Reef Skimmer's wings thrummed as he climbed higher and higher above the marshy home of the fish people. Finally he caught sight of Set Sail; a brown dot sitting motionless on the upper surface of a cloud bank, slowly drifting on the light breeze. He stretched his pinions out and glided gently down, preparing to join her. Cloudwalking was mostly instinctive for the flyers of Equus, but there was a certain knack to it, and the hippogriff hadn't had many opportunities to practice in the last few years.
Curled in a tight ball there on that fluffy white expanse, the ragged looking pegasus didn't even notice his approach. Ears flat against her head, hidden in those wavy lavender and blue tresses, Set Sail seemed to be trying to scream, if she weren't hyperventilating too much to manage it.
Reef landed heavily on the cloud, embedding his legs about a foot into it, which proceeded to kick up swirls of vapor as he clumsily cantered towards the stricken pegasus. "Captain! Sails!? What's the matter, can't you breathe?!" She must be having some kind of attack, he thought. Reef tried to remember her initial physical, summoning a vague mental image of the mare standing nervously on his examination table, but he didn't recall her mentioning any conditions that cause a seizure.
Set Sail jerked around to face the hippogriff, her eyes staring wide, but whether she saw him was unclear. There were pupils somewhere in those green irises, but they were narrowed to pinpricks. Breathing too quickly to speak, she flailed against the cloud, twisting about and flapping her wings randomly, pulling herself up and desperately trying to get away from him.
Reef Skimmer rapidly assessed the situation; probably not epilepsy, the movements were still somewhat co-ordinated and the hyper-ventilation was more typical of... panic? He quickly surveyed the surroundings but there was nothing obvious that could have frightened her, just blue skies and puffy white cloud. Her flanks were starting to spot with foam but her mouth seemed clear; though it was hard to tell with all the snorting. For a second he considered giving her space and letting the attack run its course, but there was too much risk of her flinging herself off the edge or even through the cloud; in her current condition there was no guarantee the pegasus would recover her composure before she hit the ground.
Instead, Reef opened his wings, sprang forward and with a few flaps was on top of the much smaller pegasus; she screamed and flapped ineffectually but had no chance of escape. The big griff wrapped his forelegs around the base of her wings and then grabbed her front hooves in his claws, holding her tightly to his chest as he sank back down to the cloud. She squirmed and struggled but couldn't break free; Reef kept his head up and clear of her tossing mane, wondering if she was going to bite him. "Set Sail, please, calm down. It's ok, you're safe, you're safe." he said, doing his level best to be calming and authoritative with the patient, and hoping this wouldn't result in a court martial.
Set Sail refused to look or listen, single-mindedly struggling to get away, but she couldn't last long. He'd barely grabbed her before panicked squeals faded in strength and she stopped fighting to escape his grasp, until at last the captain relaxed in his arms, then slumped in his arms, her upper body sagging to dangle down limply over his arms. "There now, see? You're safe here," he said gently.
Reef brought his catch firmly down onto the cloud, then lay down on the cloud next to her, keeping one arm around her shoulders and folding one wing tightly over her body, his weight and strength keeping her own wings from doing anything but twitch back and forth. "Sails. Sails! Look at me. Focus on my face. You're safe now." The sight of a giant eagle face would no doubt have been reassuring to a lost griff chick, perhaps not so much for a pony.
She didn't respond, so he gingerly turned her limp body around to face him, holding her head up with a wing. With her eyes closed, her mouth slightly hanging open, the soft little pony seemed like she was sleeping peacefully in his embrace. He pulled open one of her eyelids to reveal an unfocused and much more dilated pupil. "Hmm. Unconscious," he muttered to himself, letting her eye close again.
Reef sighed; there was no pressing need to wake her up, but they would need to set off for the Harmony well before sunset, as no one wanted to risk a night flight. He shuddered at the thought of flying tired with even more weight in the cart, but he supposed that he could always ask Cloud Cutter for help; she never seemed to be tired. In any case he wouldn't mind a rest himself, after all the exertions and excitements of the day, so he lay the pegasus mare down back down on the cloud, draped one wing loosely over her and sunk back down to his belly.
The hippogriff had forgotten just how soft and comfortable a nice cumulus could be, as long as you spread your weight out and didn't have to concentrate on keeping your claws from sinking in. Reef's eyes closed as he slowly relaxed, not in need of sleep yet but appreciating a moment of calm.
It wasn't that long before the mare stirred against him. "Where...?" she murmured, eyes sliding open as she looked at the grey wing draped over her, then followed it back to the restful hippogriff, half sunk into the clouds with her. Set Sail immediately tensed against him, biting her lower lip. Was he asleep? She'd never been this close to the... creature before. Creature was the right word, right?
