A brown winged pegasus with a green kerchief holding back her blue mane hovered anxiously at the threshold of a very dark place. There were noises within, but her ears were turned away, afraid to hear what terrible things that frightfully intimidating hippogriff and that somehow more intimidating royal guard must be doing to those poor creatures. She never was a fan of going below deck in the first place, and now that the starboard quartermaster's stores had been converted to an impromptu prison... it certainly was not what she signed up for.
Set Sail should have been fixing the balloon while the real captain made decisions over life and death. In fact there shouldn't have been decisions over life and death in the first place. The storm was the only obstacle to some nice, abandoned, empty islands in the sky, for the sciencey ponies to crawl all over, with Set Sail there just to make sure they had a boat ready to carry them when it was time to return to Equestria.
The words were indistinct, muffled by the ship's thick wood structure and confused by the echoes from the hard steel plating. She could make out three distinct voices in this conversation. One was high-pitched with a trace of sibilance, and she seemed to do most of the talking, alternating between arrogant and ingratiating, then eventually between wheedling and begging. A deeper, almost monotone one was recognisable as the unicorn battle mage, at least at first, before it became harsh with rising anger and contempt. Finally there was the stallion: controlled, clipped, more concise than she remembered him being. Professional even; as if he'd done this before.
At last the heavy door banged open and Azure Feather stalked out, ears flattened and eyes ablaze. Her extravagant butterfly wings were pressed tight against her back, and motes of light continued to shed from her horn even after she'd released her telekinesis; the sign of a unicorn who wished they could express their frustration by blasting something. Faced with an angry combat-trained unicorn in tight quarters, Set Sail instinctively sank back into the corner. Azure didn't even notice the pegasus as she trotted over to the ramp and headed back up to the main deck, her mind already examining possible strategies for putting an end to the pirate base.
It would be another minute before Reef Skimmer followed, having secured the prisoner and checked provision of water and basic sanitation. The huge eagle face looked even fiercer than usual, brows furrowed and beak clicking as he closed and locked the door, but his feathers were still smooth and his manner didn't radiate the anger that Azure's had. At first the grey hippogriff didn't notice Set Sail either, but as he turned towards the ramp he saw a pony face staring up at him. "Captain." he said formally, "Eager to hear my report, I take it? We've done what we can, within the bounds of reason and decency."
"Report! Yes!" Set Sail squeaked, unable to escape further into the corner. "That's what I was! Um! Here for!" the flustered pegasus blurts out, eyes darting nervously, "I wasn't. Listening or anything but. Is it... are they still a-alive?"
Reef Skimmer cocked his head, trying to discern the captain's intent. He'd asked if she wanted to be present and she declined; had she changed her mind? "The older female, or 'Jagged Blade' as she called herself..." The griff snorted at the name. "...two fractured ribs but no significant internal bleeding, symptoms of concussion seem to have cleared up. She should be fine; physically that is. Mentally, well... all we got out of her were threats and insults. When she wasn't sobbing."
Reef sighed. "It seems Grenelda fatally wounded her mate in the altercation; self-defence of course, but Miss Blade doesn't see it that way. I did what I could, but..." The griff looked away, then ducked his head. "...I couldn't save either of the injured males, they died on the flight back. I did beseech Azure to leave them for their kin to find, but... unless these 'drow' possess undisclosed and powerful healing magic, I doubt that would have made a difference."
Reef stared into space, saying vaguely "And let's not even speak of the poor soul in the engine room, if he even had a soul after whatever Loud Cutter did." Blinking a couple of times, the griff realised this might not be what the Captain was interested in: after flubbing his last two reports he needed to do better. Reef shook out and refolded his large wings then caught Set Sail's eye again. "But of course you mean the two we have here. So yes one lightly wounded, while the younger one is in perfect health. And very talkative, if not entirely cooperative."
Set Sail's wide green eyes stared back in stared back in paralyzed panic, before the mare said, "Good! That's... g-good. Self defence, alright. B-b-but the younger one, Loud Cutter, why did she d-destroy the engine room? Engineer! Why did she destroy the... h-her own crew?" Wings half spread, still backed into the corner by the obtuse hippogriff, things weren't looking too good for the little pegasus's self confidence.
Reef's head tilted again as he tried to make sense of that. 'Destroy her own crew?' Cloud Cutter wasn't... oh, of course. "Do forgive me Captain, still not immune to hitting the wrong note on these reports, hah!" The barest imitation of a laugh. "To be clear, the younger specimen... drow that is, erm... says her name is 'Silent Arrow'. She was the pilot of the enemy vessel, had to, err, persuade her to land the thing before...' Reef enunciated carefully "...Cloud... Cutter... could take over and fly us home. That was right after the, erm... incident in the engine bay, no witnesses so all I can tell you is Cloud Cutter went in there, there was a deceased drow in there after she came out, body still warm... and not a mark on either of them..."
