//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Whisper // Story: Havoc's Hourglass // by Croswynd //------------------------------// Chapter 3: Whisper “Set her down here, fillies and colts!” Whisper yelled across the deck, wiping her forehead against the heat. “Fleetfeather, tie us down as soon as we hit the ground! Rigs, Clank, check the engines when we set down. I don’t want to risk any leaks.” “Yes, ma’am!” Rigs replied, saluting and nearly knocking the cap off his head. He rushed to the side with Clank clunking along behind him. “Everypony else, watch out for any harpies on the horizon! I want to know as soon as we see anything flapping through the sky!” Whisper glanced over to the pony beside her. “Quills, you’re in charge of the watch change.” “Roger that, ma’am!” the young earth pony replied with a wide grin. The rest of the pegasus crew flew about, tying lines and easing the lumbering airship down to their makeshift port in some ruins they’d spotted from the air. The engines slowly whined down, the enchantment on them to reduce the noise weakening from the long journey. Whisper chewed on her lip. I’ll have to get Rigs and Clank to renew the spells. And I need to check on the balloon myself, look for any holes. Gotta visit the sickbay after that, see if I can help. Quills cleared her throat. “You’re flying yourself ragged there, Whisper. You need some sleep.” “Can’t sleep,” Whisper replied distractedly. “Hafta keep awake ‘til Skycrasher gets some shut eye. She’s slept less than either of us. I need to be here for any attack, too.” “We’re not going anywhere for awhile, and you just put me in charge of the watch.” Quills put a hoof on Whisper’s shoulder. “Go visit the Professor, if nothing else. Rest.” She shook her head stubbornly. “I’ll do that later. Right now, we’ve got a landing to make, and repairs to perform. Go make a list of the watch roster, please.” Quills’ mouth formed a line. “You know, if you exhaust yourself like this, you’ll be of no help to anypony. Least of all Novell.” Whisper winced as the last struck too close to home. “Quills, stop worrying. I’ll be fine. I’m tougher than any of us. I’ll handle it.” “And you’ll get some rest soon?” she asked dubiously. “Yes, I will. As soon as I inspect the balloon and the surrounding area.” Whisper sighed when Quills raised an eyebrow. “I promise, okay?” The earth pony nodded. “Yes ma’am. I’ll hold you to that.” She moved off, calling to some of the nearby pegasi. Whisper sighed again, rolling her shoulders. She’s right, you know, the traitorous thought came. So am I, she argued with herself, and stamped a hoof to shake the cobwebs away. The jungle canopy rose above the sides of the airship. Whisper stretched her wings and lifted off. She rose and began to inspect the balloon, searching for any holes or frayed edges in the cloth that covered the skeletal structure underneath. Her mind fell into a buzz with the monotonous task. Her eyes moved across the surface, and she idly took note of any damage from acid or sharp harpy fang. She was so distracted, she didn’t realize she was about to fly into somepony until the last second. “Whoa!” the stallion cried out, dodging her with a deft flick of his wings. “Watch out there, cap’n.” Whisper’s face colored. “Er, sorry. I didn’t see you there…” She looked at him, recognizing him as the pegasus she’d saved— no, who she’d caused almost certain death a week ago. Dread shot through her, and she broke out into a sweat. “Oh… Weather Hazard. You’re… flying already?” The dark blue pegasus smiled sheepishly and ran a hoof through his short, wild cyan mane. “Yeah… Professor Amber fixed me up. I really thought I’d never fly again, but she knows her stuff. I’m not supposed to fly long, though. Just wanted to look at the balloon.” “Great,” Whisper worked up a smile she barely felt. It was my fault. “I’m glad you’re… back in the air.” “Yeah!” He beamed, eyes alight, as if he didn’t notice anything amiss about her. “You know, everytime I see you, I want to say thanks. But I know that’d annoy you, so I don’t, since you seem like you’ve kind of been avoiding me.” He loooked away, and scratched his mane awkwardly before looking back up at her with another smile. “But I just want to mention it now. Er, I hope that’s not annoying of me to say. I mean, thanks. Um.” Whisper glanced away. I don’t deserve your thanks. “It doesn’t annoy me. I know I’d…. be doing the same thing if I were you. Just stay…,” she looked back at him, “healthy, okay? Take a rest if you need to.” “Um, yeah. Thanks. I mean, yeah, I will. Thanks for worrying about me and all. Uh. I’ll just go over here now. Er, the deck, I mean.” Hazard coughed into a hoof and flapped away. “Yeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaah.” That