Reef slowly opened his eyes and turns his head to stare at the pegasus, trying to avoid startling her.
Set Sail had the calmest possible reaction which is to say she blushed hotly, stammering, "Uh I um I uh I uh—" scooting out from under his wing like it was on fire, leaping back to perch on the cloud like a startled cat, staring back at him saying shamefully, "I wasn't—um, I didn't mean to uh, w-w-w-what happened?"
The hippogriff continued to lie on his belly, scaled forelegs stretched out in front of him, nonchalantly drawing in and folding his wing. "Captain, I regret to inform you, that you appeared to suffer... some sort of mental episode." He continued to stare at Set Sail, trying to judge her reaction and mental state. The ears twitching back and forth probably meant something, hopefully not the severe head trauma it would indicate for a hippogriff's feather tufts. "No sooner had we emerged from the chieftess's abode, when you took off up here on your own. One caught up as soon as one could, but... well, do you have any pre-existing conditions that might cause, erm, loss of composure?"
With an outraged scrunch, she declared, "Episode? I didn't suffer an ep—I was scared, okay?" Sitting her butt down with a huff, she wasn't looking at him, still blushing as she explained "Not everything's a medical episode or whatever you call it. I just needed some time to myself to... I was just gonna freak out a little at how we're all doomed and it's my fault and it just c-c-caught up to me all at once." Staring down at the very important puff of cloud beside her, Set Sail asked, "H-how much did you see? I mean I must've passed out before you found me. I was just having a little... trouble that's all."
Reef sighs, wondering how it was that he of all creatures had ended up playing equine psychiatrist, first to the chief engineer and now the captain. He considered sugar coating things, but aside from his fundamental distaste for mis-stating the facts, it seemed best to just get whatever this was in the open and deal with it. "Captain, it seems you were having a panic attack. I confess, my judgement may not be... impartial, right now, but you did seem at genuine risk of doing yourself injury. So I found it necessary and prudent to subdue you, after which you were unconscious for oh, I don't know, a quarter of an hour or so."
The griff had started off in a calm and professional manner but was starting to get flustered. "One does apologise for any improprietary, after all you are the commanding officer, and, erm, well... if you feel it necessary to lodge a formal complaint to the admiralty, one will understand..." He broke eye contact, starting down at his claws as the implications of griffhandling the captain began to sink in.
Set Sail glared at him and started to shout but was too conflicted to have a voice, so she just angrily turned away again, then looked back at him after a pause. "I'm not the captain," she told him bluntly, "There's no admiralty here... there's just clouds, and... us. I don't want to be this... this thing you're afraid of, who tells you what to do. I'm not your commanding officer now. I'm just a pony. Just a... creature. Like you."
Reef sat up abruptly, now looking down on the pegasus again, his expression shocked. "You are the captain!" he said emphatically, as if affirming that water was wet or the sky was blue, before tilting his head and relenting "...but, erm, one supposes, you don't have to be the captain... all the time? Nothing wrong with taking a break." Ducking his head, he added "Oh and of course I won't mention a word of this to the crew, medical confidentiality and all that, not to mention... common decency, for a friend." He looked away.
Blushing the lost-looking mare glanced aside saying, "R-right. A friend. Well as a friend I'm telling you that ponies are... you might not know this but ponies can be kind of... skittish sometimes. It's no big deal. I've always been kind of a scaredy cat, well you know, after the Storm King. And I've been under a lot of stress w-with ponies—with creatures expecting me to make the right decision. So it's nothing serious. I just really... scared because I messed up and I wasn't gonna let the chieftess see me freaking out so I had to hold it in a little bit."
Reef stared into space, his eyes fierce. "Oh believe me when I say, we hippogriffs are quite familiar with the damage wrought by that mad tyrant; physical and psychological. Can't count the number of griffs I grew up with who had one hang-up or another, from the invasion itself or being unable to go home for so long." He sighed, then regarded the little brown pegasus, his gaze softening. "One does understand, you're in an impossible position here. Novo knows the burdens of command are hard enough under the best of conditions, for experienced captains with a full crew and undamaged ship."
He tilted his head, and said in the most reassuring tone he can "All I can say is, the crew are behind you, and we all think you're doing a damned fine job, under the circumstances." He hadn't actually asked the whole crew but the mood in the last few crew meetings seemed quite clear. "I mean none of us are diplomats, but how do you think today would have gone if you hadn't come along? Or if we'd brought Azure and Grenelda instead." Reef's beak slipped open a bit; much as he liked the rough-and-tumble pair, the thought of them conducting delicate negotiations couldn't fail to elicit amusement.