As he looked at the captain, Reef got the impression something was wrong with her. Eyes dilated, ears twitching, wings drawn in but not properly folded, muscles tensed... perhaps this was triggering some kind of anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder? "Captain... Set Sail, that is, are you alright? Correct me if I'm wrong but you do seem rather... uneasy... with all this."
"Oh me? I'm fine!" she loudly replied with a forced smile, "Could we just... how about shall we... let's just continue this, um... discussion. Up on the... um, outside." She cast a hoof in the general direction of the ramp.
Keeping his eyes on the pegasus mare, Reef began slowly walking up towards the upper deck. "As you wish, Captain."
She remained frozen until he was out of line of sight, then sagged in something like relief. Horrified relief. "I am not ready for this," she muttered to herself. Then taking a deep breath, she followed the good doctor up and out into the sunlight. "What did Cloud Cutter do?" Set Sail asked quietly, as she trotted up behind the hippogriff, "She didn't say anything about k-killing anything. She didn't say anything, in fact. She hasn't spoken much at all. Not that any of them ever do anymore, but... what happened in that ship?"
Reef Skimmer looked at the little brown pegasus, trotting out onto the open deck with evident relief, then around at the assorted ponies moving supplies around or working on repairs. Keen as ponies were to share everything, this did seem like a matter of some sensitivity. Normally he would suggest the chart room, or the officer's mess, but if Set Sail did in fact have claustrophobia... "Of course, Captain," he began "...but perhaps you'd prefer to hear this in private?" He looked up at the balloon above their heads. "Bluebell mentioned that the crow's nest has a splendid view of the sunset?"
"Oh, that's a good id—" she says, looking upwards with bright eyes, then blushes, repeating seriously, "I mean, yes that seems like a good idea, doctor. Shall we uh... meet you there?" The mare immediately flapped into the air and headed out into the sky.
Nodding, Reef Skimmer launched himself off the deck and flew in a wide, ascending circle, climbing up above the balloon. Sure enough the little hollow in the ship's plated upper surface was empty; not much call for lookouts with the vessel firmly moored to the island. The hippogriff drew up to a hover then touched down gently in the crow's nest.
Fluttering down alongside him, Set Sail didn't seem immediately eager to interrogate him for details. Torn between looking his way and rearing up on the edge of the hollow, to gaze out across the forest, she finally confessed to Reef Skimmer, "I think there's something... really wrong with the ponies. Who were in the Storm Piercer when it failed."
The relentless informality of these ponies still didn't sit well with the hippogriff officer, but in the hope that it would put the captain at ease he sat down, barely fitting into the available space. "Indeed; unknown magical energy, creating and maintaining a medically impossible condition, quite unprecedented... why, if I didn't know better I'd say they were zombies!" Again, the attempt at levity didn't really work.
Reef sighed. "Alas it appears that may be a best case outcome. Flashing Gale is showing similar symptoms; coat colour changing to purple, steady decline in breathing and heartbeat. Yet he's been unconscious since the crossing... oh, and the poor chap's lost all his feathers! Not just a moult either; crumbled away, almost to dust. Checked for parasites of course, but... nothing." He clicked his beak. "Yet another medical impossibility."
The pegasus paled at such a casually clinical mention of what was happening to that poor stallion. She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. The hippogriff cocked his head, waiting for a response; when it was apparent none was coming he continued: "In all honesty, Captain, you'd be better asking Summer or even Azure. I... recall your encouragement, that unicorns aren't the answer to everything, but when it comes to strange magical phenomena, well..." He gestured above his forehead with a claw "...neither of us are equipped to analyse it."
Frowning, he concluded: "All I can tell you is that above and beyond moving and talking without the aid of breathing or heartbeat, Cloud Cutter in particular has demonstrated... some form of ability, to terminate the life processes of organisms in close contact with her. It does seem to be voluntary but exactly how much control she has..." Reef looked away, pausing for a moment "...or how it feels, I don't know."
"She what?!" Set Sail exclaimed, turning to stare at Reef in shock, "You didn't say that she... she used her wing blades! Didn't she? Close contact?! She could be touching anypony right now!"
The griff looked back impassively at the pegasus, eagle face unreadable again. "As I said," he repeated in a neutral tone, "there were no injuries, no signs of trauma on either Cloud Cutter or the drow engineer. Close proximity and, one can only hope, intent, were sufficient." He looked away, staring into the sky. "I didn't see it happen, but from the... remains... left behind, I believe something similar happened during the 'buzzer beak' attack; that's what Abersathy calls the propeller-crested birds."
"T-that's terrible!" Set Sail declared, sinking to her haunches, "We have to stop her! We have to i-isolate them or something. We can't even throw them in the brig because they'll kill those other creatures though! What are we gonna do?!"