was cute, Whisper thought to herself absently, and then immediately felt sick. Cursing herself, she got back to work with renewed determination. She’d find every damaged section if it took her the whole day. Nopony else can get hurt because of me. ***** The sun was beginning to sink below the horizon when she finally walked with heavy hoofsteps into the medbay. Her wing muscles were aching from flying all across the ship to direct the repairs, and when she had talked to Rigs and Clank about the engines, she’d asked the two unicorn mechanics to repeat themselves several times after falling into a daze. And now I’m here, talking to all the injured, Whisper thought to herself. She stifled a yawn and waved goodbye to the penultimate patient she’d come to see. When she spotted Quills and Amber, she yawned and waved. Quills stared at her hard, the corner of her mouth turned down. Guilt flooded through her mid-yawn. Uh oh. A clearly fake smile appeared on Quills’ face, and she turned back to her mother. “And you know what the Professor did? He looked at me, and said ‘That’s not important! Look at what I found!’” Amber puffed out her cheeks and frowned. “And I yelled at him! He’s always so oblivious to everything, and I was so worried about him! That trip was actually the time I met your father, you know, in the capital of Dromadary.” Quills rolled her eyes. “You’ve told me this story before, mom.” “I know, but it’s fun to retell. Keeps the memory sharp,” Amber teased as she shook a bottle of medicine. “And being in Dromadary brings back all these memories of when I was an adventurous little mare like yourself.” “Some of us are a little too adventurous,” Quills said barbedly. Whisper winced and faked a chuckle. “Haha.. ha… yeah, that sounds like Professor Search, all right. He always tells you what you need to know just after you already find out from experience, too. Like with the Dazies, when I first met him. That was confusing, let me tell you. I’m just lucky Swirley was there, or I would have been out of it for days.” “If only we had some now,” Quills muttered just loud enough for Whisper to hear. “I’m sorry, okay?” Whisper hissed. “Mmm,” she hummed. Unaware of the exchange, Amber looked up at her mane where Swirley was resting. “Your snail is quite the interesting character. He seems to have also grown quite fond of me. I must say, it took some getting used to, what with his slime in my mane, but it just goes away!” Swirley opened his eyes, blinked twice, shifted his shell through blue and green, and then closed his eyes again. When Amber raised an eyebrow, Whisper translated, “He says he cleans up after himself quite well, thank you very much.” “What a dear,” Amber replied, gently patting Swirley’s shell. His shell shifted to a pleased burnt-orange. Their merry mood was interrupted by a coughing fit from the curtained-off section beside them where the Professor was resting. Amber immediately got up and disappeared behind the curtains, her face suddenly like a mask. Whisper followed her, worry eating at her stomach like a worm in an apple. “Here you go, Eduardo,” Amber said to the Professor as she lifted a glass of herbal tea to his mouth. “Careful now.” The Professor sipped weakly at the cup, bags under his eyes. “I apologize… for not even being able to… lift my own teacup.” “Now, now, it’s quite fine,” Amber replied, tutting. “Just get better. We’re almost to Dromadary.” Professor Search winced as another coughing fit overtook him. “Dromadary… ah, but this is where Amber left me… such a promising student. You remind me of her.” The words sent a shot of adrenaline through Whisper’s tired body. It’s like he’s not there anymore… Tears began to sting at the corner of her eyes, but she gritted her teeth against them. Have to be strong. For Quills. For Amber. For me. Amber just smiled gently at him, belied by the sorrow etched across her face. “I’m sure she’s a nice enough pony.” “She was, indeed,” the Professor closed his eyes, lying back on his pillow. “Dromadary… you know, I recall a… flower with medicinal qualities. Quite… remarkable, it was. I wonder what it was called…” The unicorn fell back into a fitful sleep. Whisper left, almost running into Quills, who had brightened up considerably. “Whisper! The flower! I know what he’s talking about!” “What?” Whisper frowned. “What about it?” “It’s a pancea of sorts. Well, mostly just for venoms and poisons,” Quills rattled off in an aside, “but the plant! It grows here, in the jungles of Dromadary. It’s native!” “Would you be able to recognize it if you saw it?” Whisper asked excitedly, a surge of hope springing to life within her. Quills brought a hoof to her head in concentration. “Yes… yes