A grateful smile graced Set Sail's face, and she guessed that beak thing must be him smiling too. "Thanks for your support," she said, walking lightly along the cloud to him, "I don't know what I could've done better, but you heard the chieftess. We lost our chance the moment we s-stole that ship." Her ears dipped down as she tells him increasingly mournfully, "Nopony would doom themselves by allying with us anymore. It's only a matter of time before the drow... p-put us all in cages, and they'll never give up and they'll never let us go—" She choked on her words, stopping just short of leaping into his embrace. Trembling there, trying not to cry, still trying to be the captain he kept telling her to be.
Reef lifts a claw and places it lightly on her shoulder, looking into her eyes. "Sails. Now it's true, none of this has gone as planned. Far from it. But... remember what happened to the Storm King? A vast army of monsters, backed up an armada of battleships... all defeated and passed into history, through the efforts of a mere clawful of ponies... with a little help from their allies." He winked, then gazed into the sky, beak opening wider. "Summer Scribe would probably call it the 'power of friendship' or some such, but whatever it is, it's undeniably effective." His eyes met Set Sail's and his tone became serious again. "No doubt all this will takes a little while to figure out, but when we do... well, I don't think that miserable gang of outlaws will know what's hit them."
"Yeah, well why couldn't they stop him first why couldn't they—" Set Sail's tear laden eyes are angry as she glares back at him. "You just don't get it," she huffs, turning to stalk away from him, "There's no heroes coming to save us. We're all alone here, and when we're all captured, there's nopony who can rescue us! They'll never let us go and—" she sinks to her belly, still facing away from him, repeating, "They'll never let us go. It'll never end I just..."
For a long moment Reef just watched the pegasus walk away, wondering if he'd be doing more harm than good if he tried to uncover whatever trauma she'd suffered. After all, it wasn't as if they were in the relative safety of the sickbay, having a proper counselling session (not that Reef was in the habit of doing those, but he'd dealt with more than a few anxious ensigns in his time). They were on an away mission in unexplored territory where hostiles could appear at any moment.
Still... the hippogriff felt like he had to do something to help the captain, and he might not have another opportunity any time soon. He followed Set Sail and lay down beside her, refraining from the wing-hug this time. He looks straight ahead, and in as calm and neutral a tone as possible, suggested "Perhaps you could tell me, what it was like for you... what happened, that is to say, in those days when darkness fell over Canterlot. You don't have to, but... if you feel it would help.... I'm listening."
"It was... nothing special really," she replied unconvincingly, hunched forward without turning around, "I don't remember much I was p-pretty young at the time. They separated me from my family so I didn't know what to do or what happened to them, or if I'd ever... I–I think they were... training us for something? They would have us run in circles, all the foals I mean. And they'd... they'd let me go sometimes, just one of us at a time, and then chase me until they caught me again, and then put me back in the cage. I think it was a... a game, or something. I didn't know what was going on; I only knew the monsters wouldn't let me escape, but I tried anyway because I just... just wanted it to work that time, every time."
Trailing a hoof in the cloud before her, Set Sail casually related, "Lots of foals were there, but I don't know why it stuck with me so much. I've just been a little shier than before, and not really comfortable around cages, or... b-bipeds." Turning to look at Reef at last, she finished in tearful anger, "And now we're all gonna have to go through that, because I couldn't convince the fish creatures to help us, and I sent you out to explore the chained islands not even thinking you'd get attacked. So sorry if I'm a little u-upset about all this. I'm not crazy just... I don't know what to do. What can we do? I don't want to go in a cage again..."
Reef stared at Set Sail again. His tone this time was hard, unrelenting. "You won't. I won't let it happen, and neither will Azure or Grenelda or any of the others. Does that sound like bravado? What do you think the pirates are feeling now, with one of their few remaining ships overcome and commandeered by four strange creatures they thought were trapped and helpless? Perhaps they have these fish creatures cowed, but it's clear they aren't the threat they once were and... I think they're the ones who should be afraid." He sighed, realising this kind of military outlook might not do anything to reassure the civilian pegasus, but unable to think of anything else to say. In a gentler tone, he concluded "No need to apologise, Cap... I mean, Set Sail. This is hard on all of us... but we'll get through it, together."
"But you heard what the fish lady said!" she protested, "I couldn't get her help, because I'm a terrible captain and can't talk to anypony, and what are we gonna do without their help?"
