The Hippogriffia Port authority had recently started the difficult task of redeveloping the dockside that had been destroyed when Lord Torch went up in flames. Naturally, the new project (already being nicknamed 'Inferno Bay' by councilmen) required the help of both the Hippogriffia Tugs and the Storm Fleet, which mostly consisted of pulling the ruined buildings down and towing loads of stone to form new foundations for whatever was going to be built there, probably office blocks. For these jobs, I had to use the strongest tugs, and as such I took Sky Beak off of garbage duty and put him to work alongside Big Mac. One morning, Sky Beak was loading his barge. The manager of the stone company, a woman with white skin, wild red hair, and auburn eyes and currently dressed from head to toe in green, was overseeing the loading.
"It's not often I see you up here, Sky Beak!" she said. "This must be a nice change of scenery from the garbage dump, eh?"
"It is, Miss Autumn," Sky Beak replied, "and Big Mac and I will shift this load faster than you can say 'Peaks of Peril'!"
"Just don't have any accidents, OK?" Autumn told him, as he began to set off.
"I'll be careful!" Sky Beak replied, as he moved off. Unfortunately, he misjugded the speed of his barge, and it smacked into him. "Oops!"
"I hope you're not starting as you mean to go on," Autumn told him, as he steamed off into the distance.
No sooner had he left the dockside then he ran into trouble, for a group of shrimpers suddenly blasted their horns. "Oi! Watch where you're going?"
"You watch where you're going!" Sky Beak said indignantly. "I've got cargo to deliver!"
"We watch where we are going?" asked the shrimpers incredulously. "We're always here! We're shrimping!"
Sky Beak ignored them as he saw a familiar cargo ship sitting in the bay. "Wait a moment, that's Thunderhooves," he said. He drew up alongside him and sounded his whistle. "Need a tow?"
Thunderhooves was suddenly shocked out of his sleep. "Yes, yes, I could do with one!" he exclaimed. "How much are you charging?"
"One hundred."
"Honestly, the nerve of these tugboats!" Thunderhooves exclaimed. "Back in the day we didn't need tugboats to get into the harbour. These waterways were open before in the time of my predecessor, and his predecessor before him, and his predecessor before him, and his predecessor before him, and his predecessor before him..."
"I get it," Sky Beak replied. "But there's no way a ship as big as yourself would be able to navigate accurately! That's why tugs exist!"
"I'll stay here then. I shouldn't have to pay for what used to be my right," Thunderhooves said finally.
"Have it your way then," Sky Beak replied, and set off once again- banging his barge into Thunderhooves.
"OW!"
"Sorry!" Sky Beak called.
Elsewhere, Silverstream and Pipsqueak were busy dredging in the estuary. This was work that Silverstream normally enjoyed, but today she was on high alert. And sure enough, who should come bumbling out of the fog by Sky Beak, paying absolutely no heed as to where he was going.
"Halt dredging!" Silverstream shouted. "Sky Beak, look out! You're passing too close to us!"
Sky Beak came to an abrupt stop- and once again was knocked forward as his barge crashed into him. "Now why does that keep happening?" he asked.
"Be careful," Silverstream reminded him. "Why are you out here anyway? Garbage doesn't normally come this way."
"Oh, you noticed!" Sky Beak smiled. "This barge is loaded with rock for the foundations at Inferno Bay, with myself and Big Mac working this thanks to our power. But I can't sit about and chat. Goodbye!" He steamed off, again not watching where he was going, and bashed into Pipsqueak, who started spinning.
"You spin me right round-"
"That is not funny," Blueblood suddenly said, breaking the fourth wall and interrupting the shot.
"Hey, Pip!" Silverstream called. "They should charge kids to ride on you! You're a merry go round at the moment!"
"Very funny!" Pipsqueak replied, looking rather annoyed. "Now can somebody please correct my spin?"
Naturally, Sky Beak paid no attention whatsoever, and just went on his way.
At Inferno Bay, a dark blue boat with green lining was backing up into the bay, overlooking the situation. This was Sky Stinger, the other coastguard ship, and he had been assigned to ensuring the operation was being run safely.
"Stand by to receive orders!" he called.
"Here comes Mr Demolitions!" shouted Aria, who started laughing alongside Sonata.