Without thinking, Reef Skimmer extends a wing to comfort the Captain: it completely covers her body, leaving just her head peaking out, before he realised what he was doing and snapped it back to his flank. He had to remember, this was the captain, not a scared hippogriff chick that needed comforting; no matter how much the size difference made her seem like one.
"Captain, I understand your desire to protect the crew, by all means. If I thought they were contagious, or that this... effect was happening at random, I'd be the first to insist on quarantine. But we've only seen it twice, both in a life-or-death, or should I say death or undeath, ahem... situation. And so far only Cloud Flutter... Cutter rather, has been placed in such circumstances. So before insisting on isolation of four ponies, one of whom is our only combat-trained pegasus, perhaps we should discuss the matter with her?"
"Right, right, we can talk to them. I can just talk to her. And you'd know if she was gonna... if she was contagious or s-something." Set Sail says in a fright, forelegs wrapped around her head, "I just need to... but can we talk with them? They're just so... different! They're not getting... excited over anything anymore, and they never laugh okay they do laugh but not really not like, really. How do you talk with somepony who just... stares right through you? They'd just ask me what I want them to do. Go jump off the ship, anything, because I'm the captain or... or something. What if they don't even care if they're killing anypony?"
Reef couldn't help himself: captain or not, it seemed like the pony needed some support. Slowly, he extended his wing again and gently folded it around Set Sail. "I must confess, I was so focused on their physical condition, I didn't give much thought to the psychological impact." Perhaps he should have been focusing on Cloud Cutter instead of Nutmeg Inferno? Was he really expected to be doctor and psychiatrist and cart puller and zoologist? Surely someone else...
"I did get the impression... well, she did seem somewhat distressed, after the skirmish. Not that she had much chance to ruminate as Azure immediately recruited her to fly the ship. Some amount of dissociation might be inevitable, but... look, Sails, this speculation is getting us nowhere. You could try asking the unicorns, or we could just interview Cloud Cutter."
At the touch of his feathers she tensed for just a moment, then leaned against him letting his wing snug tight. "I'm just not cut out for this," she said softly, "The captain would know what to do. I'm just a ballast engineer. All I know is balloons. Don't tell anypony, but I... I really screw things up sometimes. I don't know why everypony seems to like me being captain. This new ship lands with d-dead creatures and actual prisoners, and... Azure said you needed to question them or something, but I wouldn't even know what to ask, if I had to do it."
"Am I to understand that you're transferring command to Grenelda?" Reef suggested, finally managing some genuine levity. "If you insist, Captain; I'll prepare the necessary paperwork post haste."
"Grenelda?" the mare squawked in indignation, twisting to look up at him under his wing, "Are you insane? She'd probably send us on an all out attack against those pirates! She'd probably question them on what kind of meat they eat or something like that, or how tough they were. A-actually those might be kind of good questions, but... the point is she doesn't... want to be captain. And I don't either but I can at least... save her from the trouble? Save us from the trouble of her being captain."
A dry chuckle escaped Reef's beak, startling Set Sail as it seemed she hadn't yet worked out griff smiles. "So you admit that you are the best mare for the job. The crew is, of course, in agreement. I've served under my fair share of captains and most of them would envy such regard from their crews." He looked away for a moment, before fixing Set Sail with an intense gaze. "Speaking of the interrogation, do you wish to hear my report?"
She thankfully didn't notice his intense gaze, instead sighing and staring forward beyond and through the wall of the crow's nest, before saying shortly, "Yeah. Tell me everything you know. Then maybe we can figure out what to do to make the best of this."
Reef couldn't help resuming a somewhat formal attitude; he withdrew his wing and sat up straighter before explaining. "As mentioned, the older captive called herself 'Jagged Blade' and was generally hostile and uncooperative. The only thing she confirmed was that one of the males, who died on the trip here..." Reef couldn't help sighing again at that, "...was her mate. The younger one, on the other claw..." The hippogriff cocked his head, considering his words. "She was very talkative, seemed to treat everything as a negotiation. Wouldn't tell us anything outright, save that her name is 'Silent Arrow', other than that it had to be 'trading information'. Oh she demanded various other things, some of them ridiculous of course, though we did let her have nicer food." He frowned. "She wanted to go on up deck for a bit, but Azure wasn't going to allow that, not after... what she'd let slip."
Set Sail doesn't immediately ask, looking forward quietly, but then says, "What did she let slip? It sounded like you two were pretty angry in there."
"Well to summarise, these 'drow' are a kind of 'elf', as you saw a bipedal sapient species similar to but somewhat smaller than our troll friend. 'Drow' seems to be a cultural distinction though that wasn't entirely clear. This group... well in short they're pirates, they raid nearby islands, attack civilian airships, rather like the kind we hippos had to deal with back home... except for that magical trap business. It seems to be partly a defence mechanism and partly a source of meat... or slaves, on the rare occasion that a griffon flies too close."