"Sails! Enough!" Reef said loudly and angrily, finally losing his cool. "You're holding yourself to an insane standard! Not that I know much about statecraft, but... I do know alliances aren't made in an afternoon! Imagine you were in her... fins, oppressed for your whole life, and the last time you believed some strangers who said they'd help you fight back... you lost your son! Would you commit your people to an alliance with a clawful of weird little aliens who just turn up on your doorstep one day?"
He snorted, then closed his eyes and shook his head, before saying wearily "Really I think we were doing rather well... you did rather well, that is... not to be thrown out on our ear. At least she's willing to watch and give us a chance..." He realised the captain had missed Summer's little encounter afterwards; "...oh, and it seems her grandson is rather more keen on the notion of an alliance. Summer was wrapping the kid around her hoof when I left."
Shrinking back, Set Sail stammered in confusion, "Yea but she—I mean you're right that—but... I–I guess an alliance could be... but then... I mean... I can't see why not? Her grandson? Really?" Blinking, the flustered pegasus blurts out, "Summer? Really?!"
"Really. You know her enthusiasm can be infectious... with the right audience." Reef said, his beak hanging open again. "Oh it's all right, Cloud Cutter promised to keep her out of trouble, and you know how seriously she takes her promises."
"Gosh I guess she would be more effective against pon— creatures who are less um... cranky," Set Sail admitted, rubbing her chin with a hoof, "I just thought, because the fish lady said... but I mean, what does she know?" Scrunching, she added, "O-of course she knows way more than us, but her grandson does too, and... maybe the pirates aren't as... tough as she says they are? E-even the pirates weren't saying they're as tough as she said they were!"
"Indeed. And there's no reason to think the rest of the Cloudbreaks are so bad. Of the three islands we've seen to far, two were inhabited by friendly creatures. And look at this place..." Reef gestured with a claw at the miraculous sky river, a ribbon of shining water winding its way through the various floating masses, each covered in verdant greenery and begging to be explored. "...it is rather amazing, isn't it? Perhaps it was just part of our bad luck, making landfall so close to the drow base." Reef hoped she won't think of the dragon, which honestly concerned him more than the pirates; they had no idea where it had come from, how many more there were or why they wanted Nutmeg Inferno.
"It is awfully pretty," Set Sails said, not even remembering her ill-fated dragon encounter as she gazed over the cloud's edge at the impossible rivers tying together the great levitating islands all around them, sparkling in the sun. "Never thought I'd be seeing this when I signed on with an airship crew." Tail swishing, she looked up at the larger hippogriff, saying, "I hope it was bad luck. It would've been awful if every creature here was as bad as they are."
"Indeed." Reef said, taking a measure of contentment in the implication that the current situation was not awful, or at least not as awful as it might be. They should head back to the cart soon, but... he supposes Summer might appreciate a little more time to chat up the townsfolk without the captain looking over her shoulder. "So... how are you feeling now? If you're still tense, perhaps I could provide some relief." the griff said, looking at her back.
It might not mean much to a hippogriff that her face flushed, as subtle as it is to see beneath her brown fur, but her eyes did widen, and her irises briefly narrow, before returning to normal. "I... I wouldn't say no," she said faintly, not losing his gaze, "But how do you... I mean I don't even know how you..."
"Ah yes, you'd be used to hooves..." Reef held up a claw "...but I assure you are quite effective, moreso even. Now this isn't my speciality, but I do have some experience..." His voice trailed off and he cocked his head, trying to make sense of the weird look the pegasus is giving him "...at spinal massage, that is... Sails are you alright?"
Well, her tail was somewhat between her legs and her blush only deepened at his words. Her scent might be a trifle stronger than it ought to be, and she stated less than calmly, "O-oh I-I-I'm fine. I am kind of... s-stiff I suppose. You don't mind uh... you mean right here?" Other than that, the blue-and-lavender-haired mare seemed completely normal. There was no hint of the panic which plagued her earlier...
"Good, very well then, erm..." Reef said, suddenly feeling less sure of himself, "...just lie back down there then, and... try to relax?" The brown pegasus sank down to her belly again, still watching owlishly as Reef positioned himself next to her flank. Starting with one claw, he began applying pressure to the muscles around each vertebra, taking care not to press too hard as the little mare was rather less substantial than the average griff.
Laid there amid the white fluff, Set Sail watched with interest, then leans on her forehooves as he works his way up her spine. Her hide is supple yet strong, and oddly she doesn't seem to have all that many knotted muscles under his probing talons. "Mmm, this's nice," she purrs, her eyes slipping closed. "You do this for mares often?"
"Well, erm, on occasion, as per medical necessity and so forth..." Reef says, distracted. The pegasus didn't have as many fused vertebrae as a griff, just three at the wing roots. He worked his way up her neck, claws running through her mane, then used both claws to massage her scalp and behind her ears, which kept flopping back and forth for some reason. Next he went to spread her wings, but apparently she'd anticipated that part of the treatment as she'd already spread them on her own. Quite forcefully it seemed.
