist answered calmly. "Nothing, provided you don't pull another stunt like that again."
"I'm sorry, I needed the money-I didn't have a choice!"
It always came down to money and she didn't even have it in her to feel disgusted. "Money?"
She sighed, reaching into her bag with her free wing and pulling out a few hundred-bit coins to toss at his houves, her tone clipped. "Leave the city, make a new life for yourself. You can be better than this."
She removed the blade from his neck and let him go, the stallion scrambled to scoop up the offered bits and galloped off in wide-eyed terror. She looked over at the Right Hand Man, his hand was hovering over his holster, watching the situation intently, and he relaxed once the stallion was out of sight.
He nodded at her. "Good job, waste of money though..."
"Better him getting a second chance and wasting it, than not having a chance at all." she said, tossing the cheap switchblade into a nearby bin.
Mist walked down the alley, Right not far behind. Sticking to side streets, back alleys and the lesser walked paths behind buildings, Mist soon came to a stop in front of a small store. The exterior simple and functional, void of flair and the shop itself was tucked away behind an amusement park, the chatter of the crowd and fanfare of the rides nothing more than muffled background noise.
"This is Rapid Repairs, the parts and service provider for maintenance around here." she said.
Mist headed inside.
Shelves of mechanical parts, tools and gizmos lined the walls of the repair shop. Mist walked over to the counter and addressed the bored retail worker that sat on a stool behind it. A few quick words and a brief glance at Mist's list was all the salespony needed to point them in the right direction. Right pointed out the better pieces amongst the piles of metal doodads while she went around the back to buy a pegasus wagon to haul it back in.
An hour later, Mist was hitched to a sturdy wagon filled with their purchases, Right walking beside her as she pulled it down the street.
"You're not going to try an' fly back with that thing, are you?" he asked.
"No, there's a balloon lift we can take down to the ground and walk back," she explained. "Anything you wanted to do before we leave?"
"Nah, best to get this stuff back to the ship."
She nodded. "Alright then."
"Excuse me, ma'am?"
Mist looked behind her to see an older mare, accompanied by the stallion from earlier. Right looked none too pleased with the apparent delay.
"Can I help you?" Mist asked neutrally as the other ponies approached.
"Well, we were wondering how we could help you," the mare said. "You did my boy a kindness earlier today and we wanted to repay you for your generosity."
"If he used the money to support the two of you, that's good enough," Mist said. "I'm sorry, my client is expecting this delivery."
"We could help you, you're headed for the lift, right? My husband's a delivery colt, he could fly your cart to your client in no time! Where are you headed?"
"Florenway, might be too far out for him." she replied.
"That little town in the fields west of the Smokey Mountains right? He can make the trip in under a few hours." the mare stated.
Mist looked at Right for confirmation. "Sir?"
He took a good look at the wagon, then at her. He looked thoughtful. "We'll be riding with the cargo..."
"Oh that's not an issue, happens all the time with his moving company." the mare reassured him.
Right was relieved when they reached Florenway without issue. They had, by some miracle, completely avoided the airship and the other ponies, insistent of helping, had left without issue. Right followed Mist through town, they were getting plenty of looks from the locals and he didn't like the way a good number of them turned their noses up at him. It wasn't his problem though.
His problem was the pony pulling the wagon. Mist looked fine, but even then, he could see she was forcing herself to keep moving. She was tense, subtly looking for threats, and a far cry from the mercenary he'd seen in action at Las Pegasus. He took note of the quiet whisperings and curious stares ponies directed at Mist specifically as they reached the village entrance.
"Come on girl, nearly there," he said, walking ahead of her. "The boss will be surprised to see us back early."
He looked back to see her smirk. "Just doing my job, Sir."
Right shook his head, the pony was definitely crazy. Either way she'd gotten the job done, he'd have to keep an eye on her though. Couldn't have her hurting herself, she was a valuable asset to the clan, and Right was impressed by what he'd seen. Sure she'd need some bad habits curbed, proper treatment to get her back into shape, and maybe a pep talk.
But that was Reginald's department, not his, and he'd prefer to not open that Pandora's Box, thank-you-very-much.
The walk back was quiet and uneventful, the wagon was hauled into the ship's storage and the Toppat Chief took one look at Mist and ordered her to clean herself up and get some rest. Right trudged into Reginald's quarters, flopping down into the seat opposite his boss.
Reginald raised a brow at him. "You can give your report to me tomorrow you know."
"If it's all the same to you boss, I'd prefer to get it out of the way." Right stated.
Reginald nodded and gestured for him to begin.
"Hard to say how she'll do in the future, she's dedicated at least, and can protect herself. Might want to keep an eye on her though, bit of a self-sacrificing idiot that one." Right stated and launched into a recount of the mission.
Afterwards, Reginald rested his chin on his hands, brow furrowed. "...I'll have to look into her reputation at the village, Mist has been of benefit to the clan, the question is if we've convinced her to stay... If she'll remain loyal." Reginald looked tired. "The crew are growing restless, they want to get back to work, and I don't blame them. This is all we have now, without Mist Veil providing us intel and funds we'd be worse off, we'd be flying blind with no idea how to proceed, and I doubt I'd be able to keep the crew in line without the promise of getting back to business as soon as possible."
His boss sighed, relief palpable. "At least we have what we need to repair the engine. The ship should be operational in a few weeks, provided everything goes smoothly," Reginald nodded courteously at Right. "You've done well, take the rest of the day off. From tomorrow, I want you overseeing the rest of the repairs."
"Take the night off yourself Reg, I don't want to find you asleep at your desk again." Right grumbled.