Seeing the pegasus's shocked look, Reef said softly. "Oh yes, they're slavers all right. It seems they make the stronger specimens, of which griffons are particularly prized, fight in their 'arena'. Apparently it's some kind of barbaric, violent entertainment that other ruffians actually pay to come and see. The rest, like the 'gill-men' they like to raid... they end up with whatever menial and dangerous work the drow don't feel like doing, unless they can find a buyer."
Reef snorts. "One must note Miss 'Silent Arrow' seems to be a canny little creature. She rattled off a list of her people's crimes as if she was proud of them, then when she noticed our reaction, immediately began informing us that she 'just follows orders' and 'doesn't approve of any of that, but has no say in how things are run'."
Conflicting emotions run across her face, probably inscrutable to the poor hippogriff. At last hanging her head, Set Sail sighs, hunching forward and saying, "It's like the Storm King all over again..."
Anger flashed in Reef Skimmer's eyes at the mention of the tyrant, before his expression softened as he attemted to console the pegasus. "Oh, it's not all that, Captain. We aren't dealing with a massive military force bent on conquest. If they're really like the Lucia Sea pirates back home, then I'd would guess more of a lazy, amoral, opportunistic rabble. Violent, certainly, dangerous, in our current situation no doubt. But it does seem we've had one stroke of luck: the captive made is clear they used to be a much bigger operation."
"An assault on their base, she wouldn't give us the details, but it clearly left them with a much diminished force, likely just the one capital ship. Apparently they used to use their device to pull in ships from long distances and collected tribute from several towns, now they're reduced to just local raiding." The griff snorted again. "Whoever it was, we may be in their debt but I wish they'd finished the job. Do you know she actually tried to barter for our 'help' to repair their magical devices? The gall of it, after trying to kill or enslave our scouting party!"
"Sounds like she didn't know any better," Set Sail said frankly, shaking her head, "Some creatures teach their young to be very cruel." Her grim tone turned excited though, when she said, "Better than a stroke of luck though, if we could find out who assaulted their base, maybe they could... well—" she blushed, "I know they could be just as bad, but that makes it even more important to find out about them. If they can... aid us, and aren't also pirate slavers, then we might be able to get back on our hooves again. Did they say which island the assault came from?"
"I'm afraid not." Reef said, looking away from Set Sail and staring into the sky as if trying to find the island in question. "No, Miss Arrow wanted a high price for that information, and at that point neither Azure nor myself were in a mind to entertain further 'negotiation'." After a moment he looked back at the little pegasus, and said encouragingly "Oh but we did find out a little about the local vicinity! They've been raiding a community of 'gill-men', fish-like bipeds it seems, for food and wood. Poor fellows don't seem able to put up much of a fight, but when the pirates come for them they hide in a 'force field'; the drow seemed to think it was a pre-existing feature rather than crediting them with any magical ability."
"Anyway, the place is over by that impossible floating river Melonjuice spotted. Then there's yet another sapient biped species, she called them 'Land Sharks'..." the hippogriff was clearly excited by the prospect of all these new species to investigate "...now they live on an arid island not too far north of here. Tough customers though, at least for the pirates; the drow said they'd been stealing parts from there to repair their fleet, but they had to sneak in at night because of the 'land ship' which is 'covered in cannons'. Oh and that they used do well in their 'arena', but it's hard to kidnap one as they 'travel in shoals'. Make of that what you will."
"Seems like we should at least check them out," Set Sail remarked, adding with a wince, "but maybe those gill-men first, before we try approaching something called a land shark with a ship covered in cannons. Maybe they'll know who's friendly around here." Standing, the pegasus said with a smile to the excitable hippogriff, "Thanks for your report. I know things look bad now, but... if we know what we're up against, we might even stand a chance."
"Indeed, start with the least threatening, sound strategy, not that we can be sure Miss Arrow is telling the truth, but... well..." Reef Skimmer closed his eyes and ducked his head for a few seconds, before looking at Set Sail and cocking his head. "As you say Captain, one is sure all aboard will rise to the occasion." His beak gapes open a touch. "The fresh air up here does seem to be doing you some good at least. Though..." Reef frowned again, trying to recall the chatter between Gustus and Grenelda as he'd treated the latter. "...I did hear about a, erm, dragon incident? No injuries, at least nothing serious I understand, but I imagine... it must have been a bit of a shock?" Probably best not to outright say 'So Captain, I understand you fainted in front of the crew', he thought.
Blushing hotly, Set Sail said in a furious fuss, "Of course it was a shock! It was a freakish mutant dragon that breathes lightning instead of fire! A-and it managed to knock me out while it was escaping. D-don't let anypony tell you differently." She totally didn't scrunch her muzzle at that whatsoever. "I g-gotta go check on Clashing Gale!" Then without another word, she spread her wings and leapt out of the crow's nest, soaring off into the sky.
