Their final night at Blissful Pastures was an uneasy one for the Equestrians, with the upcoming conflict looming larger than ever in everypony's mind. At dawn creatures got to work striking the meadow camp, returning everything of use to the hold of the EAS Harmony.
The dirt shark airship arrived a little after noon, the thrum of propellers and trail of smoke across the sky giving the ponies plenty of warning. Plated in solid steel and with gun barrels poking out in all directions, the Leverage projected a sense of durability and restrained menace. It was somewhat smaller than the Harmony, but still a sizeable craft.
Pegasi soon flitted out to buzz around the two ships, pushing them into towing position and attaching a stout rope between the two. Preparations for departure took only ten minutes, and for the first time in two months the converted Storm Army battlewagon got underway, albeit as an air barge trailing behind the shark cruiser.
Firesteel had been magnanimous in extending his invitation to the pony's allies, so the gillfolk came along for the ride. The flock of native griffons flew escort, in formation with the Second Chance. Even Abernathy agreed it was time to take a holiday, leaving Blissful Pastures deserted (unless his mysterious brothers really were hiding in the jungle).
The trip to Triskelion Mine was slow and tense going, with every creature expecting drow copters to swoop in at any moment. If any drow were in the sky that day though, they did nothing more than watch.
Clashing Gale stood at the railing, watching the island of Blissful Pastures recede into the distance behind them. Safe haven for the last two months, inhabited only by the chompy beasts and that strange green biped, now abandoned. Ahead the engines of the heavily armoured dirt shark ship chugged along, dragging them toward the twisting rocky spirals of Triskellion Mine.
The batpony was less than sanguine about the prospect, ears twiching and hooves scraping at the deck in frustration. Sharks - ruthless opportunistic mercenaries in his view, not a trace of Harmony to be found in their one visit. Was this really their best option? The captain seemed to think so, and he had to admit, third mate or not she hadn't steered them wrong yet.
He turned away from the railing and went below, glad to be out of the midday sun. His transformation had blessed him with the ability to see in pitch darkness, but at the cost of making midday a painful ordeal. The sleek blue stallion stalked through the ship's corridors, blinking the soreness out of his eyes.
He headed for the one spot that had become refuge and clubhouse for the former storm piercer crew, now representatives of the undead: the little workshop and parts store just behind the Storm Piercer's main equipment bay. Lightning Bottle had been more than willing to share it with the rest of them, particularly after the loss of Raindrops, the other technician. Clashing quietly pushed the door open, walking in on Cloud Cutter addressing the rest of the team.
“Fine,” Cloud Cutter said with flat ears, as the rest of her fellow former weather team gathered around her like a bunch of empty eyed zombies, like her, “It’s not good news, and I told you it’s not good news, but you’re right, you have a right to know. And it is... bothering me. I just don’t know what to do. Telling you won’t help, but... fine.”
Her ears unfolded slightly as she said: “We met an ancient spirit, apparently one of the greatest cat-centaur mages, and not even he knew how to stop being like this. This wretched half-existence that only brings death on others.”
She gazed off vaguely as she explained: “Logoros himself had been that way since the disaster destroyed most of these islands several centuries ago. The closest he'd ever heard to anyone getting this Undead out of them was a group of witches thousands of years before him. They cooked up something called 'distilled life', but all they ended up with was even more undead, and having to drink blood on top of it.”
With a peeved snort, she declared curtly, “Vampires straight out of a bad horror novel, who have to kill, and even love killing other fellow creatures. Hopelessly predatory, relying on their hypnotic powers just to make others like them. That’s the best they could—what? Why are you pointing behind me?”
Cloud Cutter turned, and the pegasus’s purple ears went from flat back, to drooping down, as she said faintly, “Oh... hello sir. I was just uhm, giving them the um, bad news. Sorry uhm, I’m sure being a vampire is... fine?” Her muzzle curled into a most terrible attempt at an appeasing smile.
The reaction from the small crowd of listening ponies was subdued. To them it seemed obvious by now that this was bound to happen, as if the universe conspired at every turn to make sure they'd be stuck with their new fate. The pegasus Silver Frost, now as purple as the rest of them, gave a single flap then settled down, hanging her head low. "Looks like I've got a long life of being purple and inscrutable ahead of me yet..." she murmured softly.
