"Might I have everyone's attention?" The intercom sparked to life, projecting Gerardo Guillaume's voice all across the Immortal Dream. "I see Izvaldi's capitol on the horizon! We'll be arriving shortly."
His talon left the button that held it on, and the device clicked off. Throwing back his forelegs, the griffon stretched, doing a quick spin in his pilot's chair. "Ahh, about time we made it back to land. Long adventuring voyages have their perks, but there's nothing quite like returning to civilization."
The sun was halfway to noon, and Slipstream, Grenada and Nyala shared the room, Amber having recently gone to bed. "Are we going to control who disembarks?" Grenada asked, eyes thin and set on the distant city.
"After weeks of flying?" Slipstream stretched her wings, interlocking their feathers behind her head and rocking back and forth. "I sure hope not. I need to... meet some ponies! And we have enough trinkets from the sarosians, we could be popular in the commerce building..."
Nyala's wings rotated, propping her at a lower angle from the dashboard where she sat, letting her see more of the landscape below. "It would be awkward asking someone to carry me, wouldn't it?"
"Perhaps. Many things in life are awkward." Gerardo grinned. "That doesn't mean they aren't worth asking. I'd be happy to."
"I assume not, then," Grenada said, staring at the dashboard.
"You sound disappointed," Nyala worriedly remarked. "Do you not want some of us to go?"
Grenada sighed. "We are stopping here to get treatment for someone who was injured repeatedly under my command. There was a leadership split in our camp between us, and ponies did not know whom they wanted to follow, even though neither of us tried to play into it. Things were tense. I do not know whether I should go down with her, and this would decide for me."
"Sounds like as good of a reason to go as any to me," Gerardo remarked, their course set and no longer in need of adjustment. "I'm sure young Harshwater would appreciate a familiar face or two at her side. All she has now is Valey. And if it turns out she doesn't, easy enough for you to wander off and explore the capitol, hmm?"
Grenada looked away. "What would I do while exploring?"
Slipstream blinked, then grinned. "Girl, do you even need to ask? Hang out with the rest of us! The sarosians gave us so many gifts to trade once we got back here, we'll be able to spend some days living the high life! We'll go shopping, see if there's anything happening at the theater..."
"I hate to check your enthusiasm," Gerardo interrupted, "but we do have a tournament to make. Better to be early than to be late, so I'd advise limiting your plans to today at most. I'd like for us all to be underway by nightfall."
Slipstream looked determined. "All the more reason not to waste time."
"...Perhaps I should go, then." Grenada turned away from the windshield, the city already noticeably closer. "I will go see if she wants me."
"Nice of you to drop by," Harshwater muttered, staring at the ceiling from her bed. An open book sat facedown on her bedstand, and someone had tucked her more carefully than she could have managed by herself. "It gets pretty lonely in here when no one's around."
Grenada stared at her for a moment, then rubbed her neck. "We are almost to Izvaldi. How are you?"
"Yeah, I heard. The intercom." Harshwater didn't move. "Low-key awful all over. Half of that's from laying still for so long, but even after the temple, walking or flying around would probably just make things worse. It's hard not to imagine what would have happened if I pushed myself further."
"If you pushed yourself further." Grenada's brow shadowed. "You pushed yourself for my cause. You do not give me any of the blame?"
Harshwater frowned. "No offense, but I pushed myself because if I didn't, I would die. They didn't want to let us live there. You could do whatever you wanted with goals and city-building, I just wanted to keep my body in one piece."
Grenada winced. "I am trying to say that I am sorry for not helping!"
"Never held it against you," Harshwater said limply. "If you're bothered by your conduct back in the camp, I've got just a liiittle bit bigger things to worry about on my mind."
"Yes well I am bothered!" Grenada's voice rose slightly, then was wrestled back under control. "I do not want to... go without trying to make amends. I wanted to offer to come too when we reach the hospital."
Harshwater made the effort to turn her head. "I appreciate that. I also told you I don't hold it against you. I'm not asking you to owe me anything. If you're asking for forgiveness for being a bad, stubborn leader, there you go."
Grenada frowned at her. "I still feel bad for it. Can you not see I am trying to apologize!?"
Harshwater raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like you need to talk to yourself about that more than me."
"Y-You..." Grenada's jaw hung slack, and she shook her head. "Do you have any idea how a mare's heart works?"
"Yep." Harshwater looked away. "I'm a mare, and I have a pretty trashy love life and nearly died, but I also have enough cracked ribs that yelling or breathing hard would probably kill me, so I've had to suck it up. If there's something more you want from me, explain a little better, and don't ask anything that involves me getting up."
"I just tried to do you a favor..." Grenada grumbled, staring at the ground.
"Thanks. I appreciate it." Harshwater's ears swiveled, the only part of her that had an easy, painless range of movement. "If you want anything in return, ask when I'm not barely clinging to existence, and we'll get talking."
Grenada turned to go. "I will see you when we arrive, then."
"If you want to stay, I am lonely..."
"Alright, Birdo." Valey munched a freshly-peeled carrot, sidling onto the bridge. "What's the situation?"
Directly below, they were entering the space over the main Izvaldi plaza, the ship slowed to a crawl as Gerardo expertly maneuvered towards the docking tower. "I see no welcoming party, though if they saw us coming, they might be getting one together. Perhaps this calls for a winged envoy?"
"Huh. Asking me to volunteer?" Valey surveyed the tower, empty and free from ships. "No Wallace... Not getting any danger from this stop, though. Yeah, I can fly ahead."
"Need a hoof?" Slipstream offered cheerfully.
Valey rubbed her chin. "Uhh... yeah, help Birdo dock and everything? I think Sparky's asleep... Bananas, how does anyone keep a sleep schedule in Mistvale?"
Gerardo chuckled. "Usually they don't, from my understanding."
"Right! Well, yeah, make sure the commerce dudes know who we are, and everything." Valey nodded to Slipstream. "They probably do, but just be sure."
"Will do!" Slipstream left the bridge with a salute.
"I'll be back with dudes," Valey announced, straightening up to follow her. "Or permission to do hospital things. Mansion time for me!"
The descent from the deck to the rooftops and then the ground was short, and Valey forwent using her wings, showing off her ability to stick a perfect landing. Stretching and straightening after her sequence of jumps, she turned to regard Percival's mansion door... Wonderful. The two guards posted didn't seem to have a care in the world, and it was wide open.
She strolled inside, feeling a pleasant coolness as the shade blocked her from the sun and the mansion's halls captured a bit of air left over from dawn. Meeting Chauncey again wasn't a thing she was looking forward to, but they were there and needed Izvaldi's services, so it would be best to get anything that was going to happen out of the way first. With no idea how to navigate the tangle of rooms and corridors, she wandered randomly, figuring she was bound to run across someone important...
"Ahem."
Valey's ears pricked, and with a silent, resolute groan, she remembered the other pony she hadn't looked forward to meeting again.
"You came back," Crystal murmured, staring at her from the entrance of a hallway, surprise and skepticism and a little bit of reverence in her gaze. "Again."