Reef muttered something to himself, watching the pony fly away; she might not be a fighter herself, but pegasi were proud in their own way, and made a big deal of bravery in the face of adversity. If the monster encounters and magical weirdness kept up the hippogriff was at risk of spending as much time playing psychiatrist as doctor, a role which despite Summer's encouragement he found himself ill-suited too. He shook his head, trying to dismiss the prospect, then took flight and headed back to the deck.
It had been two days since the recon team set out on their ill-fated mission to investigate the skies in the direction of the mysterious signal. Two days since the escape from the magical grip of the shattered islands and their unfriendly inhabitants. Nutmeg had been happily disassembling, reassembling, adjusting, criticising and improving the captured drow copter. Their two 'guests' had been kept away from the crew, in a lower storeroom hastily converted to a makeshift brig. Azure Feather and Reef Skimmer had spent hours in there, only to emerge with angry eyes and clenched teeth (or in the latter case, grinding beak). Summer Scribe had recounted the incident with the purple dragoness to the flyers, and they in turn had given a full account of their near escape.
It was time to decide on their next course of action; once again the bulk of the crew was assembled under the balloon, on the top deck of the EAS Harmony, where it fell to the acting captain to summarise their predicament.
"I would just like to say," the ersatz captain Set Sail states nervously, pacing before the rest of the crew, "That it is PROBABLY not a safer option to just fly back into the storm. We don't know that all the sky islands are full of meat-eating pirates and killer sharks with guns, and those uh... gill men seem... nice? I think we need an uh, an alliance, or something. With someone. It's not safe to explore without knowing anything about what we're getting into. So, we uh, I can't believe we had to take PRISONERS but here we are. We're pretty much sitting ducks out here if those pirates find out where we are. So... that's the situation, and I know it looks bad but... well we're doing okay so far, and Nutmeg tells me she can get that smaller ship back in order."
"If we find some place with supplies, we can use it to transport them. Or we could... take everypony somewhere safe, a few at a time, and just... abandon this ship. I don't want to do that though. The Storm Piercer's irreplaceable, and we already put so much work into saving her. Does anypony else have any more ideas? I'm for trying to... get supplies, hopefully not by s-stealing them, but... I don't want to die out here. So we might have to... do some... things."
"Things like stealing them!" Gustus shouted supportively from the peanut gallery.
For the past few days, meanwhile, Azure hadn't been resting much. Irritation was clear on her face as her ship now held a couple of slavers; she paced slowly up and down the deck as she listened to the captain. Sighing lightly at the mention of prisoners, she shook her head to try and clear out her regrets; Set Sail needed her to focus on making a plan of action.
"Option one, land sharks. Lots of guns on that landship and as good as ponies and griffons are at flying evasively, one mistake there and we're done. So no." She paused for a second before continuing. "Option two, the volcanic island, we're still flying blind there, no." She just shakes her head to emphasize before moving on. "Option three, fight back against these slavers: someday! Someday... but it won't be now. By Celestia, I'm not going to let that stand for much longer though..." she trailed off before sighing again. More sleep would have been nice. "Finally, option four..." Azure looked into the distance. "The gillmen are our best shot. And when 'best shot' means 'not openly hostile' - that's saying something..." The unicorn fell silent, continuing to think about possible strategies.
Reef Skimmer had also been staring into space, with a haunted or perhaps conflicted look. Now he addressed the crew, looking from one face to another, trying to judge their mood. "It should go without saying, that as creatures of honour and resolve, we have a moral duty to rescue those poor creatures enslaved in that floating pit. Nor can any right-thinking griff, or pony, abide the existence of this nest of slavers and murderers. The Queen's Navy made a point of eliminating every trace of such malfeasance... where feasible."
The big griff hung his head. "I must confess though, we hippogriffs lacked the means to do anything about the Storm King, nor the flesh traders of Kludgetown, and now this crew finds itself in a similar situation. One ship, damaged, unarmed, against a tribe of warriors and criminals, diminutive though they are." He sighed. "Azure is right; for now we can only hope to find allies, gather strength, bide our time, and..." he glances at Nutmeg "keep our engineer away from curious dragons, I suppose."
Summer Scribe furrowed her brow, considering the possibilities. With everything she'd seen and heard, it seemed they might be surrounded by folks and factions that might try to blow their ship to smithereens; it was so much easier when it was just chompies, ruins and Abby! "As much as I'd like to see the best in everyone and make friends with everycritter..." she gave Azure a quick nod, "It seems we'll need to make strategic alliances in a hostile, cutthroat place like this."
"Running and hiding won't work: the Storm Piercer's our only ticket out," she countinued, "and we don't have anywhere else to make shelter. Our best bet is to go with 'the enemy of our enemy is our friend' and show the firepower we bring to the table. We'll have to build up a reputation as peacekeepers, springboarding off of what we've done this week."