Next to her Spring Breeze seemed thoughtful: "At least it's better than having died... I think..." - a quick glance at Clashing - "S'long as we don't run out of sheep."
Clashing snorted and stamped a hoof on the deck, membranous wings half-spread, staring at Cloud Cutter with a sudden fire in his eyes: "You know damn well I had no idea I was doing that to the Captain! I'd never... uh," he glanced around at the shocked faces of his ponies. "Look, it won't happen again," he said, voice clipped.
"And yeah... vampire's no so bad, yes I have a hunger now, but mindless insects suffice." He didn't mention the urges, the dreams he kept having had of chasing down more challenging prey, sucking out their life as their futile struggles ebbed to silence. No need to alarm the others; instead he flashed a wry, charming smile as he said "And I was just out in the midday sun and haven't caught fire or crumbled into ash, so that's a plus."
Turning back to the others, Cloud Cutter warily admitted, “I may have been a bit too harsh on that. Dr. Gale is right, and he’s dealing with this better than... some of us.” Finally looking Clashing in the eye, she added: “I’m sorry, I’m just upset, and possibly making things out to be worse than they are, but... I just don’t want to kill anymore. And all we found was another dead end.”
Silver Frost lifted a hoof, saying meekly: "I mean, it's not like draining life is all that bad... Right? Griffons are carnivores, and they aren't bad critters just for being like that." The lack of confidence in her eyes suggested she was trying to reassure herself more than Clashing Gale.
The stallion favoured Silver with a little grin, then turned back to Cloud Cutter, the unofficial second-in-command of their little group. "I really don't know what's worse, Cloud: having your essence taken and replaced with... nothing, or replaced with something... vital and thrilling, but also predatory and alien and, uh... un-pony. Academic I guess since we have no idea how to make that potion, if it's even still possible."
Cloud Cutter nodded at that, adding, "So our chief operator is the only one who has to deal with... all the interesting aspects of being a vampire. The rest of us are just... animated corpses who don't know better than to just lie down and give it up. We all must have died in the Storm Piercer malfunction, and Undead revived us, meaning there's only one way to return to normal. Which is to... die again, for real this time, if that's even possible."
The thought of 'dying again' turned heads in the audience, most not wanting to consider such a prospect. As much as being Undead dampened your volition and connection to the living world, it's still easier to cling onto it than to even think about something so... drastic and upsetting. Especially with that whispering void inside you, just waiting to welcome you into eternal stillness...
Clashing grimaced, his voice full of concern as he said "Don't say that, CeeCee!" He'd brushed off the Doctor's notion of the mare being suicidal, but maybe the hippogriff was right to be concerned. He cocked his head before saying: "Look... there might be something else. You know you flew off before we'd finished talking to the spirit? Missed the last bit."
She blinked at Clashing's question, only curious for a moment, saying in mild surprise, "Oh, what did he have to say?" before she turned her nose down, sighing, and looked away.
"Well, after you left, Doctor Reef Skimmer laid into the spirit," Clashing Gale answered. "Said it was unacceptable and you deserved better. For a minute I thought we were going to end up in a fight with a ghost archmage, but then somehow he turned it around and they were all chummy."He shook his head: Water elementals didn't have charm powers, did they?
"Reef had this idea of 'aligning' you to Air as well as Undead, and he got Logoros to go along with it. Sort of anyway, he said it was a long shot and only one creature in history had ever pulled it off, but... that's worth a shot, isn't it?" he said encouragingly. Anything to get Cloud Cutter out of her current funk. "I mean Azure Feather's as much of a pegasus as any of us now - maybe more."
"That's... is that really possible?!" Mystic Rune blurted out. The only unicorn in the group, she'd been hit hard by the near-erasure of her magical talents. "Is there a version for unicorns as well?"
With a slightly less terrible attempt at a smile, Cloud Cutter said: “Oh well that would be... nice? Kind of Reef to ask. I might be more useful if I could put my weather studies to use again.” The pegasus mare had to deliberately sigh, as breathing wasn’t obvious to her anymore, before saying darkly: “It would probably just make me even better at killing.”
