//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2: Aureate 
// Story: The Legacy of The Shattered Dream 
// by Natomon01 
//------------------------------//


****** Broken In Transit ****** 



She ought have slit that zebra swindler’s throat in front of his crew! Aureate fumed. Then she would have commandeered and searched his vessel down to the last of the rats that everyone knew were concealed within it. It would’ve been easy. So why hadn’t she? As recognized alpha, Aureate had never hesitated before when it came to righting a wrong; especially one perpetrated against her. It wasn’t just her this time either. It was against the whole of Stone Nation, which she had been privileged to represent. It was further against shore Nation and those of the Common Assembly whom she had made promises to. Finally, what had been done to her had no doubt equally affected her one-time charge.
The air was still as the griffon trudged along. She could have flown as there was nothing left to carry with her but what was on her back and the armor she usually wore so proudly. There was nothing to keep her on the ground. No real extra weight, but what was in her heart. The pain was probably close to its final stage now. It had begun as panic some days before. Gradually changing to rage and then fear. It had now settled out to the numbness of defeat; an undeniable weight on the heart. Her father’s words to her were now being proven. He had told her once before that “only your heart will keep you from the air.”
“The Alcoholic fool!” She thought as she tried desperately to dismiss his words. “He abandoned his honor years ago, and now with drink he pays the fee to catch fleeting glimpses at it!”
She paused as her true thoughts and the trail before her came back in to focus. Aureate knew she loved her father and cursed herself for thinking to badly of him. For some reason cultivating her frustrations, no matter how insignificant, into vile bursts of malice seemed the only way to remove the pain she knew she had to face. The truth was that it was she herself that was without honor now. All the tired old ranger, who had just been the unwitting recipient of her tirade, would need to do was to demand his back. Unlike him, her standing and trust amongst others was truly gone. Foolishly gambled away and lost to that zebra’s “loaded dice.” Loaded dice that had cost her dearly. Her honor had been the collateral for what she had lost; the thing they had jokingly referred to as “The Artifice.”
“How ironic,” she almost smiled, “that something without a spirit could have robbed me of my own in a way. Could it have been true what the shamans said to me?” 
Aureate had been told nearly all of her life that anything without spirit essence would consume your own. No one really believed that any more, but at the moment she was almost willing to entertain the notion as she almost felt as though he soul was gone. She brushed off the thought moments later.
“Of course not. Those superfluous old codgers were just jealous that they hadn’t been able to claim supremacy over what I’d legitimately acquired rights to!”
The Artifice is what they’d called the bipedal animal that had apparently come from nowhere. It was so unreal in how it looked, acted and sounded. Some had been convinced it was some sort of illusion or contrivance; hence the term “artifice.” Perhaps simply the result of an ancient distractive illusion left over from the long ago Great Sky War. The mages and maestros had looked on their find with desire from the moment they’d caught a glimpse. Her plumage bristled as she thought of how the guild had seemed willing to do anything to get ahold of the strange creature at the time. Almost immediately they’d started their attempts to stroke the huntress’s ego. When their first attempts were ineffective they graduated to bribes, and when that hadn’t worked they’d begun leveling threats and warnings of everything from legal action to what could happen to her soul if an “unqualified” individual were to possess such a thing. 
All of those thing’s she’d simply laughed off. She’d laughed in their faces. She’d known she had little to fear from them. That coupled with her uncle’s success and her pack’s undisputed claim to what was the most astounding find that their den had ever had to offer, she, Solarclaw the Aureate, had been untouchable. Even when it had been stolen from her she was initially undaunted because she’d known, or rather thought she knew, that card-blanch was hers to tear the entire port city apart. Yet, what protection had that striped trickster and his ship of fools been able to arrange, but none other than her! She never should have hired him in the first place, and she would have broken the contract if certain other things concealed with the ship hadn't needed to disappear in short order!
She stopped suddenly as a new thought crossed her mind. Could it have been possible that he had colluded with the ones who had double crossed her? The Guild?! He just might’ve! They weren’t above such things. She knew this from experience. Even if they couldn’t gain what they’d wanted, they could simply have the satisfaction of seeing suffer the one who had crossed them! If that was the case then not only were they trying to get back at her, but they’d swung some bargain to get the artifice for themselves. It might come full-circle then. Perhaps she would need to look closer to home after all.
Aureate knew that her thoughts were just fancy. They might be comforting, but they changed nothing. She clutched her head and smoothed back the feathers on her crest in frustration. Even her imagination seemed as though it had been turned on its head. She was running out of ways to distract herself, and was almost glad when her hearing picked up the sound of something heavy striking the tree she’d just passed. It was a sharp thud. Normally, while on the ground, and alone, her reflex would have been to propel herself straight up. Her wings spreading instinctively as she brandished her throwing knife in the direction that the object had been launched from. Yet this time, despite her better judgment, she simply looked up to see a familiar silhouette practically diving straight at her.
The arriving griffon practically barreled down and out of the sky striking the dirt at a steep angle before skidding to a stop just a pace or two before her on the path. She should have guessed that he wouldn’t wait for her to simply return in disgrace on her own.
“Just leave me alone Lieschter!” she snorted upon seeing him.
“You know… I could’ve killed you just now.” Lieschter said as he kicked the dirt from his hind legs.
Aureate continued walking, putting out her talon to shoo her fellow griffon out of her path.
“Maybe I want to be dead right now!” she snapped at him. “I’m walking when I could just as easily fly! I’d have been home a week ago if I actually felt like returning!”
She turned to face him. Lieschter’s expression surprised her when she saw that he seemed hurt by her rebuke. He really had been genuinely concerned for his friend. Aureate sighed as she stopped and looked him in the eye. It was tough to be angry at someone who was always so sincere in their thought and action. Lieschter was one of those who wore his emotions practically carved into the family pauldrons that he would proudly sport on his shoulders, whether or not the occasion called for it.
“I’m sorry” Aureate finally forced herself. “I missed you too. You might as well keep me company for the rest of the way. I’m running out of ways to distract myself. ”
They started walking again. Aureate had half expected Lieschter to start talking her ear off about everything she’d missed in her absence, but he was strangely silent. They both walked abreast of each other for some time as the scenery began to change again. They could see the last pass ahead of them. The altitude here was much higher than the others and bits of snow could be seen accumulating here and there as if trying to start their own private winter just a few weeks early. It was truly was a form of beauty that was so often missed by those with wings. 
Still her companion said nothing. This surprised Aureate, who knew that snow was one of Lieschter’s favorite things in the world. Being that he wasn’t Skyfire Stone-Nation by birth he’d been most unaccustomed to seeing it when first brought into her family’s house as a cub. She’d first seen her friend being led into their home to spend the night until he could be accepted by the clan’s matrons and elders. He’d been so quiet, avoiding eye contact and clutching a cloth-wrapped bundle that contained his only worldly possessions. Aureate had actually wanted to check if he had a spirit; a notion her father and mother had laughed off.
Yet, the next morning Aureate had been woken up with the sound of someone sliding back the doorway’s heavy winter curtains. She’d twisted around in her hammock to see that the cub’s bundle had been untied and the contents were revealed to be a fine set of armor missing only a breast plate. The piece in question was being carried out the door and into the snow by a now very enthusiastic-looking child. At this she’d jumped out of bed and followed after him in curiosity. Only to see him drop his obviously-expensive family status symbol onto the fresh snow, mount it, and zip down the incline between the various dwellings. When asked later as to why he’d done it he simply replied that it made sense at the time. Whatever that had meant.
But now the normally happy-go-lucky and quite exuberant griffon was practically silent as he walked beside her. Aureate couldn’t take it anymore.
“Alright, spill it! I’ll have to hear it sooner or later so you might as well tell me what they’re all saying! Better to hear it sooner from a friend than later from my enemies.”
Lieschter seemed startled by this. It was obvious that his mind had been on something else entirely.
“Still the airhead when it counts.” She thought to herself.
“Well…I….” He stammered. “They’re not saying anything good. I’ve head that you’re credibility is being called into question and that you’re going to be called before the diet to receive an audit.”
“They’re going to allow me to defend myself?”
“They have to” he shrugged. “But I’m worried that it’ll be pretty one-sided. There’s been a lot of character assassination that’s been going on, and some of your-… our allies are being backed into a corner. The maestros are cackling to each other that even your uncle won’t be able to help you.”
Aureate nodded. She should’ve expected this, but Lieschter wasn’t finished.
“We’ve had our disagreements, but if I do have a best friend I think you’ve always been it. That being the case, I’d like to put my name next to yours on the docket.”
Her brow furrowed in surprise.
“No! Absolutely not! Are you mad?!”
Her friend simply stared at her with his same soft expression.
“Yes” he finally answered.
Aureate almost laughed out loud but managed to restrain herself. This was the sentimental fool at his finest.
“If you think that I’m going to allow you to be brought down with me then that ‘friendship’ you claim we possess needs to be reevaluated!” She snapped at him. “Besides, if Crown can’t help me than what makes you think that someone with hardly any clout or credibility within Stone Nation could? Are you trying to destroy yourself?!”
“I…I just wanted you to know that have the option.”
“Thank you!” This she spat sarcastically. “But I think that you’re about to have more clout and honor than I will soon. It was my own dealings that put me into this debacle. It’ll be my own action that gets me out again.”
As Aureate spoke she turned toward her friend doing her best to wear her most resolute expression. She was shocked to see that he was now looking back at her with eyes narrowed and beak gaping in a mixture of fear and disgust.
“Are you still trying to win?!” He seemed as though he was trying unsuccessfully to hold back a cyclone of panic as he spoke.
“The game is over!” Lieschter continued, the words now gaining momentum as though they were approaching thunder clouds. “If you keep playing like this you’ll destroy yourself and those of us who actually care about you! Did you stop to think about what this has done to us?!”
He didn’t wait for her to answer.
“When you didn’t come back with the others and your mother and father heard what had happened they were almost scared into a molt that you’d chosen to recuse yourself and they might receive your armor in the next caravan. You father hasn’t stopped drinking and your mother is doing her best to keep him protected from himself. Then there’s me!” He took a breath. “I was afraid that you’d go and do something just as reckless as staking your own honor on gaining curator-ship of that that pink-ape illusion!”
Lieschter stopped to catch his breath and Aureate could tell that something else was wrong. Something that he was trying to tread around. It seemed as though it was all he could do to keep his plumage raised in such an uncharacteristically aggressive posture. The two stopped and stared at each other before Aureate broke the silence.
“Are you done?”
“I can continue for a while if you’d like.” He replied promptly, but his voice was already beginning to waver.
“No you can’t. You’re not suited to this type of confrontation and you know it.”
Lieschter turned his head toward the ground as he walked, and Aureate wondered how many times he must have rehearsed the speech while he was looking for her, or perhaps it actually had been spontaneous. But still, there was something deeper that her friend was trying to hold in. She thought for a moment about how to draw it out of him.
At the moment Lieschter was avoiding batting loose stones out of the way on the path before them. That in and of itself was highly unusual. It seemed like he was once again trying to retreat back within himself to avoid her glare.
“If you talk about yours I’ll talk about mine” she said finally.
“You’ll what?” Came the reply.
Aureate rolled her eyes and her talons raked the ground in frustration.
“I said tell me what’s really bothering you! You moron! I just told you that I’d tell you all about my own litany of troubles and crises! I’m about spill for you in a once-in-a-lifetime candid discussion about why my life as we know it has been ruined, but you can’t even seem to leave behind the same buffoonery that’s kept you a pack beta for years!”
She stopped to catch her breath and looked carefully at his expression. He’d been rattled. 
“Good!” She thought. “He’ll break in a moment!”
He did begin to crack, but his response still surprised her.
“You’ve never been candid with me?”
“That’s it!” Aureate cuffed as she spread her wings. “I think I’m flying back the rest of the way.”
“Wait!” He grabbed her wing to stop her. “I just was trying to decide whether your predicament was worse than mine.”
Aureate folded her wings and looked her friend in his face.
“Worse than mine?” The soon-to-be-disgraced alpha huntress almost laughed again in spite of herself. “How could your life take a turn for the worse? How could you lose your clout like me when you have hardly any to lose?”
“My nuptial. They decided a few days ago.”
This time she couldn’t help but laugh. Leave it to Lieschter to turn a loose pebble into a landslide!