I would. There was something else, though… I can’t seem to remember. Scrolls was reading about it to me, so it’s not as clear as something I would have seen…” “We need to find it. I’m sure the rest will come to you when we do,” Whisper replied, already putting together a list of able-bodies pegasi. “First, we need something to carry it in. Is it milled? Tea? I’m sure you’ll know. Who to bring…” “Whisper, calm down. It’s dark right now. We can’t go out and look for it until daylight,” Quills said forcefully. “That’s something I’m sure of. Something about looking for it at night seems like a bad idea, and not just because of the harpies.” Frowning, Whisper glanced back at the Professor’s curtain, where he was coughing in his sleep again. She could hear Amber’s tender murmurings, too. Sleep. Just like that, the exhaustion of the day came crashing in on her all at once. Whisper weaved unsteadily, and balanced herself with a wing against the wall. She raised a hoof to her head. “The Professor needs it, though…” Quills grabbed her gently by the shoulder. “You need to sleep, Whisper. Get rested and ready for tomorrow. We’ll find it then.” “Tomorrow…” Whisper repeated dully. She woodenly walked with Quills’ guidance, and fell asleep immediately after her head touched the cloud hammock. ***** The next morning, Whisper gathered a group to search for the flower in the large, open clearing that the ruins occupied in the middle of the jungle. Rigs and Clank had volunteered immediately, since they'd finished what repairs they'd needed the day before. "Just waiting on the balloon to be deflated and re inflated with a new batch of gas to test the seal," Clank had said with a vwoosh of steam from his mechanical leg. "Might as well help." Along with the two engineers, Skycrasher had volunteered to go, and with Quills to round out the search party, they set out from the landing site. "So what exactly are we looking for? 'Flower' isn't exactly the clearest description," Skycrasher asked sardonically. She gingerly stepped over debris from a broken pillar, her good wing held out to balance her. Quills wiped the sweat from her forehead before answering. "It's a flower with a long, yellow stem and huge, white petals the size of a hoof. The stamen are red, so they stick out." "Easy enough," Rigs said, and readjusted his hat so the bill was behind his head as they entered the jungle proper. "Hope we find it soon. This jungle gives me the creeps." Whisper looked around the clearing they'd set down in, the ruins of some ancient civilization decripit and run-down. Moss and vines covered the stone, and she thought she saw some designs of an animal with a large hump on its back on the broken walls. The figures looked like they were surrounding a faded bipedal figure. Camels, I guess, and a god? A troll? she thought and flapped into the air. "I'm going to take a look around from above. Which direction are we heading?" "This jungle's a big place," Skycrasher replied, squinting her uncovered eye. "I flew over it once or twice as a courier for the princesses. It goes on for miles. Best place to look would be straight ahead, unless there's some special place this flower grows. Quills?" Quills chewed on her lip, and furrowed her brows. "The flower's usually around a tree of some kind. The tree... something about the tree is unusual. It grows near... game trails, I think." "Can't exactly see those from the air," Whisper complained, falling back to the ground. Skycrasher used her wing to move vines aside. "You should go up every now and then to keep an eye on the airship. Make sure we don't get lost." "This ain't a place I'd like to get lost in, that's true," Clank replied, rubbing his stubbly chin. "Jungle cats and all kinds of snakes live here. Who knows what else comes out at night, too. Heard of trolls happenin' upon couriers who slept on the ground 'round these parts. Never pretty." Whisper cleared her throat. "Well, we aren't staying here that long, anyway. We'll find the flower and get out of here in two shakes of a tail feather." Contrary to her opinion, hours were beginning to pass by as they searched for the flower. Several times, they'd happened upon game trails, but each time they'd ended without much rhyme or reason, with no sign of the tree, or flower it was attached to. Iguanas stared at them from the trees without sign of alarm, as if they saw ponies running through the jungle every day. Ants lined the ground and trees, carrying cargos of leaves or other insects. The smell of flora of all kinds blended into an unappetizing fragrance, and mosquitos were constantly swarming them. Whisper irritably slapped one such insect away from her face, her fur matted with sweat. A second later, a