Silver Frost slowly blinked, then leaned forward eagerly. "W-wait... can anyone do this? It's not just a Cloud Cutter thing, right?" The absurdity of it struck her even as she spoke, but she wanted... needed something to put her hope in. "I mean, one creature in history beats zero, right?"
That finally seemed to get through to Cloud Cutter. “Yes, Silver! I’m sure you would love to get your magic back in order,” she said with a grateful smile to the other mare, “It had better not be only me, that would just be silly.”
Clashing looked away, worried that if he didn't he might accidentally use his magical charm again. "That's right," he told the group at large, "if we're ever going to get back to Equestria, we've got to get our abilities back. The whole crew is counting on us to make the Storm Piercer work again. So I expect you all to try your best." They were all highly trained ponies with a strong sense of duty - if anything was going to take their minds off their predicament, this was it. He didn't want to think about what would happen if they tried and failed.
The stallion nodded to Cloud Cutter: "I admit I'm hopeful it might work for Azure Feather too. Turning from a unicorn to a pegasus... it's not an easy thing, and she misses her horn as well." A glance at the fretting yet hopeful Mystic Rune, and he concluded with: "I guess that means we're looking for three separate super-magical spots: Air/Undead, Magic/Undead and Air/Magic. Doesn't matter. However long it takes, we're doing this. I'm sure the Captain will agree."
Silver Frost held a hoof to her head, lowering her gaze and thinking hard. It was important to remember, after so long without anything to focus one's mind and talents on, that yes, the Storm Piercer team were the only way the ship could get home. If only they could get our magic back... and who's to say they couldn't? The Cloudbreak Islands were a huge floating archipelago: so far they'd only explored a tiny fraction. "...However long it takes," she echoed, nodding in agreement as she looked into Clashing's eyes. Was that a flicker of a smile on her face for just a moment?
Clashing nodded enthusiastically; this was the most animated he'd seen his team in weeks. "From what Logoros said, that means finding this special place where Air and Undead mix, and then... convincing some spirits somehow?" he pondered. "If Azure's experience is anything to go by, that means running through some illusionary challenges. Like flying through hoops, real or metaphorical, 'til the spirits are appeased."
“Air and Undead is easy,” Cloud Cutter said with a roll of her empty white eyes. “Just find the stagnant air in an ancient tomb or something.”
"...actually, Logoros said something about an 'Eternal Organ'," Clashing said, "so for all our sakes I hope you can still carry a tune."
By nightfall the Harmony was securely berthed at the shark's sky docks, built into cliffs amid blockhouses bristling with cannon. Trade Wind immediately began taking the shark dockmaster to task about the planned renovations, while Nutmeg Inferno and Steady Brace began discussions with the shark engineers and foremen. They quickly agreed to dismantling the Storm Piercer and stow it in the nearby caves: nopony wanted to take that fragile and irreplaceable device into combat. Set Sail sighed with relief as she saw the shining steel propellors waiting to be installed. Despite (or perhaps because of) Firesteel's charming matter, she'd had a recurring fear that the sharks had no intention of making good on their promises.
With a busy day of work planned out for tomorrow, the explorers happily accepted their host's invitation to experience 'real dirt shark hospitality'. No executive lounge this time; small groups of creatures began to head up into Garnet Glutch, a sizable town of miners, steelworkers and dock hands. The bars were already doing a steady trade, and the arrival of sixty ponies, griffons and gillfolk (most of whom hadn't seen shore leave for months) kicked things into high gear.
The night was young, and Nutmeg Inferno was beside herself with excitement, the red ruffed kirin peeking out through a porthole at the dirt shark town beyond. She’d only heard of the place before, and glimpsed it as the copter had flown over. Now they were actually going to let her have access to their main society! The real stuff, no tiptoeing around gated access by high level executives. She wanted to get sooooo drunk.
She couldn’t risk it though. She had a good thing going here, and the slightest mistake could turn everything awry. But that didn’t stop her from analysing the situation from a distance, and planning on what she’d do if she could go make a fool of herself, and hoping... however much she could hope about anything.