The purple pegasi, those ponies first touched by the magic of this strange place, were again huddled in a group apart from the others, with Cloud Cutter at the front as their spokespony. "The last thing I want to see is more death..." she said, her tone hollow, "but... some things deserve to be ended. Like forcing innocent creatures to fight and die in a pit for the amusement of savages." She took a deep breath. "When you need us, we'll be there, to do what has to be done." The other pegasi stood behind her, staring with their empty white eyes and silently supporting her position.
Azure nodded slowly as everyone seemed to agree with her point of view, but as Cloud Cutter voiced the purple pegasi's opinion as a whole... her ears flattened with shame and regret. With all the interrogation and stress from it, she'd completely forgotten to go and support her allies... with even just a talk. It was at that moment that Azure did the only thing she could think of at the moment, walking over to Cloud Cutter to stand by her side... just trying to make sure they weren't forgotten. Or at least... trying to get that message across.
"Yeah! Put me down for clearing out those little assholes as well, just as soon as this wing's healed up." Grenelda blurted out. The griffon's left wing was still tightly bound up to her side. "They aren't so tough really, they just caught us by surprise with that freaky magic." She turned to her mate, Gustus, and crowed enthusiastically "Which the butterfly pony smashed to bits, you should'a seen it, it was glorious!" She looked at Azure appreciatively: "I bet if we came in for a surprise attack, you blasting away their defences, me and the doctor swooping down, Cloud Cutter doing... whatever she does... yeah we could take 'em"
"Come on Grennie, this isn't your fight." Gustus said, looking at the hen with concern. "Sounds like there could be hundreds of them, with guns and harpoons and who knows what else. Let's just leave it well alone."
Grenelda just snorted at that, but did shift closer to Gustus, prompting him to extend a wing over her back. "You know I could never keep out of other griff's business..." she muttered quietly.
If Azure's face showed disappointment before, Grenelda's speech got her right back on track, as she chuckled. "Thanks for the praise, Grenelda. Every creature in the attack squad was incredible, that's really why we did as well as we did." She paused, remembering the details. "Just remember... our captive said most of their warriors were out on a raid. Best case scenario still has us fighting one huge ship, worst case, five or more. We need to build up strength before even thinking we can win."
Nutmeg does make a point to step stiffly forward then, the red-ruffed kirin saying tightly, "I don't know what... slavery or pirates or anything like that is. But I can get the ship working once I figure out how those... crystally things in the engines generate heat. I hope none of this stuff is as bad as you're all acting like, but... I think we can make it, if we just... try to keep each other safe. So um, no problems here."
"The little ship was such shoddy construction it was practically falling apart once you go it here, and that's actually a good thing, because once we put it back together right, I bet she'll fly twice as fast. Only minor damage from when the engines overheated, and no missing parts. We could... scrap it for parts to repair our big ship, but the propellers aren't strong enough to replace our old ones, and I think a working little ship is just what we need, even if it means all my designs are totally ruined and... uh..." She blushed and retreated, "...yeah..."
"I confess to no small amount of unease regarding this dragon." Reef said, looking at Nutmeg and trying to gauge if she seemed worried or stressed by the kidnapping attempt. "These 'drow', well we have at least some intelligence, dubious though the source might be, but..." his gaze shifted to Summer "...do we have any idea where that draconid came from, or if we're likely to encounter more of her kind?"
Summer Scribe thought back to their conversation, before shaking her head. "No, she wasn't exactly forthcoming with information, and readily escaped our grasp... She definitely wanted Nutmeg because she's a 'tech elemental', in this world's understanding of magic." Or actual functioning of magic, she thought to herself. "Claiming it was for the greater good and all... but it was basically a kidnapping since she wasn't offering a choice about it."
Azure Feather turned her attention to the other tactical concern, from the engagement she hadn't been a part of. "I'd love to see that dragon face to face... at the very least make that thing know that we aren't just harmless creatures, we can defend ourselves... even if we're not from around here, it doesn't mean every creature has a right to walk all over us..." She finished by muttering something incomprehensible...
"What I want to know is how did the dragon breathe lightning!" called out a voice from the engineering team. It was Sprocket, the unicorn mare who'd turned the ancient radio into a makeshift clock. "That was out of this world!" she declared, "and then she just teleported? There's only one dragon in Equestria who ever teleported anything. Do you think she was hatched with pony magic too?"
"Hmm, interesting theory..." a long pause as Reef strained to remember the young mare's name... "Sprocket!" He smiled, partly at her and partly at finally managing to get a pony's name right. "Yes, well Summer did mention she seemed familiar with unicorns, though more in a historical context, so perhaps not exactly but... possibly an analogous process with similar magic? It does seem like there's plenty to go around, in this place."
Summer Scribe nod-nodded! "We're still looking for more data points, of course, but it looks like Azure is 'Wind' and Nutmeg is 'Tech'. Something about how our Equestrian magic manifests differently in this place?" Of course she was still quietly wondering to herself about what kind of 'elemental connection' she might manifest...