fern slapped her in the face. "Hey!" Quills looked back apologetically. "Sorry." "Forget it," Whisper muttered, rubbing her face where a welt was already forming. "I'm going to go look upsky, so take a rest, guys." Clank's leg hissed with steam, accompany the engineer's weary sigh as he sat down. "I could definitely use one. All this exercise is doing me in." "We could always brighten the day up with a song," Rigs replied with a knowing grin. "Yes, Rigs," Skycrasher said as she sat down. "Do sing, since you've so valiantly volunteered." Before the lanky unicorn could burst into a verse, Whisper opened her wings and rushed upward. She deftly avoided vines and branches, breaching the canopy. Blessed wind caressed her as she flapped further up. She opened her wings to their full length, luxuriating in the feeling of the breeze. Closing her eyes, she sighed in contentment. She somewhat regretfully opened them a moment later, and searched for the balloon. It wasn't hard to pick out, even at this distance. Specks of pegasi flapped around, re-inflating the balloon. Manipulating the wind to carry long-off sounds, she closed her eyes and listened for any hint of harpy attack or alarm. “Waah!” Whisper’s eyes snapped open, the sudden sound loud in her ears. She winced, and shook her head. Wait, that didn’t come from the airship. She glanced down to where she’d left her companions. “Whisper!” “Quills!” Whisper yelped, and immediately dove back toward the canopy. This time, branches and vines smacked into her in her rush. They stung with each hit, but they were nothing compared to the injuries she’d received on the journey already. “Rigs, Clank, get back!” Skycrasher ordered loudly. Whisper flared her wings and impacted the ground with a loud thump. She surveyed the scene in a single glance. Ahead, Skycrasher was standing, her wing flared out as if she were preparing to fly. Rigs and Clank stood beside her, their jaws slack as they stared at what was attacking Quills. Huge vines were wrapped around Quills’ frail body, entwining around her legs and forehooves. The young mare was struggling against them, biting at the vines for all she was worth. But that wasn’t what drew Whisper’s attention. Attached to the “vines”, which she realized were the thing’s fingers, was some kind of giant, wooden golem. Large holes chiseled out like eyes stood out near the top of its trunk-like body, nothing but shadows inside. Below them gaped another opening big enough to fit a pony inside. From that hole came a loud, savage roar. The way the hole didn’t move as it made the sound sent her skin crawling. “What in the hay-flinging-seed is that?” Whisper yelled. She didn’t know where to start to free her friend. “Mkodo tree!” Quills yelled, then squeaked as the golem-tree-thing squeezed her and roared again. “Head!” Whisper glanced up at the thing’s head and glimpsed the white petals of a flower. Skycrasher’s eye widened. “I’ve heard of them. They make meals of harpies and camels alike. Anything with flesh and bones.” Whisper gasped at her, and glanced at the two unicorns before looking back at the golem-tree-thing. Maybe if they… The image of Weather Hazard falling toward the ground, looking up at her with dead eyes and broken wings filled her head. No. She closed her mouth and opened her wings again, her mind made up. She rushed forward, right toward the monstrous golem. “Wait, Whisper! We need a plan!” Skycrasher yelled from behind her. “No time!” Following her instincts, Whisper twisted around in mid-air, just in front of its face, and slammed her back hooves into it. Thunk! “Guh!” Whisper cried out, unprepared for the solidness of the golem’s exterior. Another roar came from its unmoving maw, and its massive free hand swung toward her. She flapped up, but not fast enough. The topmost slab of vine slammed into her back legs, sending her into a front flip. Pain radiated up her leg. The world flipped weirdly, and she hit the ground, hard. She gasped at the suddenness of it, stunned. Stars twinkled at the corner of her vision. “Whisper! Move!” Skycrasher’s voice cut through the ringing in her ears. Without thinking, Whisper flapped her wings. Her body lurched forward, just in time. Behind her, the ground shook as the thing’s massive foot stomped down where she’d been. It roared again, this time in frustration. Oh haystacks, she thought through the jumble of her mind. She picked herself up and stumbled forward, her wings flapping enough to keep her upright. Shaking her head, she narrowly avoided a tree and finally snapped out of it. “Up!” Skycrasher yelled. Whisper followed her instructions again, wings straining. She looked down, watching as the slab of vines ripped through the tree below her, exploding