Reef's claws worked their way up from her wing roots to the wings themselves, massaging the muscles under her (super fluffy and terribly cute) coverts. He's rather tempted to preen them, but wasn't sure how she'd react; though it always looked funny to him to watch pegasi trying to preen themselves with lips rather than a proper beak. Huh. It seemed his own wings had spread out of their own accord as well.
The mare was putty under the hippogriff's talons, objecting little to anything he needs her to do in his ministrations. Eventually he finished checking her over, and working everything out, and ran out of polite excuses to continue. Set Sail stood a bit woozily, a grateful smile on her muzzle. A few more words between them, before they both leapt off the cloud, the pegasus cutting through the air with her smaller but still effective wings. They didn't look nearly as ridiculous in action, Reef thought. Presently his own broad-winged glide caught up with her, and the two soar together down to the gillmen village, seeking out the others.
Following the teenage gillman's departure, Summer Scribe busied herself accosting one bipedal fish after another, overflowing with questions about their history, culture, surroundings and present situation. The general experience had been superficial friendliness, but reluctance to give too much detail or talk for too long; it seemed the gillmen took pride in their hospitality but remained guarded around strangers, particularly colourful little quadrupeds claiming they'd won a fight with the dark elves.
For Cloud Cutter, the hopes of getting answers to her questions had come and gone, and Reef mentioned that she had to watch over Summer Scribe to ensure she doesn't get into trouble. With these gillmen, it seemed unlikely, but Azure did have one thing right, you never knew where hostility lurked. Staying a fair distance away from Summer but never out of eye contact, the purple Pegasus kept true to her word. After all, the last creature you wanted to upset was the one that would keep you alive if you got hurt.
Eventually Summer had hit her personal jackpot, a general store that was for the most part filled with pickled fish, fishing hooks and sundries, but boasted a tiny shelf at the back filled with second-hand books for sale. The little unicorn had immediately sat down to sample the wares, notebook out, painstakingly translating sections of runes and agonising over which ones she might be able to afford with her small collection of excavated coins. She seemed to be completely oblivious to the increasingly annoyed looks from the proprietor and would likely be here until the rest of the team dragged her away.
Cloud Cutter could only smile and sigh lightly at her ally. Always wanting to learn more and more about other races. After a quick check with the shopkeeper to ensure Summer's safety, Cloud Cutter looked to another building: 'Pebblesplish Tavern'. The mention of moonshine earlier had definitely caught her interest. Most likely Princess Luna's drink of choice, she thought, as she approached and soon entered the establishment, looking around at the area before her. Nothing like a drink from another species to make things interesting, right?!
The tavern was one of the largest buildings in the village, as ramshackle and patched as any of them, with its roof of rusty corrugated iron and walls bearing the cracks and scorch marks of many drow raids. Still the interior had a certain undeniable charm, with dozens of bottles and jars of different coloured glass lining one wall, and various strange looking aquatic creatures squirming around in fish tanks or hanging preserved from the ceiling.
It was late afternoon so the establishment was quiet, but a few of the fish creatures were sitting around the rough wooden tables, nursing drinks or playing card games with each other (the cards themselves bore pictures of more strange creatures and machines, all different). All of them looked up as the purple pegasus entered and the conversation died away to silence, only broken when Pebblesplish himself called out from behind the bar: "Well how do you do there Miss Po-knee, we sure are glad you found time to come sample the leg-en-dar-ee hos-pee-tal-ity of Peeblesplish Tavern!"
The more things change, the more they stay the same, hmm? Cloud Cutter didn't seem one bit surprised to see drinks and card games populate what action there was in the tavern, it wasn't any different from pony taverns, and there was a faint smile as the aquatic theme of the tavern gave the place a nice charm to it. The greeting was soon responded to in kind: "Glad to be here, place looks pretty nice."
Never mind the old look of the place and the obvious marks of drow attacks. But one thing caught Cloud Cutter's mind, and currency wasn't in large supply. In fact... she had none. This place was a business, they needed to turn a profit, she knew. A shame... some moonshine would be nice right about now after the diplomacy with the chieftess went nowhere as well as she'd hoped.
"So what would be your please, uh, Miss... it ain't actually Miss Spooky Po-knee is it? 'Cause I can't for the life of me recall ol' Scalesbrook attaching any other name to your person, but that ain't to say the old gilly weren't talking outta his cloc, if you do pardon my language." the gillman rambled, ending with an embarrassed look.