"I dunno, but we're gonna need some rubber boots if we ever wanna tangle with her again," the young unicorn said to Reef, ducking her head and swishing her tail playfully in a pose she probably thought made her look badass.
"Wait wait hold on," Nutmeg exclaimed, pushing her way through the jabbering crowd toward Summer...
Reef Skimmer winked back at Sprocket. "In any case, I do concur with Azure..." He nods to the winged unicorn. "...that our best option does seem to be attempting to contact the species least likely to attack us, which is to say, these semi-aquatic bipeds. Assuming miss 'Silent Arrow' was telling the truth. Any chance of some confirmation from that Aberwacky fellow?" he asked Summer hopefully.
Summer Scribe nodded again. "Yeah, I ran everything the drow talked about past our, well, only other contact." Best to be thorough, she thought. "He's heard of them and he agreed that the fishmen are likely to be sympathetic allies, since we've got an enemy in common: they don't like the pirates any more than we do."
"What do you mean Azure is wind, and I'm tech?" Nutmeg asked Summer, flouncing up in frustrated confusion, "You mean tech, like technology? All my magic can do is levitate things, and I guess set them on fire. It helps a little with technology, but mostly it's just... having good ideas, you know? Everyone keeps acting like it's some special thing. Are you saying you have some idea why that dragon wanted to kidnap m—the lead engineer?"
Summer regarded Nutmeg with a startled expression, a little flustered by the kirin's semi-hostile opening, before trying to compensate. "Yeah, I do, actually: everything I've seen and read so far indicates that the Cloudbreak Islands have their own special system of magic. The interference when we passed the storm barrier, the spookified pegasi, Azure's trouble with her magic... it seems to be because Equestrian magic is being mashed into this new system of 10 elements: Wind is one of them, Undead is another, and so is Tech." Nodding to Nutmeg, she continued "It's reasonable to assume that if Azure's skillset is changing, so is yours, or at least manifesting in a new way! As for what it can do that it couldn't before, that I'm not sure of yet, but our would-be captor seems to have ideas!"
Raising a hoof, Nutmeg declared irritably, "That can't be right, because that would mean..." She fell silent then, forehoof still upraised, staring off into space.
Summer Scribe rolls a hoof, "It would mean...?" she asked encouragingly, but the kirin didn't respond. It looked like Nutmeg would be standing there for a while.
Set Sail had been looking from creature to creature, eyes wide as she watched her crew apparently planning a military operation against a pirate base and/or a nest of dragons, before digressing into unicorn shop talk that was lost on the majority of those present. "Alright, friendly fish, that sounds great! Umm, so we'll need to get our... chief diplomat?" she says, smiling unevenly at Summer Scribe "...over to their island. Which I guess is this twisting river thing on the far side of Melonwater's map." She stared at the chart: at least it made sense. "That's 100 kay-em each way, you think you can manage the cart for that long Doctor? Or... do we risk the little ship..." she looks uncertainly at the spaced-out chief engineer.
Summer Scribe gave a cheerful nod and smile at Set Sail's recognition of her talents: 'senior distinguished researcher' and now 'chief diplomat'! Sure it's a lot of responsibility for her, but really it's gone remarkably smoothly so far, and why would that change anytime soon! "Yep, that sounds good! And hopefully it'll be an uneventful negotiation." She turned to Nutmeg and beamed, but the kirin was murmuring something about line integrals and still standing there on three legs, staring forward into space. 'Hmm! Well, maybe she'll be talkative later. Alright!' Summer thought.
"Hey the doc isn't the only one who can fly!" Grenelda declared, "I'll go help kick some fish man tail any day."
"Absolutely not." Reef Skimmer says firmly. "You need to rest that wing, Grenelda, or there could be complications. Why, if there was another fight it could become torn, infected, form an abscess... you might be grounded."
"Yeah... and woah, wait, calm down. We're not kicking fish man tail!" Summer Scribe shook her head for emphasis. "We're trying to make them our friends!" she said cheerfully, before murmuring "...and if they don't want to be our friends, I don't actually know what our plan is..."
"So either a ride in the ship we captured, provided we can repair the thing... or we use the cart and go from there..." Azure mutters as she turns to Grenelda. "Summer is right, admittedly... if talks of an alliance fail, future plans don't look nearly as bright."
Grenelda grumbled at that, but didn't object. "If we need to make up the numbers, then... perhaps Gustus could join us instead?" Reef suggested.
"If she ain't flyin' then I'm not flyin'" Gustus says stubbornly, "You think I can just leave her to be grounded like this?"
"To be fair, this is more of a diplomatic mission, and if that dragon comes back for Nutmeg, I'd feel a lot better personally, if some of our battle unit stayed here to protect her. That being said, I could stay behind with that purpose in mind as well..." Azure mentioned, unsure where she fitted into this 'diplomacy' strategy.