"Hello everyone," said Sky Beak, who stopped- only for his barge to bump into him again. "That keeps happening! Where do I put this, and where is the return barge?"
"There isn't one," Sky Stinger replied. "You'll have to get this lot unloaded and return empty, as you're the first load of the day."
"You're working faster than we can keep up!" Skystar joked, smiling. "We'll unload this as fast as we can, and then you can be on your way."
"Or, I could do some other jobs while I'm waiting and make some more money for the captain!" Sky Beak grinned.
Meanwhile, Big Mac had encountered Thunderhooves. "Mornin'!" he called, awakening the tramper from his slumber. "Ah imagine you'll want towin' somewhere?"
"Not with the ripoff rates you lot charge for what used to be free access!" Thunderhooves replied.
"Sheesh, Ah only asked," Big Mac replied. "Besides, ya know full well why you can't go inta the bay on yer own. There are lots of rocks and currents, and a ship of yer size cannot navigate through them safely."
"Stupid rules," Thunderhooves grumbled.
"OK," Big Mac replied. "If you wanna sit here all day, fine." He puffed away without another word.
Thunderhooves then saw Tempest Shadow and several other Storm Fleet vessels approaching. "Can you guys tow me?" he asked.
"We can't right now; we're busy," Tempest replied. "See you later."
Later, Tempest ran into Big Mac loading up at the dockside. "That's rather a big load, isn't it?" she asked.
"None o' yer business how much Ah move," Big Mac replied. "Besides, they need three of you to move one barge, whereas Ah and Sky Beak can move one each. Easy, really."
"Quality and quantity, eh?" Tempest said. "We'll see. Sky Beak's been causing havoc in the harbour again. Danger to shipping."
This was one of Tempest's trademark terrible tricks. By making rude comments about Sky Beak, she was angering Big Mac so much that he forgot his barge was still loading, and settling very, very low in the water.
"Seriously, why doesn't Captain Novo sell that old rustbucket off?" she said.
Big Mac had gone purple in the face. "Shut up!" he snapped. "Sky Beak's one of our best! He may be clumsy, but he has more drive and character in one propellor blade than you do in yer entire hull!"
Seconds later, Gallus surfaced. "Just thought you'd like to know that your barge is low in the water."
Big Mac looked behind him and gasped. "Ya have ta take some rocks back, Autumn!" he shouted. "This barge is dangerously full!"
"Dangerously full, eh?" Tempest sneered. "I thought you could handle anything."
Big Mac growled at him and set off. Grubber looked at Tempest in confusion. "We can't shift that sort of load," he said. "They're too heavy."
"Big Mac can't shift it safely either," Tempest replied. "He'll have to sail very slowly. And any wake will tip it over!"
Elsewhere, Skystar was using Diamond Tiara to pull down some buildings.
"Good work, Skystar!" Sonata called. "Now pull down another one!"
"We'll help, if you'd like," Aria added.
Skystar was about to reply when suddenly a chime whistle echoed through the bay. She looked to one side. "What the? Is that Thunderhooves, coming in without a tow?"
"That's dangerous!" Sonata cried.
"And illegal," Aria added.
"These channels were sailed by my ancestors for centuries without the need for tugboats!" Thunderhooves shouted, as he blasted along the channel. "Now I see that the charge for tows was merely a way to make money!"
"Slow down!" Skystar called. "You don't know the channel!"
She was right. Thunderhooves collided with a rocky bank and was thrown upwards into the air, coming to rest on a stone pile and several rocks.
"Help! Help!" he cried.
Skystar went into action. "Thunderhooves is listing," she said. "Diamond Tiara, Cherry Jubilee, secure a line and hold him up!"
"I'll help you get those cranes into position," Aria added, and began to move.
"Didn't Tempest say to not help the Hippogriffia Tugs?" Sonata asked.
"If Thunderhooves goes over the entire channel gets blocked, which helps nobody," Aria replied. "Now go back to sleep." Without another word, she attached a line to Cherry Jubilee and moved her into position.
Elsewhere, Big Mac struggled on with his heavy barge. "Ah shoulda known Tempest would trick me like that!" he said. "Let's hope nothing else goes wrong."
Gallus sighed. "You and me both. Wait a minute, who's that?"