She was looking over the balcony again with most of the rest of the crew already away and out on the town. No explosions yet, though from what Nutmeg knew about the mostly-pegasus crew, it was highly likely the day would end in a tornado or two. She didn’t even notice the approach from behind, until an avian claw tapped her on the smooth golden scales slightly conforming around her shoulder.
"...Hey.” Grenelda cocked her head to the side, beak agape in an expression of interest. "I see that look on your face. Eager to get out of that stuffy engine room and hit the town, aren'tcha? I'm coming with. Gettin' blackout drunk's more fun with a friend, anyway." A harsh cackle. "So, I dunno anything about this place, but they look like the kind of folk that'll appreciate a good drink. Let's pick a random place and hit it up - ready?"
“Oh... oh sure!” Nutmeg said enthusiastically, looking back at the griffon. There was a blue pegasus mare just behind her: Azure Feather, the Air elemental warrior. She used to be a unicorn, incredibly! “I was just thinking about heading down there, and you sound like you know your way around a good drink!" the kirin enthused. "Random place sounds great! Can’t be anything but, until we find where the good drinks are, right?” Peeking around Grenelda, Nutmeg added uneasily, “Uh, why is Azure looking at us funny?”
To say Azure Feather's mind wasn't fully interested in this party, this day off was no understatement - but the Captain had given her a task for the evening: watching over a mobile fire hazard and an over-enthusiastic griffon. Lovely... her mind was on the battle ahead. Still trying to plan everything in perfect balance between packing enough punch and not having many casualties... her wings felt like lead at the mere thought. Still, she would keep watch over these two, as the Captain had willed it.
Grenelda squinted back at Azure's wordless expression, and chortles. "Probably worried we're gonna go on a drunk rampage and burn the place down or something. Maybe she can loosen up a lil' and join us, huh?" Clearly saying the words as though expecting Azure to eavesdrop on 'em. "Anyway, y'ready, Nutmeg?"
“C’mon, Azure!” Nutmeg said, waving to the blue and purple pegasus pony, “Grenelda and I are having a night on the town!” The little kirin frowned, then added: "And possibly an early morning as well, depending on the gold-to-alcohol exchange rate!"
Azure heard the click of claws on steel, felt the gentle wash of warm air before she heard the voice. "Azure Feather." Low, almost a growl, but as full of warmth as its owner. "Will you be joining us on shore leave? Sounds like your crew could use the break. And, uh... I don't get many chances to unwind myself, these days. Wouldn't mind some pleasant company to pass the evening." Sunburn favoured Azure with a smile, then followed her gaze to Nutmeg and joined her in staring at the kirin. Then he chuckled, saying "This should be interesting."
Grenelda gives a hearty slap-hug around Nutmeg's side, grinning over to Azure and Sunburn! "Yeah, see? Sunburn knows what's up. Live a little! Relax! We're not fighting right now. You'll burn out if you act like that all the time!"
The phoenix-dragon jostled Azure with a wing. "Come on. No sense trying to do tactical sims until you've got the intel, and you won't have that until tomorrow."
Azure Feather just stared at Sunburn for a few moments, stress and worry written all over her face, then sighed. "It all sounds so easy when you put it that way." She shook her head; part of her just couldn't stop weighing the options, possible tactics, likely casualties... and all this depending on a stupid pegasus grunt who knew very little of these strange lands. Even her own forces were largely a mystery, never mind the enemy. Sill... for now, she'd at least keep watch. Control what she could. "Sure, I'll go..." she said unsurely.
And with that reluctant assent they were off: four mismatched creatures heading into a mining town built by bipedal land-sharks for a night of alcoholic revelry.
Nutmeg took the lead, bounding down the gangplank to hop lightly onto the land of this unquiet night. The unlikely quartet made their way up through the docks and warehouses to the town proper. It was built on both sides of a ravine, and in places down into it: the gap was criss-crossed by iron latticework bridges. The air was filled with the muted roar of hundreds of sharks making merry, but cutting through the din were strings of booms and thuds, like a dozen separate drummers playing their own drum solos.