“You’re crying about your engagement?! Why should that be a problem? Everyone has to do that eventually. They’ll probably just make you marry Sheer Dive. I’ll even tell you some secrets about her extended family that might help. What’s even better is that when you two return from your quest she can take your place and you can start counting up the coins for your retirement. Unless… you actually like being the only fifth-year beta in the pack?”
Her amused expression was not returned. In fact her friend’s face simply stared back at her with a dourly.
“It’s not Sheer.” He finally uttered.
“Then…who?”
“They said her name is Red Wing.”
At this news Aureate found herself confused, but Lieschter continued.
“She’s Shore-Nation. I’m to go and join her shortly.”
“Shore Nation!?” Aureate repeated in disbelief. “But you have every right to marry into Stone Nation. You’ve completed every obligatory requirement. Skyfire Clan mandates that you have the right to at least choose the den that you’re going to join and protect.”
Lieschter simply nodded his head in agreement.
“This is tantamount to ostracism!” Aureate spat as the anger crested. “How can they do this?!”
“Apparently you and your cohorts little excursion to Deep Harbor had another small goal beyond just disseminating dragon-wares and presenting that… ‘oddity’… to your uncle’s court. They were to contact the local barrister and draw up a marriage contract with someone who shares my background.”
“Your background?”
“Apparently Red Wing was orphaned just like I was when our den was wiped out in the Peak War; so we’re both Flint-Nation. A technicality yes, but because of that they’re using the ‘preservation’ doctrine to put us into a union.”
“You can’t challenge it?”
“Like you said earlier, I have no clout, and let’s just face it, Stone Nation’s Maestros and Matriarchs never wanted me around in the first place. They just couldn’t refuse me when I was brought; Skyfire politics and the like.”
Aureate’s mind stormed as she contemplated how both of them seemed to have been maneuvered into equally-dismal fates as the result of someone else’s corruption and scheming.
“Maybe you can bring her back with you after your quest together. They can’t keep you from your own professions.”
Lieschter shook his head.
“They planned this too well. Red Wing is already established, and her clout far exceeds mine. I guess Shore Nation was a little more kind to us Flint Nation leftovers. Supposedly, after we’re married, she’ll be making quite a pretty penny from the oyster platforms her adoptive family built.”
The two of them continued in silence for a while longer. It made no sense that everything in life should be upset for her friend as well. Lieschter may have been a brash and sometimes embarrassingly clumsy excuse for a hunter but there were times where he amazed the rest of them. Still, why did the elders hate him so much? Was it only because of his den? One could conceive of it if he was from a different clan entirely, but the “dens,” or “nations” as they were commonly referred to, were supposed to be like kin. Some were even literally brothers and sisters across the five “Nations” that composed Skyfire Clan. 
This had to be because of how the sixth had been made to bear the disgrace of the recent Peak War. Had it really been their fault? All the same, Lieschter had been so young at the time. He could barely have spelled his name much less join a fight, justified or otherwise. He didn’t deserve this fate. While it was true that Lieschter could be difficult at times, he did have his own niche. It was sad,though. He was unlikely to ever become an alpha if no one could consistently take him seriously on account of his usual buffoonery. As long as he remained her beta then he wouldn’t able to claim any of his trappings or kills as his own despite how hard he’d worked for them. Aureate could think of at least half a dozen others that she’d rather remove from her team, though.
“Her team.” That would probably be changing soon. The hunters would, no-doubt, begin to distance themselves from her in light of recent events. They’d all probably invent excuses that would mask the truth, but everyone would know why. She was the reckless one who had failed to safeguard what might have been the most precious bargaining chip within the clans that had ever been. Yet Lieschter was still willing to stand with her. He was willing to throw in his own clout and credibility even though he knew it was futile. Perhaps he was her “best friend” just as he’d suggested.
“Maybe…” Lieschter began again. “Maybe it won’t be so bad with Red Wing. She might be alright. From what I know she actually had a real family to look after her while I just got put into perpetual fosterage, and it’s not like I was ever really a gift to the pack.”
The huntress grinned slightly. He certainly had that right!
“In fact… If you really consider it, if I’m gone they’ll have someone absent to blame for what’s happened to you.”
At this Aureate stopped walking immediately and gaped at the new insanity that he was proposing.
“Your logic escapes me” she finally said.
“It’s simple.” He replied matter-of-factly. “You’re the beloved pack alpha and I’m the scapegoat who lead you down the wrong path. Our fellow hunters will at least forgive you on a personal level.”
“T-That’s ridiculous!”
Lieschter shrugged and started walking again.
“That’s largely what they’ve unofficially decided already. So it’s just as well that I’m leaving to start over in a new den. Hopefully, scathing rumors will be aimed at me from a safe distance.”
Aureate bounded after him and carefully studied his movements as they continued. He wasn’t as calm as he was trying to appear. His crest drooped and his tail drooped; even dragging in the dirt.
“You know full well it was my desire to claim the honor of presenting the prize that did this, and what’s furthermore everyone else knows that too.”
“Don’t you get it? The story goes that you’re simply a victim here. I was the foolish beta that chased down a specter in the Triad Valley. I mistakenly pointed you after it and when we caught up it cursed you. What’s worked out well in this case is how it’s been removed from sight now so they can all just keep scratching their heads and making up stories about what it really was.”
He paused to allow his words to be fully understood, but continued when he noticed Aureate’s bemused and slightly horrified expression.
“I’m quite serious. The general feeling is that it might even help during your audit. I know you’d like to defend me the way I’m defending you, but there’s no point since I won’t be there.”
“W-won’t be there!?” Aureate sputtered.
Lieschter sighed with a weight that could be easily felt.
“You may notice that I’m fully regaled right now.” He gestured to his family armor. “I didn’t just set out to find you. 	Though I was looking for you on the way, I was actually on my way to join my intended.”
“So soon?”
“I wanted to make a strong first impression. I even wrote a poem for her. I also didn’t see any reason to really stay around for long. Unless… on the off chance that you wanted me to, but it’s clear that you don’t want any help.”
Aureate nearly cursed out loud for her previous words but held herself back one again.
“I’m sorry. It’s just a reflex. Pushing others away in a crisis, that is.” She looked at the ground. “You know I’ve built my own clout by always looking like I have the answers whether I do or not.”
She looked back up at her best friend. No, not best friend, he might be her only friend now. At that moment she swallowed her pride without flavor.
“Please stay for my audit Lieschter. It would help to have a friend there.”
“You’ll have friends” He replied, trying to sound dismissive, but it was clear that he was touched by her admission.
“I mean a real one, and it’s because you’re a true friend that I’ll confess my guilt just once and only to you.”
After the last several moments of gravity this only provoked a raised eyebrow from her companion.
“Here I go” She thought.
“I destroyed my clout for the same reason I was able to build it so rapidly over the years. I thought I couldn’t lose. I staked my credibility to gain curatorship of the Artifice not realizing the true value. I was overconfident and I lost.”
Lieschter nodded consolingly.
“I know. We all do, but I guess if you know that too then you’re not the “idiot” some are saying. It’s an interesting reversal, though.” He grinned trying to lighten the mood. “I’m usually the butt of the joke. I just wish I hadn’t shot that thing. It might’ve been able to run far enough away that we wouldn’t have been able to find it the next day.”
“You mean ‘shot at it’ I assume. I’m reasonably sure that you missed” Aureate replied. “You weren’t even supposed to have that blowgun drawn. You and your part of the team were supposed to be driving a decoy at the dragon. After all, you don’t have the best of histories with that blowgun.”
She was referring to Lieschter’s distinction as the only pack member who’d ever managed to shoot himself in his own hind paw! His explanation, after he’d woken up again, was that he was trying to land on a tree top while shooting at a jack rabbit. That was an occurrence not easily lived down.
“I beg your pardon but I hit it! Just as it was running away!” he shot back indignantly. “Besides! How was that for a distraction?”
“So you expect me to believe that the sleeping draught had no effect?”
“Oh it did, eventually. White Grip and I found where it collapsed when the blend finally took effect.”
After the events of the last week or so, Aureate was not terribly surprised by this revelation. Yet it did make her wonder, there seemed to have been no spirit at first glance into a reckoner, but if the draught did eventually take hold then perhaps there was some spirit energy that might have shone through eventually. If only they had tested for longer, or more closely, she could have been sure.
“What size were its veins?” The question jolted her out of her muse.
“Pardon?”
“Its veins” Lieschter gestured at his neck. “How fast do you think the blood flowed?”
“Why are you asking me? You’re the one who got it in the net. That was good thinking by the way” she added. “Maybe you really ought to try your talons at fishing after all.”
“You’re the one who spent the most time with it.”
“I never had to directly handle her. She was rather compliant once I managed to feed and clothe her.”
“She?” Lieschter gave her a wry expression. “How do you know it was a she?”
Aureate rolled her eyes. 
“Pronounced mammary glands among other things that I won’t bother discussing because you’re either too ignorant or you’re just trying to get me to sound like more of a fool than I’ve already been!”
“So it was hot blooded?”
“Yes. And to sort of answer your original question, she seemed like she had a normal enough heartbeat. I was able to make out her neck twitching slightly whenever she’d become agitated or excited. I suppose if I’d had enough time with her I might’ve even been able to ask her some of those questions that you have.”
“Ask her?” Lieschter seemed astonished. “Are you telling me it- ah…she could speak? She really could reason?”
“Yes.” Aureate nodded. “We started to realize that a few days before we left when she started trying to tell us what she was.”
“What was she?”
“A Meegahh….” Aureate wheezed as she tried to reproduce the alien sound. “It could’ve been a name, though.”
“It sounds like you’ve got a fish bone stuck in your throat” Lieschter chuckled. “Well regardless, she looked like a rather pathetic excuse for a living being, if she was actually alive at all. Though, I guess if that was what a female meegah looks like I’d hate to see a male. I’ll bet he’d look eight times worse!”


******* Navigation Logs *******


Turner hurriedly scrutinized his human friend's physical appearance with little time for calm reflection. Charlie’s face had certainly looked much more becoming in the recent past, but now it was covered in the same glittering white powder that had dusted almost everyone on the Platform to some degree. The human was lying in a prone position near one of six pusher control stations; a bank of levers and gauges that he’d had the fortune of missing for the most part. He hadn’t been entirely lucky, though. A trickle of blood wormed its way down his forehead and steadily accumulated on the deck underneath him. Thankfully, he was still breathing. 
Turner still wasn’t sure what had just occurred. The unicorn had been at his chart table on the Amerigo’s command bridge happily compiling a flight plan when the emergency signal had started chiming. The piercing alarm bell had caught him completely by surprise. The annoyed navigator almost dismissed it as a false alarm, or perhaps more likely that it was probably just Crack’s way of getting the crew to listen up after days of revelry; much of it drunken. Over the course of the next hour the crew would get the news about the planned resumption of their schedule as the watch chiefs made their way through the ship.
He’d glanced at the compartment’s message box next to the red bell and its noisily clattering striker just as the spring that drove its clockwork mechanism ran out. At that moment he froze upon seeing the message flag that had extended.
“Element Contamination Emergency!? Harmonic Platform!?” Turner had gasped out loud as he broke into a run giving no thought to the new set of shoes he was wearing.
Whether or not the unthinkable had happened, it was clear from the state of the Amerigo’s power plant that his hopes of being in the air the next day were now dashed to pieces. All Turner knew for certain was that something bad had happened and now he wasn’t at all sure what was going to happen next.
Charlie, Crack, and Kearn all lay on the deck in various unflattering poses and were covered with a coating of the strange dust that seemed to be everywhere. It covered the crew that were in the immediate area of the platform and even seemed to be in the air. It produced a shimmering white haze that grew more intense as Turner gazed open-mouthed at its origin. A large pile of the mystery powder lay underneath the Harmonic Assembly. Which was open no less! 
“How in the name of all that’s holy did that happen!?”
His informal introspection was interrupted as he turned to see one of the younger engineers shuffling towards him.
“W-what do we do? We’re contaminated aren’t we?” The younger stallion asked as he gingerly shook his wings to remove the layer of powder. The other crew members there seemed to all be wondering the same thing as they gazed at the ship’s second officer for answers.
