“Now arriving at Mount Aris Station! Please wait until the train has come to a complete stop before disembarking! We thank you again for riding with us and we hope to see you again soon!”
Silverstream got up from her seat and made her way out to the loading platform. Unfortunately for her, there were no other hippogriffs at the station to greet her. To make matters worse it had begun raining outside.
‘Guess every hippogriff is staying inside today.’ Silverstream thought to herself. A clap of thunder sounded in the distance, causing the hippogriff to cower in fear. She quickly got her bearings together and stepped out in the rain. Despite the fact she had nothing to cover herself with, she didn’t want to keep her family waiting.
She began making her way home, to her father’s house.
*BOOM*
Silverstream cowered in fear once again, shutting her eyes tightly, and trying to cover herself with her wings in the process. She quickly realized it was just thunder again and continued her way home.
---
Sky Beak was humming a tune to himself as he was in the kitchen, finishing a dish he was preparing for Silverstream’s return. Just then, he heard the sound of his front door knocking. He immediately grew a wide smile as he assumed his daughter finally returned home for the summer.
He answered the door happily, but his excitement soon turned into surprise at the sight of, “General Seaspray! Uhh...sir! To what do I owe this visit?”
“No need for formalities Lieutenant Beak.” The gruff hippogriff said with a dismissive wave of his talon. “We’re not on duty. But, may I come? I’m getting soaked out here as it is.”
“Of course sir! By all means, please!” Sky Beak said standing away from the door to make room. Even though he wasn’t on duty, it didn’t change the fact that he felt the need to speak with a superior officer in the same manner as if he were on an assignment.
The drenched general trundled over to the fireplace to dry himself off (despite knowing he was going to get wet in the rain again).
“Curse this rain. One of these days we’ll have to do business with those ponies to negotiate a trade for...what are they called again? Umbers? Unbrails?”
“Umbrellas. That's what they’re called, sir. At least, that’s what my daughter says they are.” Said Sky Beak with a quick chuckle. Seaspray however was not amused, but nonetheless cleared his throat before speaking again.
“Is Silverstream home with you at the moment?”
“No, not yet sir. I would suspect that the train will pull in soon though. Why is she in trouble?”
“No, no, of course not. But...”
The general looked around the room suspiciously, making sure there wasn’t anything or any other living being to eavesdrop on them.
“...what I’m about to tell you must never leave this room. Its secret is of upmost importance and you must not tell any other creature about it; not even your family. Do I have your word Lieutenant Beak?”
“On my honor as a lieutenant, you have my word!” Sky Beak proclaimed proudly to his superior officer. “But what’s so secretive, sir?
“Our recent encounter with remnants of The Storm King’s army have led me to believe that they may be planning something big and soon.”
“But how, sir?” Sky Beak asked in confusion. “Their leader is nothing but chunks of rock. Queen Novo herself saw him as such.”
“That may be, but with the reports I’m getting about how the remnants keep consolidating with more recruits from where The Storm King originally came from, there’s no telling what they plan to do.”
“Reports from whom, general?” The lieutenant asked.
“A trusted confidant who knows the army and has had experience with them in the past.”
Sky Beak was about to ask who Seaspray was referring to, until his eyes went wide and asked, “You don’t mean...?”
“Indeed I do lieutenant.”
“Even after the invasion! You can’t honestly believe-“
“My confident is trustworthy, has the means to report whatever activities the remnant army is plotting, and will pull through for us, lieutenant!” The general interrupted; silencing whatever other protests Sky Beak had.
“I understand sir.” Sky Beak said rubbing a talon against his forearm. “Was that all you wanted to tell me?”
“There is something else. The remnants have stolen a magical prototype device from a ship bound for Manehattan. I don’t know what it does but it cannot be good if they have possession of it.”
“But I don’t understand.” Said Sky Beak. “How could they have stolen something that important on the seas? It should be next to impossible with our ships and sailors helping ponies with cargo.”
“That’s the reason why I came here unannounced Lieutenant Beak.” General Seaspray said lowering his head and giving a hard sigh before raising his head up again. “I have reason to believe there might be a traitor in our midst.”
“No...” Sky Beak said refusing to believe what he just heard.
“I know it’s hard to accept, I had a hard time myself with the prospect that one of our own is a defector.” The dark blue general said clenching a fist in anger, before relaxing and turning to the light blue lieutenant. “That’s why I need a close hippogriff I can trust. Your loyalty to the navy has never come into question and I can think of no one more qualified than you.”
“Qualified for what sir?”
“I’ll be requiring your presence on more trips I take part in. You’ll need to keep a close eye on any and all navy members who seem suspicious and report directly to me. Essentially, you will be my eyes and ears. Do you understand Lieutenant Beak?”
“Yes sir!” Sky Beak said, proudly saluting.
Seaspray returned the salute and said, “This is an important task that I wouldn’t ask of just any sailor in the navy, but I know I can rely on you.”
“Thank you sir! When do we depart?”
“We shall set out in two weeks. For now, just enjoy the time you have to spend with your daughter. I’m sure she’ll have a lot to tell about her time away.”
The higher ranked officer was about to head to the door before Sky Beak said, “Just one thing, sir. This magical prototype device, do the leaders of Equestria know about it?”
Seaspray stopped and said, “Princesses Celestia and Luna are already aware of the theft. They have some of their best soldiers searching for it and the remnant army as we speak. The other tribes I’m afraid cannot help us. We’re already on bad terms with the Griffons, and the other tribes don’t want to spark international incidents that could lead to war. Now I must be off. I will be accompanying Queen Novo and her daughter on their diplomatic visit to the Crystal Empire. Their ship will be leaving at any moment’s notice, so I must go. Tell Silverstream I said hello and I shall see you again soon Lieutenant Beak.”