"Cloud Cutter." She started, with a bit of a smile. "Don't worry... no need to apologise. I'm not the prettiest pegasus in the world at this point," she finished with a rough chuckle. "Truth be told, there's a lot I don't understand going on right now." She looked away for a moment at an aquatic creature attached to the wall. "Currency's one of those things I don't have." She concluded with a slightly embarrassed tone herself.
"Oh I wasn't thinking you'd be carrying cloud dollars, but we here do pride ourselves on accepting troll silver gears or old mabu golden circlets or even fairy sparkles, if you've soaked them overnight in vinegar that is, or... uh..." Desperation crept in as the gillman wilted under the blank stare of Cloud Cutter's unblinking white eyes. "uh... gold nuggets... uncut gems... old sports day trophies... any kind of negotiable goods at all?" He seemed ready to cry as the prospect of a new customer was slipping away.
Cloud Cutter's eyes showed no emotion, but it was clear at the mention of all these... exotic currencies that the gillman was hoping to sell Cloud Cutter a drink... just as she was hoping to get one. Disappointment, however, seemed to be creeping onto her face as she had absolutely none of the currencies he mentioned, as simple and as silly as they got. At the end, she couldn't help but sigh.
"Tell you what, best I've got is maybe cleaning a sink or... or something." She slumped. "You want to sell a drink, I want to get a drink, it's only fair I at least do something for the drink, right?"
"Uh, that's a sad situation to be, to be sure, Miss Cloud Cutter. I wouldn't be wanting you to go away thinking Peeblesplish here isn't a generous soul, but you do understand I'm running a business here and if it got out that we were giving out free drinks, well..." Pebblesplish stared into space, apparently not sure exactly what calamity this would result in, but possessed of some deep-seated moral objection to giving away his product.
"Of course, of course." Cloud Cutter nodded, thinking back. "Well, is there anything you think this place could use?" She started to think back on her travels; had they found anything that might be of interest to a tavern owner?
"See here missy, I can set you up with a tankard of whatever takes your fancy..." came a voice from behind "...if you'd be willing to listen to a little proposition, that is." Cloud Cutter turned to see a dark green gill man standing behind her, waving one webbed hand at the table where he'd been sitting.
"Hey now Gargle, you know I said you weren't to go bothering the other customers again, 'specially not cute little deer uh I mean po-knees who aren't wise to the ways of the marsh just yet..." Pebblesplish said, with a mixture of annoyance and anxiety.
Cloud Cutter had been deep in thought until the second gillman came up from behind and spoke directly to her, startling the 'spooky pony'. "A deal for a drink, hmm?" she began, as she turned around to look at the creature. "Heard better beginnings for things like these, but I can hear what you've got to say. You have my attention."
"Just what I wanted to hear, Miss Cutter..." He face filled with an uneven smile, revealing several sharp teeth and a lot more gaps where teeth had once been. "...now can your chatter it 'Splish and serve up a double shot of moonshine each for me and the po-knee here." He continued to smile at Cloud Cutter while the bartender fussed with glasses and bottles, Pebblesplish mumbling and griping to himself the whole time.
"Here you are, Miss Cloud" he said to the pegasus, grinning, before looking at the other gillman and saying "...and don't think I'll be giving you a tab this time, Gargle, it's cash only from now on."
"Wouldn't expect nothing less." the green fish man said, idly tossing a few worn silver coins with serrated edges onto the ancient wooden counter.
"And just what I wanted to have, too... you know how to get my attention." Cloud Cutter replied with a nod. "Thank you... now, to business, shall we? I believe we've got something... important to discuss?" She did look to the coins, though, taking note of what the place's currency looked like. At least now she knew what to look for!
The gillman picked up both glasses and took them to the table, apparently assuming the pony had no way to carry one. Now ensconed in a cosy little nook formed by shelves and an internal wall, the two were free to converse in relative privacy. "The name's Gargegill, trader and purveyor of salvage, scrap and, on occasion, items of unique and wonderous nature. Fully half the buildings round these parts were built of materials from the Gargle & Son yard." The creature seemed quite proud of this, though his unkempt appearance and extra strong fishy smell didn't scream 'successful businesspony' to Cloud Cutter.
Cloud Cutter's attention wasn't on the drink but rather the business at hand. Gargegill was a trader: by the sounds of things, one that occasionally hit the jackpot, but was only getting by on most days. He was unlikely to have anything close to resembling the answers she was really looking for, but that was secondary on her mind now to what this 'deal' might entail. All she wanted was to hear what they needed, so she could do it, get the drink and move on...