“Contaminated? I doubt it. I don’t know what this stuff is, but it’s got nothing to do with the Elements” Turner reassured them.
At that moment he heard Kearn cough. He looked over to see the zebra getting to his hooves, still in a daze. 	Kearn looked up and nodded when he saw that Turner was there.
“That’s a pretty quick response time” Kearn chucked with his usual wry mannerisms. “Despite your enthusiasm, I don’t think we’re going anywhere anytime soon.”
“What happened? What is all this everywhere?” Turner gestured in a circle with his horn to indicate the simultaneously gleaming yet talc-white power that had “contaminated” the entire platform.
“I’m not sure yet. Let’s find out.”
Kearn trotted over to where Charlie lay and shook him gently. When he only groaned the zebra turned around and, somewhat more forcefully, connected his hind leg with their captain’s flank. This produced an immediate response as Charlie’s eyes flew open and he let out several coughs sounding akin to a barking seal.
“Who kicked me!?” Charlie forcefully inquired as he sat up and brushed the dust out of his mane. 
“I did. You didn’t respond to the usual methods quickly enough.”
“There needs to be some rule against kicking the boss!”
“I’m the boss on this platform” the chief engineer replied indignantly.
Turner parked his flank parallel to the human as he struggled to pull himself to his feet. Charlie obliged by steadying his bipedal form on the unicorn’s sturdy quadripedal frame.
“The way everyone was strewn around on the deck, one might nearly swear a forge had exploded. Though, that usually colors everything black” observed Turner as he viewed the various engineers scattered around the platform. 
Some of them had nervously retreated as far back from the Assembly as they could. Others were being helped up by their comrades. 
“How did this happen?”
“As far as all this goes, I’ve little idea how it came into being” wheezed Crack as he too began to too picked himself up and shook off his wings and crest feathers. Upon hearing his own voice he cleared his throat with a gutteral squawk before continuing. “But as for the mess, I suppose we can thank Ripple for that.”
“Ripple? How did she do this?”
“Now now” Charlie interjected. “I’m not sure we should blame her for panicking. Everyone else went crazy when Dill started shouting.”
Tired of his shipmates beating around the bush, Turner stomped his hoof on the deck in annoyed frustration sending a bit of the white mystery dust into the air.
“Again! What did she do!?”
Crack sighed.
“When all that stuff started pouring out of the Assembly, Ripple unfolded a telekinetic field and grabbed the three of us with it.”
“Actually, she only grabbed me by my jacket” Charlie added as he was removing the garment and examining several torn seams.
“Why did she do that?”
“Let’s just ask her” said Kearn.
“Ripple! Come over here please.”
Presently, a white unicorn mare made her way over in the direction of the voice that had called her. She carefully placed her hooves as level and gently as she could with every step so as not to stir up anything else into the air. Ripple’s normally pure-white coat seemed to have an added shimmer from what had settled out onto it.
“Yes sir?” Her voice faltered slightly as she spoke.
“Please explain why grabbed the three of us and flung us across the room so hard that we were all knocked silly?”
“I’m so sorry!” Ripple began lowering her posture until she almost looked as though she was beginning to sink into the deck. “I- I didn’t mean to make things worse! I just thought-!”
Charlie cut her off by holding his five digits out in front of her.
“We’d just like a simple explanation” he said reassuringly. “We’ll decide whether or not an apology is in order after that. Alright?”
Ripple nodded gingerly.
“When I saw something was pouring out of the Engine behind you, all I could think of was how dangerous the contents of the Assembly are to anyone who comes into contact with them. I thought that all this white stuff was dangerous or toxic, or maybe there was going to be an explosion or something.”
“So without any thought you just blindly snatched the three of us out of harm’s way?” Crack inquired.
“Yes” perhaps there was a static charge that I contacted because this stuff suddenly just went everywhere. I just hope it isn’t dangerous.”  
“I suppose we should commend her in a way” Turner leapt to his fellow unicorn’s defense. “She may have been a little ignorant and rash, but her intent was on-the-whole quite honorable.” 
Hearing this the rest of the engineers on the platform stomped their hooves in applause but stopped seconds later when more dust flew into the air.
“Enough sitting around like overfed bovines!” Kearn barked. “Buckets and damp rags! Start cleaning this up!” 
He paused and looked at his would-be savior.
“Thank you” he nodded courteously. “Now please join the others and get started cleaning up your-… our mess.”
Turner quietly chuckled to himself at Kearn’s clumsy attempt to cast off his normally-abrasive personality for a moment. He turned and looked up at Charlie only to see the human was a long distance away mentally. He rubbed some of the white powder together between his digits. Suddenly, he stretched out both of his forearms and closely scrutinized his normally bare and pale, now reddish-pink, skin. His eyes grew wide.
“Hold it! Everyone stop what you’re doing and leave!” the Captain shouted.
“What!? Why?” Both Kearn and Crack exclaimed almost in unison.
“I think I know what this stuff is. It’s pulverized lead-crystal! Glass dust!”
“There’s a waste of a fine explanation” thought Turner to himself. He cleared his throat again noticing for the first time a built up of phlegm that had a strangely metallic taste to it.
“Glass dust? Is that bad?”
In response Kearn shot him an annoyed glare.
“I’ll put it to you this way. It’s not good!”


** ** **


Close to a half-hour later, Turner found himself sitting in on his haunches in the Amerigo’s infirmary. Almost every crew member who’d been on the Platform during the accident was lined up receiving a perfunctory throat and eye examination from Copper Lance, the ship’s doctor. Salt, his nurse, followed behind pushing a cart with a jug of water and a basin. 
“How on Earth could this happen?” Turner could hear Crack say somewhat further down the line. “I know that when Element Amber was having trouble we started shuddering a bit, but for that much dust to be produced it would have to have been…”
“A major structural failure of the element cradles” Charlie finished. “Just how hard was the Assembly vibrating, and for how long?”
“Well I didn’t really count the moments…” Kearn finally answered. “But if I had to guess, I’d say for about fifteen minutes from the time we realized we were in trouble to when we landed and stopped the Engine.”
Turner had become a career navigator, and little else piqued his interest. He tried his best to follow along but gave up as usual. “Trekkish!” he grumbled to himself. He’d learned to hate the more “trekkish” banter that Charlie, Crack and Kearn liked to toss around. 
The term “trekkish” was a phrase that was favored among the crew to refer to the literary principle that made the impossible possible. Basically, a deus-ex-machina. Whenever the incomprehensible was tossed around, usually something related to Charlie’s own peculiar brand of scholarship, those who didn’t understand, or didn’t care to, simply accepted it as “trekkish.” The phrase had been coined from one of the more interesting bonfire stories that the human used to tell before the Amerigo was even built. 
The human could go on for an eternity it seemed about his trekkish ideas and theories, or if he was a bit lubricated by his favorite drinks he might tell some of his stories or reminisce. It took a lot of stamina to keep up with him. Especially near the conclusion of the yearly cruise. That wasn’t to say that he would simply talk over anyone in earshot. In fact, the human made it a point to ensure the listener understood on some level. Usually by imparting semi-entertaining sketches and words that no-one had ever heard before. They’d long suspected that Charlie just made up words when he couldn’t think of the proper ones. Even the word “trekkish” was thoroughly alien and sounded rather contrived. Though known and understood by almost every crew member, it was difficult, if not impossible, to even pronounce. Some couldn’t manage it. For some odd reason earth mares in particular had a horrible time. 
But now the reality of ignoring the seemingly endless and often-incoherent babble seemed to be flying back in Turner’s face. The unicorn had done three years as a student in the capital’s most prestigious university, and he’d hated them all. Not for the material but for the pomp. Filtering out the more “intellectual” side of conversation had simply become automatic after that; much to the chagrin of his father. Yet, the Amerigo’s predicament was real, and it seemed serious. Not at all as distant, one-sided, and pointless as the material he’d grown to hate. Now he desperately wanted to help. His trouble was that shepherding the ship through the skies far more capably than any of his cohorts wasn’t the same as actually putting it up there in the first place.
He muttered to himself “Maybe I should’ve listened more consistently when we dreamed this all- Ow!” His contemplation was rudely interrupted when someone batted the tip of his horn. Salt’s face poked up into his field of vision grinning mischievously. 
“You could’ve just spoken into my ear!” he exclaimed as he gingerly stroked his horn’s most sensitive part.
“Dearie…” the befittingly white pegasus mare quipped energetically and rather forcefully for her age. “That only works on Pegasi! One in my profession learns that you’ve got to go for the horn to snap a unicorn back into the real world.”
“And if I was an earth?” he growled.
“I’d have smacked you in your rump hard enough to leave a bruise. Now sit up straight young stallion. It’s your turn in a few minutes, but it wasn’t me who needed your attention just yet.”
“Oh?”
“They did.” 
Salt gestured to Turner’s right and he looked to see his three friend’s grinning faces looking back at him. Crack was waving in a sarcastic gesture.
“Sorry. What was it?” he asked.
“I was asking” Charlie began “what were our pitch and roll angle right before the Assembly started throwing its temper tantrum last week?”
Turner thought for a moment. That was a good question. But “honestly!” How could he be expected to recall that right off the tip of his horn when he’d been preoccupied with getting the Amerigo, and its company and crew, out of the sky before gravity was allowed to start having its way again. At least, that had been his chief concern at the time.
“I don’t know” he said finally.
Kearn looked annoyed. Charlie and Crack looked surprised and somewhat disappointed.
“That’s it? It’s not like you to forget your numbers.”
“I’m not finished yet. I may not remember it now, on account of the following series of unfortunate events, but I can calculate it. In fact before you three dirtied up the Platform I was working on restoring our survey progression.”
“And that helps us how?” Kearn grumbled.
“It helps us because if I can reestablish our previous map coordinates and altitude, not only can I save the survey that Penny and her ballroom girls were doing, but I can tell you what angle we were at when ship practically tried to buck us into next week!”
Turner gasped for air at the conclusion of his long sentence, but suddenly a sharp pain in his throat made him break into an unexpected coughing fit. He threw back his muzzle with each cough and might’ve yelled in pain if he’d been able to stop. It felt like someone was running a metal rasp up and down his throat. After a few moments the spasms abated and he looked up to see Charlie’s hand holding out a mug filled with water. He accepted and almost inhaled the liquid without thinking about it.
“I told you it’s not good to be breathing glass.” Charlie was trying to suppress a grin as he talked. “At any rate, I get your idea. Right triangle trig, or whatever. I’ll leave you to it since you are the maths guru around here.”
“Yes. Yes. All of that ‘Gee I’m a tree’ talk that you boys keep tossing around.” Copper Lance interrupted as he slid in front of Turner and nudged his head up to look into the unicorn’s eyes.
“That’s ‘Geometry’” Turner clarified. “It sounds different in the captain’s native language.”
“And what’s it have to do with being a tree?” The Pegasus doctor eyed Charlie inquisitively.
“We’ll, nothing really. It’s just an inside joke we like to tell sometimes. You might try spending some time with the four of us after-hours on occasion.”
At this the physician laughed. 
“I’m not sure the Captain has any good memories associated with me that might merit an invitation.”
“I guess you’re right” Turner grinned back at him. “You aren’t exactly the life of the party.”
Copper Lance shot him an ugly look.
“I know. Shut my mouth.”
“Actually, open it, and keep it open.”
He peered into Turner’s open maw for several seconds before motioning for him to close it.
“Well?”
“A little bit of blood and phlegm. Probably from that coughing fit. I’ll tell you the same thing I told the rest. Go topside and stand facing the wind. When it picks up, shake as hard as you can to remove some of the dust. Then go wash your face and eyes, and drink water.”
“That’s all?” Turner asked.
“What more did you expect?”
“I don’t know. A grog ration maybe?”
“Most definitely not! If there’s one thing from some of those books the Captain was kind enough to transcribe for me, that’s that last thing you’ll need right now. In fact…” The doctor stamped both of his hooves on the deck as loudly as he could to get the room’s attention. “Listen up everyone! I know the recreation lamp is out right now so this ought to go without saying, but for those of you who’ve stashed away something extra in your own larders, do not consume any strong drink. With what I’ve seen in some of your throats, you might end up bleeding to death from the inside!”
He paused to let his words sink in. There were nervous and disappointed murmurs throughout the room. Copper Lance seemed satisfied after putting the fear into them and turned his attention to Kearn, who was next in line.”