The lights were fascinating, and the sounds were making the kirin's ears turn every which way. “Did you mean a random place within visual range?” she asked curiously, looking back at the others, “Or should I do a survey of the surrounding area?”
Sunburn loped after Nutmeg, calling out: "I'm buying." He tapped a pouch with a claw, making the coins inside clink, "I've been lugging this gold around forever. Could recommend a place on the north side... at least, if it's still standing. That was seventy-three years back."
Grenelda snuck a side glance - and a quick 'ooh' - at Sunburn's laden gold pouch; she clearly had no objections. "Nah, Nutmeg - you don't have to pick literally randomly. Just arbitrarily, ya know? Like, what about that place?" She thrusts a claw at a nearby pub - the doors swinging open as a landshark strolls out with a merry laugh, showing the inner illumination, benches with patrons and clinking of glasswork. Ooh, and even a few thumps of those strange... drums? "That place looks like it's popular enough to hold a decent clientele - good enough for me!"
Azure followed along dutifully. Sunburn was right about lacking intel, and... even The Lieutenant must have had a day off at times. Still, she had her assignment, and she would give it all of her focus. She couldn't let the Captain down again.
Colourful lights adorned the walls of the Drink and Drum, with basic metal light fixtures flickering intermittently overhead in the aged timbers of the roof. There was a shark or four at the bar with two rows of multi-coloured bottles behind. There was also a bartender shark clad in a neat vest suit, complete with a probably-fake moustache.
A few tables were set aside to the right, with a pair of sharks playing cards at one, and to the left instead of a pool table there was a whole array of what looked like giant drums. A land shark couple who looked like they’d had a bit too much were laughing and cavorting on the drums, falling over half the time they actually jumped on them, until a mid-air collision and a misstep finally catapulted them off a drum to crash into a disoriented heap against the wall, still laughing weakly.
Grenelda surveyed the premises: 'Cards? Hmm, I usually get mad instead of making smart plays with those. Probably a bad idea. Woah, what are those drum trampoline thingies? Cool... Okay, you're getting distracted, Grenelda. Focus on the main attraction!' She gave Sunburn a little 'come here' nudge and approached the bartender. The griffon awkwardly scrambling up onto a stool, looking like an oversized hawk crammed onto a too-small perch. "Yo. whatcha got that's strong enough?"
The bartender ambled over, sizing up his feathered customers. "You're a northerner, right? And, uh... fire griffon? Not that it matters, we serve all comers at the Drum! You want the hard stuff? Whiskey, gin, tequila, take your pick. Even got a bottle of cloud wine here, if yer feeling rich."
Sunburn just gestured with a claw, suggesting it was up to the griffon. He spied a trio of crewponies at a corner table: two mares fiddling with their hooves and not sure what to do with themselves, and one male with membranous wings. "I'm buying," he called out, "if you guys wanna get intoxicated."
Clashing Gale was happy to accept. The stallion strolled over to the bar, seemingly in better spirits than before, if still quiet and reserved compared to his pre-vampire self. Sunburn quickly sized up the bat-winged equine. "Clashing Gale, isn't it? Doubt this establishment has the right fluids to inebriate an Undead creature. Feel free to give it a shot, though."
Grenelda clicked her beak. Cloud wine? Oooh, now that sounded fancy. She took full advantage of Sunburn's charity, nodding her head and reaching over to jingle that fat wallet. "Cloud wine, yeah! I'll eagerly add that to the list of things I've imbibed!" She grinned over at Nutmeg and Clashing: "Say. Either of you two lovely ponies brave enough to try it with me?"
Sunburn raised a feathery eyebrow at Grenelda, but forked over a clawful of gold, dumping it on the bar to the delight of the bartender. The shark disappeared into a storage room and came back with a glass bottle full of swirling blue fluid. He gave it a little shake, causing tiny flashes of light to shimmer within the bottle.
"Smuggled in from Skylantis itself!" he proclaimed, popping the cork and unleashing a thundercrack that echoed around the bar. Several sharks cheered and clapped, while two at the back made a wager on whether the griffon would be able to finish the bottle before losing consciousness. The phoenix-dragon took a whiskey on the rocks for himself, while the ponies accepted foaming mugs of lager as the best available substitute for cider.