Suddenly, Sky Beak barreled out of nowhere and flew past at speed. "We need to get another load, or else the Storm Fleet will beat us there!"
"Sky Beak! Slow down!" Big Mac called. "Yer wake is gonna sink mah barge!"
And it did. The wake caused the barge to tip over, causing all the rock to fall into the water.
"Great. There's another load down the drain. Ah'll have to go back fer more."
Sky Beak looked back. "Did something happen?" he asked.
Big Mac said nothing, but indicated to the sunken barge.
"Oops."
"Get a crane to lift the barge. Ah'll stay here ta mark where the barge sank."
On the other side of the harbour, Thunderhooves continued to list dangerously. Skystar had acted quickly and decisively, and with Aria's help had run several support cables around the buildings that were connected to the pair of cranes. These lines helped to keep Thunderhooves upright, combined with Skystar and Aria pushing from the side.
Suddenly, Thunderhooves slipped. "Push hard!" Skystar called. "Cranes, keep those ropes taught or we'll all go under!"
"What do you think we're doing?" Diamond Tiara asked, her boiler working double time to draw the winding gear back to hold the cable taught.
"A rope's already giving way!" shouted Cherry Jubilee, herself concerned about a crumbling building.
"Hey! Sonata! Help us!" Skystar called.
"But you can sal-"
"Nobody gives a flying banana about salvage," Aria said coldly. "Now get your prow into position. That's an order."
"I'll go get help!" Sky Stinger called, and steamed away.
Blueblood steamed by with another barge. "Honestly, Sonata, you don't seem to have much in the way of intelligence," he said. "Help them at once." With one move, he shunted Chrysalis into position under Thunderhooves to add additional counterweight. "This should help to hold him in place."
Just then, Sky Beak arrived and stormed into the fray. "Stay in place, Skystar!" he shouted. "I'm going in!" He steamed forward, and with a mighty push made contact with Thunderhooves' hull.
"Are you crazy?" Skystar asked, stunned. "That boat will fall over any second! It's too risky!"
"So... is... the channel... getting... blocked!" Sky Beak groaned. "I know what I'm doing. FULL POWER!"
In that moment, the harbour sounded to an incredible din as Skystar and Sky Beak went to Ahead Full, and Aria throttled up to full power. The two cranes pulled as hard as they could, when suddenly the cable connected to Cherry Jubilee snapped. Thunderhooves began to slip again.
"I'm not messing this up," Sky Beak growled, and put his engine into emergency power. Even though his engine roared loudly and his safety valve kept going off, he never stopped applying full engine power.
Big Mac came in alongside to add extra power, and soon, with everybody pushing or pulling as hard as they could, they had the giant vessel stabilised and safe. "Good job, Sky Beak," Big Mac said. "You've made us all proud today."
"Thank you," Sky Beak replied. "I only did what needed to be done."
Moments later, Tempest Shadow and Grubber arrived, to see the situation. "What happened here?" asked Tempest. "Aria, what are you doing alongside a Hippogriffia tug?"
Sky Stinger came to a stop in front of her. "Aria assisted in prevented a nasty accident," he explained. "Without her help, or any of the tugs or cranes, Thunderhooves would be blocking the very channel you sailed down. As for Sonata, however, she behaved disgracefully and did nothing to help."
Tempest glared at Sonata. "The Storm King won't be happy with you," she said.
"As for you, Thunderhooves, coming in without a tow is against the law," Sky Stinger continued. "For that, I hereby impose a fine of 100,000 bits, to be payed by Wednesday, either in cash or in goods of equivalent value."
The look on Thunderhooves' face was priceless.
Later that day, Sky Beak was on his 15th trip of the day, and he was very tired. "Phew, it's been a long day," he said to himself. "Oh well. I can get a nice rest later, zzzzzzzzz..."
Now that he was asleep, he collided with an old boat that had been anchored off the port for years. "Hey!" she said. "Watch where yer goin'!"
"Sorry, Granny Smith!" Sky Beak said. "It's been a long day."
"Do try ta keep yer eyes open," she said. "If Ah had dozed off when deliverin' apples, Ah'd have been..."
Sky Beak snuck away as she went on. He may have been clumsy, but we couldn't have done without him. He was a star player in the team, a 'striker', you could say.