“Is there any reason for them to still be here?” asked Kearn. 
“I suppose not.” He turned to face the crew he’d already examined. “You can all go now. Do as I told you.”
“And meet back at the lift” Kearn called after them. “But nobody goes inside until I or the Captain get there. Ripple, Scotch, face masks and silkscreens.”
Ripple and Scotch nodded as they joined the others and began filing out. Charlie, who’d been standing very close by, bent down and whispered something into Copper Lance’s ear. Copper Lance returned a surprised expression.
“Are you sure?”
Charlie nodded.
“Salt. Go with them please. Make sure they’re doing it right.”
The infirmary’s matron sighed in response and made her way out as well, leaving the Amerigo’s five most senior crew members alone.
“Is it actually true what you said? About bleeding from the inside?” Turner asked.
“Maybe” the doctor shrugged. “It can act as a blood thinner if you’ve drank too much. Something I’d always suspected but never been able to prove. Though, for all I know Charlie made that part up when he translated his Physician’s Desk Reference for me. It would be an effective way to cure a drunkard of their habit.”
Charlie shrugged. “I’m pretty sure I didn’t add anything extra, but I’m more worried about what I may have left out. I tried my best to only include what’s common to our different races.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask you why you didn’t add anything about your own anatomy.”
“Time, for one thing, but I think you know the real reason.”
Copper Lance shrugged and began concentrating on his examination of Kearn, obviously taking extra care not to miss anything. A zebra’s eyes were shaped somewhat differently as were griffon’s; not to mention a human’s. 
Turner shifted his gaze to Charlie and looked directly at his somewhat elliptical eyes. They sat atop his slightly angular cheeks. Their deep brown was somewhat contrasted by the normally pale, now pinkish-red, bare skin. Yet by far, the most curious of the human’s features were his lack of a muzzle. His nostrils simply ended in a sharp protrusion which pointed downward at an exceedingly sharp right angle before even joining to his upper lip. It was almost like a griffon’s beak but completely detached from his mouth. Turner had seen different apes before, but their features seemed much more smoothly integrated. At times he, and he was certain others as well, had tried to imagine what it would be like to have such a face. Turner had to stop each time as it usually lead to a vision of having his own face drawn painfully inward. Some less-than-inspired jokes among the crew held that Charlie must simply be a primate who’s mother had eaten too much citrus. Though strangely enough, a good deal of the mares on board said they found his features adorable; “Like a newborn foal’s face.” It took some imagination for a stallion, but Turner could slightly make out a remote justification if he stared for a long enough period of time.
“So…” Charlie began “I’m sure you’ve guessed why I wanted as few of the crew to hear what I have to say next.”
“I’m assuming you want to postulate your theories without feeding the ship’s rumor-mill?” Stated Crack.
“That’s part of it. The other half is the fact that I can guess what happened inside the Assembly when we had that, for lack of a more delicate word, ‘hiccup’ last week, but truth be told I have no idea why.”
“You know what happened then?” Turner asked.
“It’s pretty obvious” Interrupted Kearn; much to Lance’s chagrin at having his exam interrupted. “All that dust got created when the element cradles started grating on the interior of the case.”
“Ahem!” Lance cleared his own throat. “If you please.”
Kearn allowed the examination to continue.
“I thought that the cradles were too-soft a metal to allow that sort of thing to happen” Crack added. “Wouldn’t the more likely occurrence be that one of the cradles simple broke free, and the element itself started wearing a groove into the case’s interior? We did have trouble reconciling Element Amber’s position after landing.”
“That’s not out of the question either” Charlie nodded in agreement. As soon as we’re all released by the good doctor here I’m putting on my moon-suit and goggles and crawling inside to find out.”
Turner had been avoiding thinking about his next question but was now compelled to ask.
“How will this affect our getting back underway?”
“We’re not going anywhere tomorrow” came the terse reply, but from Lance instead of Charlie. 
Turner looked at the doctor, who was still gazing into Kearn’s open mouth, with a mixture of disappointment, annoyance, and surprise.
“And how would you know?” he replied indignantly. “You’re not an engineer.”
“But I am a pragmatist” he replied without looking away from Kearn. “What’s furthermore the rest of you are as well. 	It’s true that some of you are a bit impulsive at times, but you all know where our priorities lie. I can tell right now you’re all trying to figure out whether this monstrosity we’ve been tossing around the skies for almost five years now is even safe to try flying again without tempting fate. Does that sum it up?”
“I’ve clearly underestimated your engineering ability Lance” grinned Kearn. “Maybe you should’ve become one of my engineers when we recruited you.”
“Thank you, no! Regardless, my deduction is simply based on experience as a physician. I wouldn’t let one of my patients out of my infirmary just to see if they’d recovered. I’d want to be as certain as I could, and speaking of which...” He motioned for Crack to sit down.
“He’s right on all counts” Charlie agreed.
“We need to know what’s happened and why before we make our next move.”
Turner nodded his head in disappointment. He’d known this was going be the case, but he’d held out hope as long as he could. He finally relented.
“I don’t know much about the Harmonic Assembly, but how can I help?”
“Get the ship cleaned up while Crack, Kearn, and myself figure out just how much of a jam we’re actually in, and please get me those navigation figures that we discussed earlier.”
“On the way” Turner nodded. “But why did you want them? Why is it so important to know our up-angle at a particular time?”
“Well…” Charlie began “We’re not really sure yet, but in a nutshell, Crack here suggested that our current situation might’ve been provoked by something we unwittingly did.”
“Or!” Crack interrupted “We might’ve been the unfortunate beneficiaries of something that was left over from the Great Sky War.”
“Maybe…” Charlie grimaced. “I know you and yours are all a little paranoid about those legacies from the past. While they do exist, I’m not so sure that the Thorns are that much of a danger as societal memory makes them out to be. That war was over one-thousand years ago. The only place that thorns are known to be concentrated are above the Black Mountains.”
“True. They still prevent passage today, but that doesn’t change the fact that some other skies, and even lands, are rumored to still be cursed from the widespread and rather reckless use of the Thorns.”
This sent a chill down Turner’s back. He still remembered being told about thorns for the first time by his mother. These invisible banes were essentially packaged spells; usually of ill intent. Some were benign and simply caused hallucinations or would lock the wings of griffons and pegasi in flight for a short while; thus forcing them out of the sky. These were meant as a deterrent or obstacle, and they would be the first ones encountered. Others were intended to have more dire consequences ranging from death by immolation to the provocation of homicidal rage and/or strong suicidal thoughts. They had been created by unicorn spell guilds and were deployed by pegasi in wartime as defensive measures in the sky and on land.
Few survived an encounter with such powerful and downright insidious devices. At least normal traps would decay eventually, but lurking thorns never truly died. They had even been known to migrate over time. Some, usually the weaker variety, would descend out of the sky like a hot-air balloon that had become too cool. Over the course of years they would be drawn into the lowlands beneath the mountains. None knew how to find and remove these area-of-effect weapons, and those who might would likely be stopped by others. Many believed that these infernal devices prevented a resumption of hostilities. 
“I’ve never heard of a thorn that was powerful enough to repulse magic of the caliber that the Harmonic Elements can muster” Turner added finally.
The other three looked back at him.
“I thought you never were that proficient with spells” Crack replied incredulously.
“Look! I’m sorry for what the thorns did to your people, but they’ve affected mine just as profoundly. After all, our lands are effectively isolated as a result” Turner added for the sake of parity. “One of the few things that my father tried to teach me was the true nature and extent of aggressive power. Aggression of the sort that the thorns possess is just that. Aggression. My point is that they seek out beings that are in-turn capable of aggression. The Elements aren’t like that.”
He paused to allow his words to sink in.
“I thought that Thorn-Crafting was a forbidden and purposely-lost art on both sides of the fence. Isn’t it?” Charlie asked with a raised eyebrow. “How does your family know that much about it? Do they know something they’re not telling?”
“Don’t be absurd! No one would continue making thorns in this day and age even if it was still possible. My father is, at least I’m assuming he still is, part of a political cabal that wants to figure out how to remove them from the sky for good. As you might imagine, that doesn’t make him very popular.”
“But still…” Charlie began again “You’re always saying that you could care less about how the Assembly works. Now suddenly you’re an expert?”
“When I say ‘the Assembly’ I’m talking about the infernal machine that we put the Elements into. That thing was all you three.”
The Human, griffon, and zebra gave him a thousand-yard stare at this indictment.
“And I have to say, it was a rather good job you did too” he remarked, softening his tone. “But none of you know what it’s like for those of us with horns. Near as I can describe it’s like those ‘antenna’ contraptions that Charlie came up with a few years ago.
“You mean the ‘Town Criers?” Kearn asked.
“Yes, but my point is that I’m aware of certain things about the Elements when I’m close to them and the Engine is in use, but I’ve explained that to you before.”
“And it’s because of those, ‘feelings,’ that you have trouble working around them in flight. I know” Kearn nodded back. “Ripple doesn’t seem to have your issues.”
“Ripple is a real exception” Turner almost laughed. “She’s just a ditzy piece of work with very little common sense. 	That’s what come of being so well-bred and pampered from a young age. I’m convinced that she’s lasted so long as the only unicorn on the Platform Engineers team because she wanted to stand out. Mark my words, though. Her day is coming.”
“Alright, that’s enough” Copper Lance interrupted. “You’ve all got things you need to do, and I’ve got to give Charlie a once-over before I let him get to work with you.”
All four nodded to each other while Copper Lance motioned for Charlie to kneel down so he could look directly at the human’s eyes.
“He’s right” Charlie announced. “Everyone go and get to work, and let’s not assume anything right away. I think that Crack’s thorn-related theory is an outside chance too. Sorry Crack” he added. “But let’s just concentrate on our jobs form the moment. I’ll join you as soon as Lance is done with me.”
Turner and the others began walking towards the door at the far end of the infirmary. Crack and Kearn exited first, but Turner paused and looked back to see Charlie removing his clothing so that the doctor could get a better look at his bare, naked, and clearly-irritated skin. Although the equine wanted to stare out of purely scientific interest he forced himself to look away and keep going out of respect. He reminded himself of the extraordinary, and Turner thought, unnecessary standards of modesty the human held himself to. The unicorn wondered if perhaps it had to do with a utilitarian need to protect oneself from the elements that had forced Charlie’s kind to keep themselves clothed at all times. It had to be tough not having a naturally insulating coat. 
Turner continued on his way to the topside egress as he mused to himself. Yes, Charlie was a strange, frustrating, and at times hard-to-understand being, but one indisputable attribute that frankly eluded everyone was how impossible it was to not respect him. No one who spent any extended amount of time with him could say that he was the monster that some had initially feared. The simple fact was that, to Turner at least, that the human was just more agreeable than most of the unicorns he’d been raised with.



****** Broken In Transit ******


At journey’s end the prize seemed near, for those who marched and hid their fear.
Their lives were ended once they swore when crossing threshold of their door.
Their hope for life, or so they thought, at last was dashed upon the rock.
No glory came for those that day who spoke the oath to stand and pay.
For all gave some. Yet, some gave all. “No fear! No quarter!” was their call.
“There is but death within these skies! Who does not fear our battle cry?”
“The field is stained with blood of those who once were called our mortal foes.”
“Do you too wish to claim our lands? For none before you now still stands!”
The enemy at last replied, and answered “Now, we claim our prize!”
“At last a foe who will not flee! Your thirst for battle shall we see!”
“Our wish is nothing you possess, but to put your mettle to the test.”
“Against you shall we gage our worth; we perfect warriors of this earth!”
“Neither we nor thee have riches sought; things so easily forgot.”
“True value within us is concealed. It lies upon the path of steel!”

Both Aureate and Lieschter took turns tossing the verses back and forth between each other as they walked down the last hill together. It was an old lyrical opus; who’s poet’s name had been lost to time. It spoke of a wartime massacre that was more eagerly remembered as a gallant campaign resulting in an honorable defeat. The truth was that it was simply the result of a stupid decision due the hubris and stupidity of a Skyfire matriarch who’d been caught up in the war fever that had gripped her clan in the early days of the Great Sky War.