Garglegill pushed one of the glasses over to the pegasus; it was filled with an amber, slightly oily liquid. "I heard them gillies out there calling you the 'spooky po-knee', and if ma eyes ain't lying, not to mention the quiver in ma dorsal fin, I do believe that's just what you are. Sitting close, looking into those... eyes of yours, it's clear to me you're a creature with more than a passing familiarity with the other side, if you know what I mean." Perhaps he hoped the drink would make her more agreeable.
And Cloud Cutter's initial reaction to this wasn't a word, but rather, a front hoof tapping square on her forehead as she sighed lightly. "Do I really look like this... this death-loving creature to every creature now?" There was a disappointed sigh as she returned to fully sitting. "Look, I don't understand exactly what's happened to me, okay? I wasn't like this two weeks ago," she concluded, not yet taking a sip of the drink. That would mean agreeing to their deal, whatever it was.
"Uh... I ain't saying that... uh... two weeks? Really?" Garglegill said. "Was that when the spirits came calling, or was that when ya took a trip to the underlands and, uh.. you know it don't matter. I know you lot ain't supposed to tell us fully livin' folks about none of that stuff. What's important is... huh, say did anyone tell you what put the Witch in Witchway Marsh yet, or was that superstitious old Scalesbrook too a-feared of the curse to give it the least mention?"
A shake of her head was how Cloud Cutter's response began. "Two weeks is when the ship I was on crossed the Storm Wall. Haven't been the same ever since. I know it sounds crazy, but we're not from around here." All these questions, no mention of the deal... and now talk of a curse. "Never heard of this curse." she stated. Whether it was ignorance or fact, the untouched drink in front of her told the story.
"The Everlasting Endless Storm o' Certain Doom For All Who Enter? Pull the other one." Gargegill said "Oh ho I know your game, didn't I just say you spooky folk never give a straight answer 'bout how a creature gets stuck half way to the underlands." He lets out a ragged laugh that turns into a chesty cough. After the coughing subsided, he continued "So, let me tell you 'bout the witches, if all of these sods are too scared to speak of it. They say it started with a coven and a single giant cauldron, deep in the marsh in the days o' yore, brewing up potions that could cure a dying gilly just as soon as curse a healthy one to waste away to nothin', change a mabu into a troll as easily as they could make a brew that'd grow an elf into a giant or make a cyclops float through the air like a balloon."
"'course soon as they got bored foolin' around one of 'em saw how much gold they could make sellin' the fruits o' their labours and that's how it got started. Soon enough there were a whole convent of witches, built up on the high cliffs, brewing huge quantities of potions of every kind to sell to the Skylands of old. Must've been a sight." He sighed, in a manner that suggested he was thinking more of the huge quantities of gold the legendary witches must have been raking in rather than the wonderous effects of their potions.
A clear look of irritation crossed Cloud Cutter's face at the fact that Garglegill wasn't taking her seriously. The story of the witches was one she listened to, but part of her couldn't take his story seriously either. All this talk sounded so incredibly special to these creatures... while half of the unicorns back home could do at least one of these things. The Princesses? With their eyes closed. Nothing to it. And Princess Twilight? Haha... she could do all of these. Easily. A chuckle escaped her lips as she continued to listened. Maybe someday they could finally get to business. And if Reef found her first, well... Garglegill could have both shots. The more time passed, the less the Pegasus seemed inclined to even drink.
"So... 'course they ain't round here no more. Don't see any mabu nor trolls ridin' 'round on brooms and coming down to sample the smoked fish, do you? Whole lot of 'em vanished, done been gone ten generations at least, but their convent's still up there, you can see it clear enough from the Whistleway Lake, that's at the head of Grand Cascade if you ain't been there yet." He licked his lips. "Now you might be thinking, if you're a smart creature, well old Gargle if them witches been gone hundreds of years then there can't be anything left but some tumbled down ruins all picked clean o' anything o' use or value, right?"
Finally: down to the actual bloody talk of the deal. "So looking for another jackpot, you want me and my allies to go there and get you something in particular or just something valuable? If there's anything left?" At this point, after the gillman seemed to think she was some death-loving pony and hadn't taken what happened to her seriously, it was getting pretty clear that the purple pegasus wasn't a happy pony. Definitely not that idealised stereotype so many of the creatures back home had of her entire race.
"A jackpot, yeah, a jackpot for sure!" the fish creature smiled, first earnestly before his grin turned vicious. Either he didn't recognise the pony's contempt, or he didn't care. "But if it were just a case o' hiking up there and grabbing whatever takes a gilly's fancy, well, there wouldn't be nothing left would there? 'Cause Gargegill could pick that place down to rubble in a month, and his pa or his grandpa would've done it years ago, if it weren't for the spooks hauntin' the place."