splinters of wood through the air. A spike of wood slashed just below her hooves, catching in her tail and almost sending her careening backward. “Get back here, now! Rigs, Clank, try to distract it!” Out of range of the golem’s attacks, Whisper flapped away further, staring helplessly at Quills. The young earth pony winced as the golem slammed the ground with its free hand and tried to ward away the bursts of exploding light the unicorns were shooting at it. Chunks of vine chipped off with each impact. “Whisper, get on the deck and don’t move!” Skycrasher barked out, her eyebrows harshly furrowed. She thinks I’m useless, Whisper thought. A lump formed in her throat, and she gritted her teeth as she sank to the ground. Without waiting for a response, Captain Skycrasher flared out her good wing. “Rigs, I need you to pin it in place for a few seconds.” “Can do, ma’am,” Rigs replied without hesitation. “Clank, when I give the word, immobilize its hand. Copy?” The captain set herself closer to the ground and tensed her muscles. Steam shot out from Clank’s leg as he shifted. “I’ll give ‘er all I got, cap’n.” The golem, seemingly having enough, rushed forward and extended its free hand toward Clank. “Now, boys!” Skycrasher yelled. Rigs’ horn sparked and a wall of magical light intercepted the golem. The wall vibrantly exploded into magical shards when the monster’s fist slammed into it. Off-balance, the golem reeled backward and crashed against a massive tree, its grip still locked firmly around Quills. A film of energy matching Clank’s horn suddenly appeared around the golem’s hand and immobilized it. Before Whisper had time to blink, the captain vanished from where she had stood. The golem screeched like a dying animal and its hand opened. Its wrist was a mess of slashed vines. Quills fell to the ground, free. Skycrasher hung above the creature like an angel of wrath, a snarl on her face as she pirouetted through the air. Wind slid across Whisper’s sensitive wings less than a second later and showed her what Skycrasher had done. The mare had flashed forward on just the wind from her single wing and slashed through the golem’s wrist with a blade of compressed air. Like tendons snapping in twain, the golem had lost control of its hand. So fast, Whisper thought, shocked. Time sped up again. Skycrasher finished her spin on the wind of the slash she’d made, and she pivoted again to gather more wind for another slash. The golem reacted instantly, seemingly unbothered by the condition of its hand, and brought its arms swinging into a clap toward the mare. “Skycrasher! Watch out!” Whisper yelled, worry pounding her heart like a hammer against her ribcage. Before she even finished yelling, two walls of brilliant magic appeared on either side of Skycrasher. They exploded outward in a shower of vanishing crystals when the golem’s two hands smacked into them. Repulsed by the walls, the golem screeched again. “Hyaa!” Skycrasher yelled and uppercutted with her wing. Another blade of wind shot upward a split second behind Skycrasher’s wing, ripping through the golem’s left arm. Ichor, thick and green, dripped like sap from the wound. Screeching once more, the golem thrashed against the tree behind it. The tree snapped under the thing’s weight and began to tip forward. “Quills, move!” Captain Skycrasher ordered and followed her own command, too late. Rumbling like a thunderstorm, the huge tree gained momentum. Before either the ponies or the golem could react, the tree crashed down on top of them. The impact sent a concussion of sound through the forest. Leaves rustled uneasily as the wind passed by them. Silence. Whisper’s pulse thudded in her neck. Her body was frozen, her eyes wide. Dead. “Quills...” she mumbled, unable to look away from where her friends had disappeared. They’re dead. “Cap’n!” Rigs and Clank both yelled. They rushed toward the tree, magic already gripping and grappling with the heavy. I did this. “No,” she whimpered and took a step forward. My fault. A flicker of movement in the corner of her eye drew her attention. She looked up at it. The petal of a flower drifted past her. White. “Whisper?” somepony asked from her left. Quills’ voice. Whisper turned. Instantly, relief crashed down on her like a waterfall. Tears sprang to her eyes. Skycrasher winced and rolled her wing, unscathed save for her customary flight cap. The mare’s white mane poked through a tear in the leather. A white flower with a splash of red in its center was gripped between her teeth. When she looked at Whisper, though, her eyes grew hard. “Stupid filly,” Captain Skycrasher growled around the flower and turned away. “Come on, fillies and colts. Back to the ship. We’ve got what we came for.”