Pointless bravado or fortitude was no substitute for reality; a lesson Aureate Solarclaw had recently learned. There was supposedly one good thing about the battle’s outcome. After the garrison had fought to last, the opposing army had either been impressed enough to allow the non-combatants to live, or perhaps they just didn’t see any point in razing a now defenseless, and mostly-empty, group of dwellings. The warriors had gone into a hopeless battle just to suit the ego of their respective commanders, but the loss had ironically saved the village from immediate destruction. Though, the slaughter of nearly all those capable of producing offspring could have spelled the beginning of the end for their den.
If the two leaders had wanted to test each other’s mettle than they could just have fought in single combat to decide the outcome. That would have been far more honorable, and the sacrifice would have ensured that the clan’s name was never in question. Aureate wondered if perhaps that was the plan they had for her. An honorable sacrifice to protect the Stone-Nation name within the larger Skyfire clan.
“When did we become a nation of politicians?” Aureate wondered. 
Leadership used to be something unquestioned. Those who displayed such traits were the ones who became truly elevated. A true leader had no use for politics. She knew she had done it all correctly! Throughout her life the overriding priority was simply to be noticed. So many risks had paid off, and though some had not she could always rely on her accumulated clout to help her break even without any risk but to herself. Perhaps that was the reason. She’d only ever risked herself before. This time she’d placed the honor of Stone Nation in question. Yes, that had to be it. Her enemies had drawn her into a hopeless battle, and now it was unlikely they, as the politicians everyone knew they were, would spare her from destruction.
Both her’s and Lieschters’s talons and paws now splashed in mud as they continued down the slope. The last of the season’s warm weather was making a last effort to stay in the lower altitudes, but only succeeded in turning snow to rain. Aureate remembered a guild shaman saying that this year would be extraordinarily cool. Perhaps he was correct. The mountain peaks had remained a stark white in many places. In some areas the usual little rivers of snow-melt had been non-existent. Yet, as she looked ahead on the path she could see that the path angled back upward slightly to the final crest, where the mud gradually turned back to the omnipresent white. The crest of the hill was familiar. This could only mean that the Stone Capitol would be visible just over it. Her companion’s next remark confirmed this.
“I guess it’s time to salt your pride now.”
“Salt? Don’t you mean ‘salt in the wound?’”
“Actually, I meant you should salt your pride before you swallow it.”
“I would in fact agree with you if I had any pride left” she relented. “I actually think it’s time to gain some.”
She looked Lieschter in the eye and saw him gawking in his usual manner. Some things never truly changed.
“No Pride?” came the wry response.
“Never! Just purpose.”
Lieschter seemed as though he was choking on his own at that moment as he very obviously began fighting back the urge to laugh out loud.
“No Pride.” He chuckled; a grin pulling his beak’s edges almost up to his eyes. “I suppose all that bravado you’ve displayed throughout the years, that firebrand and impulsive attitude, and the sheer opposition to conventional logic was all just logical purpose?”
“Got it in one” Aureate quipped.
“Well then excuse me for ever being concerned, but I thought we’d solved this way back there. Just give it a rest and take your licks as you already said you’d do.”
“You sound like my father again.”
“Why should that surprise you? I’ve learned just as much from your father as you have. Perhaps more.”
Aureate clenched her jaw tightly. Lieschter was correct. It had always been somewhat of a mystery to her how well her own father had taken to Lieschter. Her closest friend was almost a defacto member of her family in some respects. He had, to this day, cultivated a relationship with her parents that was closer than her own.
Her thoughts came to an abrupt end as both of them crested the hilltop together. They paused as they looked to the cliffs opposite the Bulwark Valley. The setting sun, which was at that moment being dragged from the sky, cast a few last rays on the ice covering the peak of the Mountain-of-Being causing it the radiate a gossamer sheen back toward the weary travelers. Below this spectacle was a sight that both of them would have been glad to see under any other circumstances. 
“Home” Lieschter said decisively.
“But for how much longer?” Aureate replied.
She looked back at her friend to see he was eyeing her again questioningly.
“I meant for the both of us. After all,” he continued as they started downhill “it’s not really home if you don’t want to return.”
Again! He’d done it again. He’d said just the right thing at the wrong time! His words had aroused her hopeless grief again just when she needed the strength to put it behind her as she would stare her kin and clan in their faces. She now realized that she wanted to return home more than ever. In point of fact, she never wanted to leave.
Aureate followed her companion down the path. It led down into the valley and across the chasm through which flowed the Rapier River; named so for how it decisively pierced the lowlands between the mountains. The path had been widened into a road which used a hanging bridge to cross the chasm before leading up to the trade gates at the base of the city. Over recent years, as the hunter’s caravans between Stone Capitol and Deep Harbor had picked up, caravans of “the flightless,” mules, zebras, and even the occasional non-aligned earth, would venture into the mountains to trade directly. Some were eagerly welcomed while others received a cold or even hostile reception. That prospect hadn’t stopped some of the more undesirable types from showing up on occasion.
“Persona-non-grata” Aureate said aloud without actually meaning to.
“Not yet, and not if we can help you!” Came Lieschter’s reply. “Not everyone has deserted you. Even those who have could conceivably be persuaded to change their minds. Just leave it to me!”
“I’m very reassured” was her sarcastic reply to somewhat comical support Lieschter was trying to offer.
Presently, they reached the bridge. It swung slowly in the periodic blasts of wind that came up from the Rapier Gorge. 	They started across. They’d both been told that pausing and looking down into the sheer drop would cause them to be sucked in by the air currents. It seemed more likely that the adventurous would be drawn in by curiosity. Even though it was believed to exist, no one had ever seen the Rapier. The bottom was just too far away. Everyone was sure that it was down there since at one end water from the mountain tributaries disappeared within. This had led a few to attempt venturing into the abyss and its violent air currents. Adventures that seldom ended well. Some gave up, others got injured, and still others never came back.
They reached to other side and began making their way to the trading arch.
“If you want we could just fly in. Nobody would hold it against you.”
Aureate shook her head and Lieschter nodded understandingly.
“No. I need to face them and show how I’m ready for whatever comes.”
She gestured towards the two guards standing watch who had straightened and were standing more attentively as the approach of the two fellow griffons seemed to have justified their tasking. It was laughable in a sense. The gate only existed for flightless individuals. It wasn’t as though anyone within the nation or clan really needed it for entry; with the exception of the mid-summer and autumn caravans. Yet, her decision to use it conveyed a message.
“I think Light Paw is the captain today” Lieschter commented. “She’s reasonable enough.”
They were close enough to recognize the faces of the two sentries now. Their expressions were those of surprise. Not only surprise at who their visitors were, but at their chosen means of return. One of them turned off to the side and called to someone who was sitting in the nearby shelter. Seconds later that someone emerged. It was Light Paw, just as Lieschter had surmised. She was doing her best to push back the raised feathers on her gray crest, but Aureate could see clearly see her digging in her hind paws. That was one of Light Paw’s most telling signs of nervousness. Ironically, she could leave some of the heaviest tracks when she was on-edge. Lieschter clearly saw her apprehension too.
“Well it looks like she’s not completely displeased to see you” he whispered.
Almost as if they’d heard him, both of the junior sentries immediately took up positions to bar the newcomers’ entry.
“You’ve talked enough over the last day. Be still and let me do the talking here” Aureate hissed.
Light Paw could now be seen walking through the gate past her guards, her tail swishing back and forth as she walked. Under any other circumstances the two would have doubtless been happy to see each other. 
“Please stop there, both of you.”
They both stopped and waited for her to approach. She planted herself just a pace or two away from the two returnees; her body parallel to them.
“Good!” Aureate thought to herself. “She’s not taking up a blocking position.”
“I know why you’re here.” She pointed at Aureate. “But you!” she shifted her gaze to Lieschter. “Why on Earth are you back?! You should be in Deep Harbor right now. You do have a wedding to get ready for.”
“I still have time on that” Lieschter replied. “It’s time I’d just as soon give to those who might actually care. I’m only reciprocating.”
Light Paw rolled her eyes and was about to speak when Lieschter continued as he took up position between them.
“Whatever you’re about to say about how foolish and sentimental I am you can stop because Aureate probably already said it to me to other day, and I’m far more apt to listen to her opinion than I am yours! So-!”
Aureate cut him off.
“If that were true you’d have shut your trap like I told you to! Now out of the way!”
She brushed past him and wrapped her forelegs around Light Paw. Light Paw appeared initially shocked but soon responded with an embrace of her own that seemed to last several minutes. When the two finally pulled back from each other they could see Lieschter and the two sentries exchanging glances.
“So how is my pack doing these days?”
“Your pack? I’m the legitimate alpha now; unless you’ve forgotten?”
“I’m afraid that I still think of them as mine. It’s not like my current profession is that glamorous. I usually wait for the prey to come to me while I stay in my office like it’s a hunting blind, but I guess that’s married life for you.”
Aureate and Lieschter couldn’t help but smile at their former alpha.
“I really did want to get a freelance commission for that idiot husband and I, but there’s no way that I could get him and his family to agree to that. They’d just spent too much time teaching Tempered Tail to smith. It may be good money, but we never see the outside anymore. The only time I actually go hunting is when I drag the foolish pugilist out of the ring when he’s lost. Or worse, out of a tavern when he loses. I suppose-.” Their former comrade caught herself before going much further. “I’m sorry, but I thought we were all going to spend time together on occasion,“ Light Paw began again “but I only ever see you with the trade exchange or flying your kills to the carving ground with the pack.”
“I know” Aureate hung her head in embarrassment. “I guess you saw the big one we brought back the other day?”
“I most certainly did! It was all the taverns and mead halls talked about for almost a week after you left! I heard there were some fantastic profits generated.”
The huntress nodded as she felt the pride of the moment bloom inside of her again despite the perpetual cloud which still hung over her.
“All I could think about was the chance it would net me to get an audience with my uncle again.”
“Always the schemer” Light Paw chuckled. “You and your special relationships. But…” her expression dimmed “everyone’s talking about something different now.”
They stared at each other for a moment before Aureate broke the silence.
“Just ask me. In fact,” she raised her voice so that the gate guards could hear as well “you should all be able to hear straight from the accused.”
Light Paw looked straight ahead almost as though she were trying to avoid eye contact. When she spoke again she was clearly choosing her words carefully.
“Is it true… that the dragon had something strange as part of its hoard? Something… unnatural?”
“Unnatural?” Aureate repeated. “I’d say that… ‘it,’ as you say, was quite natural, albeit strange. I’m surprised that you don’t know more by now. What have you heard?”
At this Light Paw’s wings quivered with what Aureate initially believed was fear, but as she looked the her in the eye it was apparent that this was anger. No. Unbridled rage was more accurate.
“What have you heard?” She repeated.
“Well, in a word,… treason. That you betrayed Stone Nation Skyfire” came the answer.
“I haven’t heard that one” Lieschter interrupted. “Who’s been spreading that? More to the point, what have they been spreading!?”
“Set Beak is who I heard it from. He told me that after Aureate had gotten the recognition she craved, she turned around and covertly sold the… ‘Artifice?’ Is that what they’re calling it?”
Lieschter nodded assent.
“He said that you’d played a con with the help of a zebra gray-market trader, and that your intent was to sell it once your new status was official.” 
Now it was Aureate’s turn to fume. Though, she’d grown somewhat numb to anger over the last week.
“Everyone knows, especially my uncle, that I undertook such risky curatorship to gain new status and consequently new advantages for us! Leave it to that scoundrel to parrot whatever lies he’s heard.”
“The rumors have now completely diverged from reality,” Lieschter sighed “and we all know that Set Beak couldn’t come up with dross like that on his own. The fool may spread rumors, but he seldom starts them. If I was the type to place bets, this would have to trace back to the Guild mages. Just more character assassination prior to the Audit.”
Light Paw’s tail coiled and uncoiled repetitively as she digested Lieschter’s words.
“You know… that actually does make sense in a way. Could they possibly sell such a yarn to the committee when the time comes?”
“Maybe,” Aureate was surprised to hear herself say “but they would have to sway the majority of opinions before confronting things in an official capacity.”
“You must have really raised some ire since I went away.” 
Aureate and Lieschter’s former mentor practically beamed at her successor. 
“I knew I was right to leave you in charge. That being said, it looks like our battle will have to be waged in every public gathering place. The taverns, the arenas, and the training fields. If they’re going to tell lies we’ll just have to tell better ones!”