"So I got most of it right... except there's a fight to be had to get 'em. Alright." Cloud Cutter nodded. "I'll see what I can do to get some allies together and give this a shot. But risking my life and my allies' life all for a simple drink... it's a high price, don't you think? How about a little bargain so we can see eye to eye here." She started, with a slight smile. Heck, if she could do something like this and get the crew of the Harmony a decent amount of currency so they don't have to do charity work for every creature, bonus, right? "So let's get this done. You got me a drink, so I'm willing to slant this in your favour. Slightly. If we find something, 55-45 profit. You get the larger cut."
"Fight? You wanna fight 'em?" The gill man sat back, looking sceptical "Uh, I was thinking you'd just, uh, you know, as a fellow creature of the underlands and all, you'd just convince them to go haunt somewhere else? But, hey, you think you can take them down, Garglegill here won't be the one to stop you!" Another uneven grin. "Don't you worry 'bout no shares, it ain't like I got a deed and title to the place, no gilly does. Bound to be treasure in a place like that, the four of you flyers can take away whatever you can stuff in your packs. Then once you've flapped off Gargle & Sons'll be free to roll in and salvage the place, like I said, down to the foundations, and I might be fixing a deal on those too. That sound fair to you, Miss Cutter?"
There was a part of her that wondered if unicorn magic could affect spirits. Whether her team would even be willing to fight these creatures. Whether her team would even be willing to go to those cliffs in the first place. But... she was in too deep in this to say no at this point. At worst... she'd go alone. It'd be only fitting. "So to confirm, you want us to go to the cliffs and convince the spirits to leave it alone. Any profits we can get from the place are ours to keep?"
"That's a fair summary, so it is, Miss Cutter. See this is the legend, those witches were working on their greatest potion, 'course it was for immortality, always is in these bedtime stories ain't it? So a bunch of them brew it up, but things don't go like they want, the ones who try it get turned into spirits, worse they end up making a giant monster that chased their sisters right off the island. They do say the Skylanders themselves had to come put the beast thing down, but they overlooked the spirits, cursed to wander the halls of their old convent 'til the end of time." Another laugh, this one a deep and lengthy.
"Course you can't put too much stock in old fishwive's tales. There sure are some spooks still up there though, chasin' out any young gilly foolish 'nough to ignore the warnings." He leaned forward and whispered into Cloud Cutter's ear "I'd know 'cause I thought I'd make my first big pot o' riches just that way, would be livin' in the lap o' luxury in the core, not stuck in this dump till I grow old!" With that he threw himself back into the chair and resumed laughing, slamming his glass down on the table. It was empty.
Cloud Cutter listened carefully to the idea of a spirit monster wandering the halls. Of course, if that was the case... this would be a pain in the neck to take care of. She would have to see what her folly had gotten herself into this time. With one last sigh, she concluded: "Well, let this be your answer, Garglegill." Cloud Cutter wasn't an alcoholic, far from it, but she knew how to seal a deal when she saw once. Grabbing the double shot of moonshine, she would treat it as it deserved: downing the entire thing in one go, only to pause... blinking at the empty shot glass and wonder out loud. "Is this stuff supposed to be strong?"
Garglegill's laughter died away. "Hey careful there Miss Cutter. That stuff's near on hundred-ten-proof!" He looked over to the bar "'less 'Splish has confused the still with the laundry tub again!" he shouted, apparently finding this hilarious, though the gill man behind the bar just glared back at him. The salvage merchant looked at the purple pony again, trying to recover his train of thought. "So that's a deal then, good to hear it." Leaning forward for another whisper, he added "And let's just keep it between you and me, alright? Too many superstitious fools 'round here, don't want to spook 'em. Hah. You hear what I said there? Spook 'em! Hah hah!" And with that he was collapsing in his chair again for another round of ragged laughter.
It was at this point that a giant grey eagle poked through the entrance to the tavern, the hindquarters of a stallion following closely behind after a moment's pause on the threshold. "Cloud Cutter?" Reef Skimmer said uncertainly. "Are you in here? Erm, has anyone seen a purple pegasus... pony?"
"Felt mild to me. Hmm." Cloud Cutter shrugged as she got back on her hooves. "Yeah, it's a deal. I'll gather my allies and see what we can do." Hearing a familiar voice, she turned happily to the entrance. "Ah, speaking of them, there's one now... guess that's my cue. I'll see you again." She finished with a soft bow before heading towards where she'd heard the hippogriff's voice.
"Yeah, Reef, I'm on my way. Sorry. Had some business to take care of."