With that, Seaspray went out the door, leaving Sky Beak all alone. The latter sat down and was trying to process everything that the general had said. As he did, he suddenly remembered something.
‘Oh no! The dinner!’
The worried hippogriff rushed to the kitchen, but sighed in relief as the meal he was making, thankfully, didn’t overcook.
Before Sky Beak could anything else, a series of knocks sounded from the door as he quickly opened it to be greeting with a soaked, but still cheerful Silverstream.
The young hippogriff shouted happily, “DAD!” before tightly hugging her father. Even though she was soaked from top to bottom, Sky Beak didn’t care and said, “Silverstream! I’m glad you’re home!”
They soon broke the hug before the two realized that water was dripping from both their bodies. The two gave a chuckle before Sky Beak said, “Well, you should probably dry yourself off. Dinner is almost ready.”
Silverstream went over to the fireplace and warmed herself up while grabbing a nearby towel to dry herself with. Her father soon returned with a bowl of soup and bread for both of them. The younger hippogriff’s eyes widened at the food.
“Is this...?”
“Yep, I thought I’d make your favorite tonight: Calamari Chowder! To celebrate the end of your school year!”
The chippy hippogriff gave her father another hug, this time without the aspect of getting any water on him. As she broke the hug, something occurred to her.
“Hey Dad, where’s Terramar? Is he visiting Mom?”
“Oh that’s right! Your brother decided to take part in a summer getaway with a group of Seaponies he’s made good friends with.”
“Oh...” Silverstream responded disappointingly.
“What’s wrong Silverstream?” Sky Beak asked in a concerned tone.
“It’s just...I was hoping to be able to spend some time with Terramar, that’s all.” Silverstream answered tilting her head down.
“He won’t be gone all summer.” Sky Beak said reassuringly, bringing a talon under his daughter’s chin to have her look up at him. “You’ll still be able to spend time with him before the next school year starts.
“Yeah...I guess so.” Silverstream said feeling somewhat better. “By the way, I saw General Seaspray leaving the house earlier. What did he want?”
Remembering the promise he made to his superior naval officer, Sky Beak went with a bare minimum answer by saying, “He just came by to bid me farewell. He’s accompanying Queen Novo and Princess Skystar to the Crystal Empire.”
“Of course...” The younger hippogriff said feeling more upset.
Not wanting to try to make his daughter more depressed, Sky Beak looked at the food and said, “Well, why don’t we chow down on this delicious meal? It is your favorite after all!”
“I’m not hungry...” Silverstream said in a monotone voice, heading off to the direction of her room. “...I just want to be alone right now.”
Sky Beak reached a talon out and was about to ask what was bothering her, but the door to her room was already shut. He let out a sigh of defeat and relaxed his outstretched arm.
‘Why is she acting like this all of a sudden? Did something happen to her at school?’ Silverstream’s father questioned to himself. ‘Maybe when she wants to talk, I’ll ask her.’
---
Silverstream sat on her bed thinking about how her summer wasn’t going how she had hoped. First her friends from school, then her brother and now her cousin.
“What is this world coming to?” Silverstream asked to herself on the verge of tears. “Why is every creature too busy this summer? Even my own family.”
Unable to take it, the young hippogriff snuck out of her bedroom window and flew off in the rain. She didn’t care where she was heading or if she was getting soaked, her upset nature was in control.
She landed on a beach close to where the waves reached the sand and let out all her anger and sorrow.
‘Why? Just why?’ The sad hippogriff thought to herself as she just huddled herself and let the tears flow freely down her already wet face.
After several minutes of letting it all out, Silverstream decided to head back home until something caught her eye. There was something that was washed up on the beach nearby, prompting the hippogriff to see what it was.
When she got close enough, Silverstream was taken back at what it was. It was a bag with back straps.
“Huh?” Silverstream said aloud with a raised eyebrow. “Who would leave a bag like this out in the sea? It sure is a strange looking bag. Wonder who it belongs to?”
Just then a huge tidal wave crashed onto the beach, soaking Silverstream even more. She shook her head before she looked back at the bag, only to find something else next to it that caused her to gasp in fear and fly a good distance away behind a tree.
When she calmed herself down enough, Silverstream peeked around the tree and took a good look of what washed up next to the bag.
It was a creature, the likes of which she had never seen before. It was furless, except for the little that was on its head. She noted the life jacket it donned and the strange clothes that seemed foreign to her. What really caught her attention though was a device that was wrapped around what she assumed was the creature’s claw.
She cautiously approached the creature to see how it would react to her. When she got close enough though, she gave the body a slight prod on the arm before quickly hiding behind the tree again to see its reaction.
No movement.
‘Is it...dead?’ She thought to herself curiously. She approached the body again, but this time looked at the face and noticed that he was still breathing.
‘It’s alive!’ The hippogriff said in her mind.
As she’s staring, Silverstream couldn’t help but feel sorry for the unconscious creature. Realizing it was getting drenched both from the rain and the waves, she tried to move the creature away from the crashing waves, only to realize how heavy it weighed. Silverstream was able to move it away slowly, inch-by-inch, until (what felt like several minutes) she dragged the body towards the tree she hid behind earlier. She also grabbed the bag and placed it next to the unconscious body.
Knowing the creature would need help when it wakes up, Silverstream began to contemplate.
‘What to do? What to do? I don’t know what it is or where it came from, but I have to do something! But what?’
Finally the young hippogriff had an idea and said to the unconscious creature, “Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon!”
With that, Silverstream flew away to get help.