“You can count me out then!” Lieschter said backing away resolutely. “I won’t be party to any untruths! It’ll only make you look guilty. Besides, don’t you two realize that their next step will be to manufacture evidence? Why on earth would we help them?”
Everyone seemed shocked at his words. Even the two gate guards were exchanging looks. One of then seemed to think for a moment before taking a step forward.
“I suppose I could accept a lie if it was told sufficiently well, but I guess since I know it’s one then you’d have to pay me sufficiently well too. You know. Something under the table” she said.
“Never mind the fact that I wasn’t being serious, but you’ll get back to your post and accept whatever I tell you if you want to get paid ever again!” Light Paw sneered back at her sadistically. “You know full well that I already pay you under the table as it is, or have you forgotten that apprentices of your level aren’t permitted to accumulate property from their masters.”
The sentry returned to her post simply rolling her eyes.
“Well if that’s the case then I suppose you won’t want the information about the Mage Guild’s tactics that I was about to share.”
Four sets of eyes now stared hungrily back at her as she smirked in satisfaction seeing that she had their attention.
“And how did you come by such information?” Lieschter responded incredulously.
“Observation. Something that I hear you always have trouble with in the field” she cackled playfully.
“Shut up and spit it out Silver Dawn!” Light Paw nearly roared.
Silver Dawn seemed only mildly fazed as she snapped to attention instinctually but continued smiling.
“Which is it then? Shut up, or spit it out? It’s rather difficult to do both at the same time.”
Under any other circumstance everyone present, Light Paw included, would have been trying to hold back their amusement, as well as amazement, at the fearlessness and wit that Silver Dawn was displaying. But now, her promise of much needed information presented an overriding reason to sidestep the norm.
“Stop chattering and make some sense!” Light Paw clarified. “What have you heard?”
“Not heard. Seen” she replied in a more businesslike tone. “When Buckler and his caravan returned, without her,” she paused to gesture at Aureate “I was on duty. I was surprised that not everyone had returned, but I figured that maybe she’d just stayed on in Crown Wing’s employ for a few days. I stopped their pack animals at the gate and started searching for contraband.”
“You did that to Buckler?! He’s one of us!” Aureate exclaimed in annoyance.
“Well… Light Paw was off dealing with one of Tempered Tail’s dissatisfied customers. When she’s not here the rule book is in charge.”
“You know full-well what the rule book was written for” countered Lieschter. “Believe me, if there’s one thing I do know like the back of my talon it’s the rules. I’d say that you were hoping to catch a glimpse of the rumored Artifice. That’s it, right?”
Silver Dawn’s gaze narrowed a bit after being exposed.
“Please continue” prodded Light Paw. “After you’d started harassing Buckler’s caravan, what happened?”
“I really only peered into the pack bags to ensure that their contents matched whatever the owner said was in them, but on one of the rear-guard packs I found a parcel that no one in the immediate vicinity seemed to know anything about. I just made an assumption that the owner was either out of earshot or-”
“Or not saying anything” Light Paw added.
“Or that it belonged to Aureate Solarclaw, and she’d just sent it back with Buckler. I looked inside and most of what I saw was rather mundane. Just writing implements, paper and parchment, and there was also a reckoner crystal too, but I found another pack within. It was made out of sackcloth, and it was heavy.”
“So what was in it?” Asked the other guard; a male griffon by the name of Blood Moon. He too was now taking a keen interest in the conversation.
“I was just getting to that” she shot back in annoyance. “I pulled it out and asked if anyone knew who it might belong to. When nobody answered a second time I opened it. It was filled with Zebra Stackets. At least 30 weight of them!”
Everyone fell silent for a moment as they considered what Silver Dawn had just said. While it was by no means illicit to possess foreign currency, it was unusual. Especially now, when the preferred means of long-distance transaction were credit slips that could be exchanged at any confederate affiliated trading post for gold, silver, or other assets. Yet, there was still one channel that required hard currency; the black and the gray market.
“So…” Lieschter began stroking his crest as he spoke. “Why do you believe that this has anything to do with a plan by the Guild mages to discredit Aureate Solarclaw? Isn’t it a bit more plausible that it was profits from the sale of the dragon? You do realize that at least half of it was sold on the black market, and everyone else does too. The reason we sent it all to Deep Harbor was so that it could be fenced under Crown Wing’s jurisdiction. The major benefit of Aureate going with Buckler was to smooth over any such complications.”
“I thought about that, but if you’re wondering about the profits from the dragon’s black-market dissemination, I could clearly see that Buckler had them in packs across his back at the time. He walked up to the gate when he usually flies. It was apparent that he was too weighed-down with Crown Wing’s new Confederate Dains. He also showed me the slips from the more legitimate sales he’d made.”
“Again,” Lieschter began “what does a pile of zebra coinage prove against the Guild, or against Aureate for that matter?” 
“It was everyone’s reaction upon me finding it. All of them seemed stunned that it was there, but they were terrified of touching them. It was as though they knew who the stackets belonged to. They had to belong to the Guild. Nothing else can conjure such irrational fear.”
“What did you do with them?” Light Paw inquired.
“I weighed them and put them back.”
“Did you enter it onto the books?”
“Yes I did, but that’s where it gets strange. If you’ll remember the log book-”
“Went missing three days ago” finished Blood Moon. “I was sure it had to be the evening watch. Please don’t tell me I punished them needlessly.”
Aureate’s fur and feathers stood on end with the new revelation. The Guild possessed more gold than any other organization within Skyfire Clan, and they weren’t shy about letting on just how much they had. Furthermore, the Guild even went to special lengths to convert any incoming gold or silver into their own coinage. There was only one reason to bring foreign gold in discreetly. The desire for the coins had nothing to do with monetary value, but it was more likely that they were coveted for what they were. They were to be evidence against her! However they might deploy them against her would have little consequence, but their very existence would no doubt be used as powerful evidence during her audit.
She looked up to see the rest of those present in apparent deep thought. They were no doubt reaching similar conclusions. Aureate broke the silence by clearing her throat.
“Well, there’s no use just standing here.”
“You’re quite correct” Light Paw agreed. “But you’re not going anywhere until we have a sense on what the Guild is planning.”
“I think I should at least go back to my house for-”
“No! For all we know they’re waiting for you to return, and they’ll raid your home in the early hours and plant the stackets as evidence against you. You may be in danger of losing status and titles right now, but if they get their way you might even lose your life. Your audit could turn into a trial for treason!”
“I’m not going to roll over for them! If they want a fight I think I’d rather strike first now that I know they’re coming!”
At this statement Light Paw reacted in a way that neither Aureate nor Lieschter had seen in years, though they both remembered it well. Their senior-tier mentor extended a talon and grabbed her protege by the sensitive feathers at the base of her crest causing Aureate to let out an agonizing and almost child-like trill. Lieschter, Blood Moon, and Silver Dawn looked away; as they could remember similar experiences.
“Just you listen here you silly girl! I’m not going to let you race to your own destruction without the rest of us in tow! You’re certainly not going to roll over, but none of your friends are either!”
She eased her grip slightly, allowing a humiliated Aureate to pull herself loose.
“You still have allies here!” She gazed resolutely at the others. “Isn’t that right, you three?”
“Yes mam!” They replied as they always had when Light Paw took charge.
“Good! Well…” She cocked her head in thought for a moment “Not good. Just better. Now that your minds are once again attached to your bodies I’ve got some tasking for you.”
The four griffons stared back expectantly at the fifth who’d just assumed command.
“Silver dawn! Blood Moon! Our shift ends within the hour. When we’re relieved I don’t want you going back to the barracks. Make whatever excuses you have to and I’ll approve them at muster tomorrow.”
She turned to Blood Moon.
“You’ve got good eyes in low light. You’re going to take a good look at Aureate’s house tonight. If it’s being watched I want you to wait until dark to sneak inside. We need you to toss it.”
She beckoned for Aureate to turn over her key. Though quite dubious, Aureate complied.
“What am I doing that for?” he asked.
“Your job is to find the evidence that’s likely been planted against her, or if it’s not there yet, you’ll need to back out and wait at a distance to see if it arrives tonight. I think it’s warm enough that the inn across the street has its shutters open this time of year. I’ll join you there after I’m done this evening.”
“I’m not terribly keen on playing the burglar” grumbled Blood Moon. “I am in training to be a law officer after all.”
“If you’re caught I’ll draft a pre-dated search warrant for you. Who knows “she cracked a grin “maybe they’ll even give you the stackets. In which case, we’ll know exactly where they came from.”
She next turned to Silver Dawn.
“You’re going to pay your mother and father a visit tonight.”
Silver Dawn blinked in surprise.
“I’m what? You want me to eat dinner with my family? What will that do?!”
“Your father works with the Guild. He’s almost a member himself.”
“But he’s an alchemist! He makes fireworks and spirits. Why would he know anything about their organization’s intrigue?”
“Actually,” Lieschter responded with a wry grin “I think that your father would know a great deal. Some tend to let slip things around their bartender that they wouldn’t tell a soul otherwise.”
“Very perceptive” Light Paw grinned back at him. “That’s exactly what I’m hoping.” 
She turned back to Silver Dawn. 
“Please be delicate when you ask questions. Even though we probably can trust your father I’d prefer to keep the number of those in-the-know to a minimum. If he has no direct information just try to get a feel for the general mood of the Guild right now.”
Silver Dawn nodded as Light Paw’s gaze fell to Lieschter.
“I’m not spreading rumors for you if that’s what you’re thinking” he said sternly.
“No. You’re not. You’re going to collect them.”
“Pardon?”
“I need you to spend some quality time with a known chief source. So as soon as we’re done here you should head over to the Rex mead hall and wait for Set Beak.”
“I hardly know Set Beak, and it’s not like I’m a champion of the bottle."
Everyone else chuckled lightly.
“Neither of those things will matter to Set Beak. Especially after he’s had a few. Everyone knows he’s king of the rumor mill and you’re supposed to be on the way to Deep Harbor right now. When he sees you’re still here he’ll have to know why. He just can’t help it. Make up something plausible, or even add a little truth to what you say. Just try to keep anything concrete about Aureate out of it. If he suspects you’re remaining for her sake then just let him come to his own conclusions. But above all, remember what you’re there for. Try to find who started the rumors we’re dealing with.”
“I can already feel the hangover” Lieschter groaned.
“Relax” Light Paw reassured him as she ducked back into the guard shack and came out again with a pair of glass phials in her talon. “I’m giving you an advantage tonight.”
She extended them towards Lieschter and he eyed them questioningly before accepting.
“They’re pure unadulterated grain spirits. We confiscated them because of Crown Wing’s new embargo. A zebra trader had them. Supposedly they may have come from earth country. Just try to get one or both into Set Beak’s drink when he’s not looking.”
“That’s just diabolical” Lieschter groused as he concealed both of the glass containers in a pouch he was wearing.
“You may not need them at all. He’ll get to the level of intoxication you need sooner or later. I’m just worried that you’ll have to drink yourself down there too. We all know how that might end up. At any rate, just wait until his beak is open for business. Then keep your ears open until closing time. Got it?”
“Mostly. But how do you know he’s going to be at the Rex?”
“My trade is providing security” she smirked. “When it comes down to it I know where everyone is when I have to come and get them.”
Light Paw looked over the members of the team she’d just drafted and nodded with satisfaction.
“Does everyone understand your assignments?”
“I don’t” Aureate interjected with some annoyance creeping into her tone. “You never told me what I ought to be doing.”
“You’re going to lay low. I thought you would’ve figured that out.”
“Lay low?! What on earth for?! I should be doing something to help the rest of you, and me!”
“You will be doing something” Light Paw countered. “When everyone knows you’re back in town the mood is going to change dramatically. They’ll all stop trading rumors so freely, or worse they might actually start choosing sides. Our best option right now is for you to head over to stay with your mother and father. Leave your armor with me, and I’ll look after it. Besides, both of your parents are worried, and seeing you while not within the gaze of unfriendly eyes may do them some good. Between you and your mother you might be able to keep your father off the bottle.”
Aureate relented. She’d hardly thought of her family or how this crisis was affecting them.
“Alright. I’ll do as you say, but only because it was you who said it.”
Light Paw nodded.