Sprocket grimaced before trotting up to the chief engineer. She'd seen this a lot in the last few days. "Psst, boss, Captain's asking you..." she whispered, bumping her shoulder into Nutmeg.
"Wh-huh?" Nutmeg asked the universe, looking Sprocket's way. "Galvanized!" she declared in triumph about an inch away from the filly's nose, then without another word the kirin went bounding off into the engine room, heading for her work table.
Summer Scribe squinted after her. 'Just what is that kirin up to? Well, that can be worried about later!' she thought.
"Understandable..." Reef says vaguely, watching Nutmeg disappear. What was she up to, ignoring the Captain like that. He turns to Sprocket: "Well my dear, perhaps you could enlighten us, on the condition and viability of that drow craft? Are we to understand the chief engineer has delegated its operation and navigation to you?" he suggests, in a playful tone.
"Didn't the chief say just a minute ago?" Sprocket replies in confusion, turning from watching the chief charge away, "It was built busted, but all the parts are there. It'll take a few more days, but we'll fix it, and it'll work better than before. Long as nopony goes full throttle all day."
Set Sail trotted over to Reef Skimmer, standing at his feet. "Doctor, we can't wait any longer... not with slavers out there. I believe you can make it all the way on wing, with just Summer in the cart. Somepony else can escort you, like Cloud Cutter, and maybe take the cart for a bit so you don't have to fly it the whole way."
"Very well then." Reef says, a little disappointed. He glares at the cart, sitting on the side of the deck. "My old friend, time to do battle again..." he mutters, before looking at Set Sail "One will give it one's best of course, but that is a two pony cart, so it would be prudent to have a pair of pegasi ready to take over, in case of injury, exhaustion and so on."
Set Sail looked away at that. Then she gave Reef a conflicted look, before turning away again. Finall the green kerchiefed mare looked squarely up at the hippogriff and said firmly, "...okay. I'll go."
"I get what you're saying," Set Sail continued, ruffling her wings nervously, "I know I'm the... captain, and if we're going to go ask these gill men for help, I should be there asking them. It's... important for me to be there, for the crew. How else would they ever take us seriously?"
"Captain!?" Reef retorted, his ear tufts flicking up in shock. "General Order 15 clearly states that the commanding officer shall not lead a shore party into enemy territory unless... erm... unless... well, perhaps we aren't operating under that rulebook here, but..." he looked at the deck, before catching Set Sail's eye "Sails, are you sure you want to risk it?"
Azure seemed unsure already, and now to hear that the captain herself was coming on the diplomatic mission just made the issue even worse, as her eyes went wide for a moment. Oh, for Celestia's sake... "Just... be safe, okay? I know this is only a diplomatic mission, but..." If only there weren't two parts of the equation that needed defending...
"What should I do, send somepony else out there?" the pegasus asked hopelessly, "If it's not safe for me, I can't just go sending them out there. It's like Azure says. Just a diplomatic mission... right? I just don't wanna be the last one...left. After everypony else has... I don't want anypony to— ...just for my sake just because I'm the captain, I don't want anypony else to... die."
For several seconds, nopony spoke. Then came a solitary hoof stop, followed by another, then another... and then the deck was reverberating as dozens of ponies stomped their hooves, or clapped their paws. "Go captain!" somepony cheered, followed by whoops and shouts as the tension is released and the crew shows their appreciation.
Preparations went swiftly, as saddlebags are packed and laced shut, and a few provisions are placed in the cart and safely tied down. Soon enough the two pegasi were flexing their wings and ready to depart, while the hippogriff was hitched up and ready to take off.
Nutmeg ceased using her wrench as a welding torch, and galumped onto the deck of the captured ship, her ticket to adventure, to see the others off.
Summer Scribe hopped into the cart, and waved a hoof to everyone watching. "I'll do you proud, everyone! I'll make us the allies we need, on behalf of all of the expedition!" Even more than her expedition to the first island, this was a journey into the unknown, and she had no idea what to expect; she was hoping that they'd be able to earn the trust of the fish creatures, but that's a hurdle she'd pass when she got to it!
Azure had stayed quiet, though, assisting the departing crew in securing everything as well as reminding every creature to come back safely. Her squad had been lucky to get through the last mission with just one injury, she didn't want to see any more of the crew hurt. Staying behind while others went off into dangerous skies didn't come easy to her.
Reef Skimmer galloped down the deck, wings spread wide, lifting into the air and soaring out over the bow in a now well-practiced motion. Wheeling around, he headed south; Set Sail had laid out a route that kept them well away from the shattered island, heading for the volcanic island and then passing the south side of the floating cliffs before the final leg to the sky river. It would be two hours flight at a measured pace; they needed to save their energy in case a sprint to escape pursuers became necessary.