“Aureate Solarclaw has not made it back to Stone Capital yet” she announced so that everyone could hear. “Is that clear?”
The four other griffons nodded back to their leader.
“Good! Now everyone get to work. And remember, we’ll all try to meet at the place across from Aureate’s after we’re done.”
“But what are you going to do?” Blood Moon asked as he began walking back to his post to wait for his relief.
“You make it sound as though I’m keeping the fun for myself. I’m just going to do what the four of you can’t.”
“Which is?” Aureate inquired.
“As before, the less you know the better. Now come with me and I’ll get you something to exchange your armor for.”



****** At The Edge of Etiquette ******



The sun had finally dropped below the western sky thus leaving the Amerigo’s topside in utter darkness, save for the flickering lanterns that rimmed the weather deck and the flying bridge. Night came early here on account of the high peaks of the Black Mountain range blocking out the light. This was further exaggerated by the dense mist that was usually a staple in this part of the world. Kearn almost wished he could be anywhere else. What he wouldn’t give to see a maelstrom of churning boiling dust clouds on the horizon. Even the typhoons of the southern seas and their perpetual rains were preferable to this! Why couldn’t the weather here make up its mind!? 
They had to get out of here before too long, and not just for business reasons. While it was true that they would be tardy in delivering their latest series of orders, that was the least of the Zebra’s worries. Here it was damp and venturing out more than a few leagues away from the ship in any direction was a chore, but worse still was the uncertainty that had begun to spread after the second accident earlier that day. Rumors were inevitable despite Charlie’s earlier precautions. Some of the newest ones were being circulated among the less seasoned members of the crew. They’d begun to fear that the ship would be permanently immobile now. While the experienced engineer knew better from his previous experience with the Harmonic Assembly, he’d begun to wonder if their fears, though borne of ignorance, weren’t entirely unreasonable.
The Harmonic Elements were a cantankerous bunch. Though their behavior could be predicted for the most part, they still managed to surprise even Charlie. They could behave as though they were alive in some fashion. It was a mistake thinking of them as simply parts of a machine. They had moods which at times had to be taken into account when maintaining the intricate construct built around them. Could it be possible that their current application was a misuse, or worse an abuse, of their power? Were they growing weary of shuttling the Amerigo through the skies? 
Kearn drew on his pipe slowly and held it for several seconds before exhaling a thick cloud of delicious, relaxing, and sublime tobacco smoke. He dismissed his earlier thoughts as pure flights of fancy. “How could gems, even magical gems, be alive?” Though mysterious, the Elements were only a force of nature. They could be tamed and bent to a purpose just as any other form of magic or alchemy. That much the engineer knew how to do, and he could do it well. Perhaps he’d accrued even better knowledge of them than Charlie himself?
He took another drag and wondered just how much his human friend knew and wasn’t letting on. “What had they been created from? What gave them power? Were there others besides the human who were immune to their more toxic effects and could thus possess them safely?” All of these were questions that Kearn, Crack, and even Turner had asked on a few occasions. Yet, their friend was surprisingly tight-lipped when it came to discussing these things. They could tell that he desperately wanted to tell them certain things, but he always restrained himself and would either brush the question off or remain silent. The one time that he’d opened up was to explain, rather cryptically, that it was his heartfelt duty to repay a debt. A debt that might prove catastrophic if another were to attempt it.
“Why? What could be so dangerous that it could override the level of trust that the Amerigo’s four-most-senior crew shared?” The one thing that Charlie had made clear above all else was that the Elements were segments that made up a whole. A whole that would resist becoming such again unless properly reassembled. It was through their attempts to reestablish what Charlie called “harmony” that the more useful applications had been discovered; all purely though trial and error. It was truly ironic that in the quest for harmony it was the discordant combinations that would prove to be most beneficial.
These and other thoughts crisscrossed his mind as Kearn stared out across the sports-field-sized expanse that was the ship’s topside. Though the light had all but faded, he could still make out the outline of the twin rudders that extended well above the aerodynamic contours of the ship’s fantail. These, along with the profile mounted cyclic-elevators, formed the Amerigo’s high-speed control surfaces. Both himself and Charlie had considered such additions as unnecessary when they’d first started building, but they’d received a rude awakening when they’d lost control during one of the ship’s initial flight tests; now euphemistically referred to as “the Vomit Comet.” It became clear that it was necessary to have some other way of altering the ship’s trajectory if their control of the Elements was lost again.
This time they’d maintained control, but what had it cost them? The itch of the silica dust in Kearn’s throat and eyes was nothing compared to the desired that now gripped the engineer to see just how badly his precious engine had been damaged. So now he sat feigning patience for those around him. He so wished that he was like his two-legged friend in at least one way. Being able to touch the Harmonic Elements without consequence. It was certainly one of Charlie’s most extraordinary capabilities. It almost wasn’t fair that someone who likely possessed no spirit, could have more authority over the forces of magic than the most powerful mages. Kearn grinned as he imagined what might happen if one of those arrogant Celestial-Quorum unicorns ever tried to do what the human could do without thinking.
“Turned to stone?” he thought to himself. “No. That’s too painless. Turned inside out? Not that either. Too grisly!” He frowned as he knocked his pipe against the forecastle railing to clean out the ash and uncombusted leaves. Then suddenly it dawned on him. “Turned into colts again! Yes, that’s it!” He almost choked on his own laughter seconds later as his next thought added insult to injury. “Earth colts too! Just old enough to understand what they’d lost and to cry about it!”
Kearn’s opinion of the Celestial Assembly wasn’t his own. Just about everyone on board the ship, to some degree, shared his frustrations with the attitude of exceptionalism that the Equestrian unicorns seemed to enjoy; especially those of their capitol. “It’s not just that.” He corrected himself. “It’s their establishment in general. Even they must be tired of it by now!” He knew things would change soon. Sooner than most thought. “But just how much and in what direction?” Those were the real questions. The very advent the monarchy’s two new pets, he was certain that all the so-called “alicorns” really amounted to, simply proved that things were coming to a head. Were they genuine? The timing just seemed too convenient. Either way they would prove to be agents of change hopefully for unity and reconciliation, or they would be the hammer blows that would bring about destruction and subsequent Chaos.
Seconds later Kearn’s muse was interrupted as chaos of a sort erupted straight up and out of one of the topside hatches. Although he couldn’t see who it was in the light, he could hear shouting and cursing as they collided with two of the topside griffon lookouts.
“Sound off next time!” one of them responded with irritation.
“Where’s the Chief?!” came Scotch’s frantic voice. “Has anyone seen him?!”
Kearn frowned. This behavior was most uncharacteristic for Scotch; even in the most stressful of situations.
“I’m over here.” Kearn replied, trying to keep himself calm.
The green pegasus responded by launching himself almost straight up with a mighty heave of his wings. Seconds later he landed just steps away, panting heavily, and wasting no time jabbering like a fool.
“Boss!” he gasped “we have an emergency!”
“I don’t hear the alarm bells and no one is blowing a whistle right now. It sure doesn’t sound like it!” Kearn replied.
“I- I think that the deck watches haven’t gotten around to winding up the striker springs again after earlier today, but that doesn’t matter right now! Everyone’s busy trying to help ripple! I ran to get you and Long Chain went after the Captain and Copper Lance!”
Kearn nearly dropped his pipe which he’d been tucking back into his pouch.
“What!? What’s she done now!?”
“We don’t know for sure! She’s locked into a spell somehow. I think she was trying to use her magic to draw in all of that crystal dust on the platform!”
Kearn snorted in frustration as he took off for the open hatch cover with Scotch following closely behind.
“Neither I nor the Captain ever gave her permission to even reenter the platform let alone use spatial magic that might interact with the Elements! Who told her she could!?”
Kearn’s deputy could be seen shaking his head as he leapt ahead of his chief. The two of them bounded from passageway to catwalk one after the other as they madly raced through the ship’s interior and steadily made their way aft towards the primary hull section. As they both cascaded down the final catwalk Kearn could see the domed shape of the platform ahead of them. Yet, even now he could tell that something was dreadfully wrong inside. 
There was a strange glow. It seemed as though it were just as strong as when the Assembly was operating, but the light flickered and was most definitely the wrong color. Only a unicorn’s telekinetic field could be the cause! This was bad! Though he had no ability to work magic, the zebra knew full-well what the consequences could be if the elements were provoked carelessly. Physically touching them was bad enough. Kearn himself had a scar sustained from a burn just above his left hoof that had been the result of casual contact with Element Ruby! Turner, on the other hoof, had once found out the hard way just how much more dangerous things could be for a unicorn.
One of their first mistakes when they’d first begun experimenting with the elements was the understandable belief that only tactile contact could be harmful. They’d found out otherwise at Turner’s expense when the unicorn tried to pick up with telekinesis what they now called Element Primary. He was lucky. In fact they’d all been. The resulting release of magical energy had been enough to demolish the small shack that the four friends called home at the time! Their poor unicorn friend had been fished from the wreckage both blind and almost completely deaf. Over the next several weeks, as his hearing and sight gradually returned, he explained to them just how close he’d come to annihilation. He said it was as if some raw and untamed power had nearly compelled every spell one might think of from him, but his resistance had caused it to backfire. That’s what had destroyed their cabin. His horn seemed proof of this; as it had turned a shade darker and looked like he'd placed it in the fire. They’d been afraid at the time that he might lose it. Though it had recovered, he still claimed that it didn’t feel the same as it once had. He also said that his sense of smell was dulled as well. 
Now it seemed as though someone else was likely going to suffer the same sort of fate, if not worse!
The chief engineer and his lieutenant leapt onto the platform before even allowing the lift to reach the upper level. The sight that awaited them seemed as dire as it was strange. Ripple appeared to have been, for the most part, successful with her supposed plan to remove the powdered-glass from the air as well as from the surfaces around them. The platform had seldom looked so clean in fact. Kearn might’ve been proud of Ripple if she hadn’t accomplished it by ignoring one of the first things that any on the platform crew would learn. There was to be no magic, save limited and supervised telekinesis, worked on the platform. The young mare had for whatever reason ignored this and now she stood poised to pay for it; perhaps with her life or worse with theirs too.
The unicorn stood stock-still beneath a shimmering torus of magical energy that hung in the overhead of the platform. Other team members clustered around her as close as they dared. Within her telekinetic field there could be seen a churning and bubbling mass. Kearn swallowed hard when he realized that the dust had begun to melt and consolidate within Ripple’s field. This had to mean something had gone amiss. While he knew that unicorns could perform such feats with magic, this was surely not the time or place. Even the accident-prone and klutzy Ripple had to know that!
“Who told you that you could use magic here!?” he asked; allowing his frustration to seep into his tone.
Ripple didn’t answer. In fact she didn’t even blink. Yet, all the same, her eyes darted instinctively towards her boss. Aside from her eyes there was no other movement. Kearn was taken aback at the response. Being the newest member of his team, Ripple was usually one of the first to acknowledge him when he spoke. Kearn turned his attention to one of the others that had clustered around. His gaze settled on Dill; one of the Harmonic Assembly’s Pusher operators.
“Well?”
“She’s been like that for several moments now!” came the answer. “She started her field around the Platform’s edges and moved from the deck upward, but when it got near the edges of the dome she just stopped. It’s like she’s trapped in the moment or something. What’s happening to her?”
Kearn wanted to reply, but he kept his mouth shut. He was, after all, the one who always knew, even if he didn’t. He shifted his gaze between the field of energy and the unicorn generating it. “This is where it might be nice to have a common frame of reference” he thought to himself. It wasn’t like he ever could understand magic on such a first-person level as a unicorn. Then again, it wasn’t as though most unicorns could acquire a zebra’s intuition when it came to the alchemy that had produced the Amerigo. Perhaps that was why his only unicorn team member had made such a blunder. It has to be ignorance or arrogance he concluded. Well, he knew how to deal with a foolish unicorn. It might even save her life.
“Stand back everyone!” his voice boomed. “Get the silkscreens ready too.”
“What are you going to do?” asked Scotch.
“I’m going to interrupt the field before Ripple tires herself out. I’ll need you to catch all of the solid bits when they fall.”
“Tired? What makes you think she’s having trouble with exhaustion?”
Kearn almost shouted at Scotch, but held his frustration in.
“I’d have to say what’s given me the idea is that she’s not exactly standing in a natural position. Also, those little drops of perspiration beneath her seem to belie a larger issue. Now please do as you’re all told!”
Kearn began to approach Ripple as the others embarked on their tasks in a flurry of activity as they prepared for Kearn to interrupt the spell; something that he suspected would be rather painful for Ripple. Though, from studying her eyes and the corners of her mouth he’d decided that she was likely already in pain from whatever had gone wrong. He stared the mare in the face and managed his best rendition of a reassuring smile.
“Just keep it up for a bit longer” he said softly. “You may be a ‘screw-up’ as the Captain is fond of saying, but I think it’s just because you’re too eager to please.”
Someone tapped his flank and he turned to see Dill nodding that they were ready. He nodded back and approached slowly. He could feel the level of energy of the telekinesis spell as he moved closer. The short hairs of his recently trimmed mane stood on-end and swayed. He examined her horn very carefully. It seemed normal enough, though rimmed by the usual translucent aura that matched the owner’s pupils. This wouldn’t be hard then. He looked ripple directly in the eyes and could see that in addition to the perspiration dipping down her face there was a cascade of tears streaming from her eyes as well.
“Here goes!” He thought to himself as he drew back and prepared to strike the base of Ripple’s horn.
“Stop! Don’t touch her!!” someone shouted.
Kearn almost fell forward; his concentration broken. He looked to his right to see Charlie, now wearing his so-called moonsuit, scrambling out one of the hatches to the sub level.
“Forgive me, but I think I’ve had plenty of experience dealing with unicorn magic. Why shouldn’t I interrupt her spell like this?”
“Because Turner said not to!”
“Turner?”
“Yes. He’s a unicorn last I checked! So I think we ought to listen to him! Anyway, he’ll be here in a moment” Charlie quipped.
Seconds later they could hear the bangs and thumps of a quadripedal individual trying to work his way up one of the ladders that was clearly not designed for him. Presently, Turner’s head shot into view, and Charlie bent to help him up. This resulted in a rather comical wrestling match against the forces of gravity; culminating in the equine sprawled on top of the human. Turner jumped up immediately, his eyes darting around the Platform as he took in the situation.
“How long!?” he demanded. “How long has she been containing this!?”
“Containing?” Kearn uttered in confusion as he began slowly backing away from Ripple. “I thought she was producing the field?”
“It likely started out that way, but now she’s barely holding it back! That’s why she can’t move. I’ve seen this before. It happened to a friend back in university. Now how long has she been like this?!”
A murmur could be heard between the various engineers that had been there when the spell had started to go wrong.
“Almost 20 minutes” an orange pegasus named Arc eventually volunteered.
Turner rocked his forehooves back and forth as he always did while trying to make up his mind, but seconds later he stiffened his posture decisively. He gestured towards a group of junior engineers, most of them only recently initiated as full-fledged crew members.
“All of you leave” he ordered while pointing at the lift. “All of you over on the other side, you leave too. The platform is too crowded right now.”
Everyone, including Charlie, looked at Turner in surprise before Kearn repeated the order.
“You all heard him.”
The more junior engine crew immediately turned and made their way towards the various exits. Soon the only ones left besides the stricken mare were Charlie, Turner, Scotch, and Kearn.
“Well?” Kearn asked as he turned to face his unicorn colleague. “What’s your plan?”
“I can’t get anywhere near her. That field is so out-of-control it will repel any other unicorn” he began. “Though it wouldn’t be so bad for me, it could end up doing some damage to her by causing her to drain power that she can’t afford to give up right now. What we have to do is to interrupt the spell before she loses control.”
“I was about to do that!” Kearn stomped his hooves in frustration.
“Wrong!” Turner replied forcefully, but he paused and gazed at the unfortunate Ripple. He motioned for all three of them to come closer and continued; lowering his voice so that Ripple couldn’t hear. “Wrong. What you were about to do would have caused her field to collapse in on itself. It could have crushed both of you! It has to be stopped by removing ripple immediately. The spell will cease to resolve just like an insoluble equation. If you plied her attention away by striking her horn she would instinctively step the spell down, and that could be a problem as I’d previously stated. You see, right now Ripple is in a bit of a panic, I would be too, so we need to relax her immediately.” 
His gaze shifted towards Charlie as he spoke.
“Fortunately for us we have someone who won’t have an issue with whatever consequences could arise from doing this improperly. Let’s do this quickly. I’m going to start pushing the field energy back into her while Kearn and Scotch keep any of those solidifying glass pieces from landing on me and breaking my concentration, and when I’ve pushed enough back into her Charlie is going to stop the spell by… well….” Turner paused and looked at Charlie directly. “You know what to do.”
Charlie nodded and the four of them took their positions. Turner dropped to his haunches and closed his eyes. His horn was pointed straight up. Kearn directed Scotch towards a pile of unassembled silk-screen panels. The two of them took one of the rectangular segments in their mouths and maneuvered it over the concentrating unicorn. Meanwhile, Charlie had walked through the now-visibly-unstable magical field as though it were nothing. He knelt down in front of Ripple and reached out to stroke her mane in consolation.
“Is everyone ready?” inquired Turner.
Kearn and Scotch, with the screen in their jaws, both grunted their replies.
“Ready when you are” replied Charlie. “Do this quickly. Don’t let her field collapse around the Elements.”
“I’m not ignorant. I’m not exactly going to let that happen again” Kearn could hear Turner muttering under his breath.
The usual magical aura presently began to extend from Turner’s horn. The corners of his mouth twitched, but otherwise he remained just as still as Ripple. Turner’s field began to diverge from the usual amorphous glow into several tendrils of light that without warning shot straight up into Ripple’s out-of-control spell. The mass of energy suddenly froze. It was no longer churning with energy but looked as though it were straining maintain its toroidal shape. Turner’s slightly different shade of aura began almost flowing over the top and dripping down the sides. A sight that made Kearn strangely crave a frosted fry-cake, or “doughnut” in human-speak.
The zebra’s thoughts of food evaporated as he heard Turner grunt. He shifted his eyes downward. Though he couldn’t see his friend entirely, on account of the screen he was holding in his jaws getting in the way, he could tell that the unicorn was exerting himself considerably.
“It’s strong!” Turner grunted through clenched teeth. “It doesn’t like being squeezed.”
He glanced back up to see the rogue spell now fully engulfed and steadily shrinking. “Good!” Kearn thought to himself. He could see directly across from him that Scotch was grinning at Turner’s immediate success. This was short-lived as small chunks of crystal began raining down from above. It started slowly but gradually picked up. The entire platform area sounded like his father’s old rain-stick. At least these were too big to inhale.
The mass of energy was now half the size it had been originally, and one could tell that the flow of energy was moving back into Ripple’s horn, just as planned. It was then something else unexpected happened. Turner suddenly gasped. This wasn’t a sound of exertion. This was the sound of panic.
“No!” he exclaimed. “I-It’s not all her’s! W-what have I done!! Charlie! Charlie! Do it now! Do it before either of us gets hurt! It’s too loud!”
Charlie, his face decked with confusion at the turn of events, lunged at Ripple extending both of his forearms. One hand grabbed for her horn while the other curiously enough, took hold of her right ear. The human unexpectedly grimaced in pain but kept his grip strong. Kearn could see blood seeping from between the fingers as they squeezed tighter and tighter on the unicorn’s horn. He kept the mare’s head steady with one hand as he, in one split-second, moved in and sunk his blunted omnivorous teeth into her ear! The chaos and panic came to an abrupt halt with a sickening and painful noise as Ripple suddenly began to squeal in pain and collapsed on her side taking Charlie down with her. What was left of the field burst, raining down what was left of the little chunks of crystal that were held within. Then, silence, save the sound of turner also collapsing onto the deck and a rhythmic thumping noise. 
Kearn turned to see Charlie, still clutching the mare’s horn. His bite had drawn blood and he turned and spat it on the deck. Ripple had fallen on top of his legs and seemed to be having some kind of spasm. Her breathing came in short gasps as her right hind leg kicked continually in-time with each one.
“You did good” he could hear Charlie cooing to her softly. “It’s alright now. It’s over.”
Charlie gently stroked Ripple’s silver mane as her eyelids lowered, her breathing slowed and her kicking abated. He looked up in Kearn’s direction.
“Are you three alright?” he asked.
Kearn and Scotch carefully set aside the silkscreen panel to reveal an unexpected sight. Turner had collapsed and was simply asleep. His breathing was slow and regular, and he seemed to show little sign of trauma, physical or otherwise. Though, one could make out the telltale tracks of tears from the corners of both his eyes. 
“Likely from exertion,” thought Kearn.
“Scotch and I are alright. I can’t really speak for Turner. How about you two?”
“I’ll be fine, but this one needs to be seen by Lance right now. I had to bite her ear clear through.”
Kearn winced at the thought of having to receive such an injury. 
“Why on earth did you do that?!” He paused. “No. Wait. Stupid question. Where did you learn to do that? I never would have thought-!”
“That’s not important now” Charlie interrupted. “Just get some help in here.”
Kearn was about to run to the lift to get help when he heard the sound of it rising on its own. Moments later the rest of his Platform crew, being led by Crack, jumped off and gawked at the covering of small glass-crystal stones that covered the deck. It was not only the second surreal spectacle to have taken place within the Platform, but both had occurred less than a day apart.
“W-What now?” Crack sputtered in disbelief.
“I’m still trying to figure that one out too.” Kearn replied as he shook the glass pieces from his mane. “Regardless we need an ambulance detail to get these two to the infirmary.” He gestured towards the two unicorns. “Ripple has an injury to her ear, and I think that both of them overspent their power.”
“She’s also got little shards embedded in her horn too” Charlie added as he held up a hand with blood-covered digits. “Copper Lance needs to treat her for crystallic impingement.”
The two teams hurriedly, yet carefully, removed to two unicorns to convey them to the ship’s medical staff. Kearn stood with Charlie and Crack as he supervised the rest of the crew collecting the solid bits of crystal and depositing them into a box. Still others were setting up the silkscreens to surround the Assembly. He wondered if he should be grateful for that mare’s foolishness. She had save them a somewhat lengthy cleanup, but no, she could’ve caused the destruction of the Harmonic Assembly itself; if the fate of their one-time dwelling was any indication. 
The engineer began to think long and hard about the young mare. Did he really want her to be on his team? If her actions, or potential actions, could place them all in danger then the answer was “no.” They couldn’t risk it. Yet, Ripple was such a strange and special case in her own right. No other unicorn on board the Amerigo even wanted to work on the platform. Those that had; most often regretted staying too long. Ripple was different for some reason. Yet now, this incident had highlighted the danger of a unicorn being on the Platform crew. Could he really just say “no unicorns?” he turned to his captain and found Charlie lost in his own thoughts.
“Hell of a night! Isn’t it?”
“I suppose so.” Charlie replied; his eyes remaining somewhat distant. “You know what my people would say after a night like this?”
Kearn shook his head.
“I need a holiday.”
“You’re not going to suggest we head back to the Everfree, are you?” Crack asked with some trepidation.
“That’s not it at all. That was just a saying.”
“Then what’s eating you?”
“A few things I suppose. First, I guess I’ve begun to doubt whether we can trust that thing to keep doing it’s job of keeping up airborne. I know that you’re thinking similar thoughts.”
Kearn and Crack nodded reluctantly as Charlie continued.
“The second is…well…rather stupid and as much as I’d like to shake the thought I just can’t seem to.”
“Well..what?” asked Kearn.
“I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“Tell us” Crack said sternly, as only a griffon could.
Charlie sighed.
“Alright. Right before they took Ripple I looked down at her and I saw something that just looked strange. Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me, or maybe there was still some dust covering her coat, but it just looked so much more lustrous than usual, even perhaps opaque.”
“Why should that be of concern? Her coat always looks quite healthy. She’s a rather vital young mare.”
“True, but if you’d…perceived it the way I did you might be worried about her. Since Turner is in the infirmary too I guess we can’t ask him if it’s normal for unicorns. We’ll just have to ask Lance after he’s finished treating them.”
“Ask him about what? Ripple’s grooming habits?” Crack snickered in amusement. “What exactly do you think you perceived?”
“Her coat. In fact, her entire body, just for a few seconds, she looked like she was made of crystal.