Nutmeg looked at all the bottles, making a random selection, but then her head snapped to look at the giant drums. “Ohh blazes there they are!” she pronounced, forgetting about the bar entirely to bodily leap onto a drum. The trampoline-like device catapulted her forward, all the way across the bar to smack flat on her back against the wall. Not fazed in the slightest, she pushed off the wall to land on a drum again, and this time made it from one to the other in two bounces before again tumbling off in a heap.
Clashing Gale couldn't help but stare at the acrobatic kirin. With a shrug, he flapped over to the drums. "Care if I join you for this? Could remind me of my old self, and uh..." He cast a gaze at the blue pegasus still standing warily by the bar. "Hey Azure, maybe it'd do you some good too, y'know? Loosen up a bit, you're looking worse than the old Captain of the Guard on a bad day!" he called out. Azure answered with only a few confused blinks.
Grenelda chuckled in amusement as she watched the kirin and batpony bounce around together. Then her attention snapped right back at the sight of the cloud wine, expression lifting. "Holy cow that is sweet. Yo, Azure, check this out!" She tipped the bottle right back and started pouring it straight into her beak, gulping the crackling liquid down with little hesitation.
When Nutmeg started bouncing around like a pinball Azure had braced herself for disaster... but no, it seemed this was normal for patrons here. The little deer-like creature seemed to be having fun, so... best to leave her be. At the sound of her name she looked around and... oh. This didn't inspire confidence: a drunk griffon would be difficult to control even on a good day. An average drunk griffon, never mind Grenelda. The pegasus could only shake her head slowly: likely this would not turn out well...
"Hey, uh, whatever you are!" a shark called out to the still frantically bouncing Nutmeg Inferno. "It's supposed to make a tune, see!" She jabbed with a stubby finger at a diagram painted on the wall, showing sequences of drums to jump on. There were several patterns, of increasing length and difficulty.
“I’m Nutmeg!” Nutmeg called back to the dirt shark in mid-leap, “Thanks a lot!” She proceeded to pound out the first few patterns with a mechanical precision, before landing beside the drums with a thump of her own, all smiles. “I didn’t think it would be so...” she said to herself, then blinking and declaring in alarm, “Oh no I forgot about my drink!”
Grenelda chortled at the apparently now musical maestro Nutmeg; she gestured magnanimously with one claw, the half-full bottle of cloud wine held tightly in the other. Trickles of lightning danced around the hen's beak, and she looked buzzed already. "Yeah, Nutmeg! You neeeed to try this stuff. If you dare, haha! *hic* It's shSO strong. Tastes like real lightning!"
Nutmeg's performance drew cheers and hollers from the sharks gathered around. As the smiling kirin bounded eagerly toward Grenelda, a draconic claw grabbed her shoulder. "Not afraid to be the centre of attention, are you?" Sunburn said, beak hanging slightly open. "But you might want to stick to something with less of a charge." He pushed a small glass of honey-coloured liquid her way.
The kirin hopped up onto a bar stool, ducking as Grenelda swung the bottle of cloud wine her way. “No, I uh...” Nutmeg gave the crackling bottle a wide-eyed and very wary look, “That looks... way too strong for me. I’ll just take a...” she paused again, to turn and look shyly at Sunburn. “...t-that,” Nutmeg concluded, curling a two toed hoof around the glass of honey-coloured liquid and sliding it in front of her.
Grenelda huffed at that. "H-hey, I've got things totally under control here!" she protested, her poofy, static-cling feathers spreading out in all directions. A little *bzzt* travelled from her to Sunburn as she poked him with a claw for emphasis. "Buuut.... yeah alright get me one of those too. Gotta pashe myself."
Sunburn snatched the bottle away and replaced it with more whiskey. "Here; this looks more like your speed, Azure Feather. Might be just the thing, for a Champion of Air."
Azure shrank back: she'd just seen a demonstration of the cloud wine's effects, clear as day. Lightning in a bottle was never this literal until that moment... and now that drunken griffon would be even more uncontrollable. Still... she guessed this was what happened if you had no shore leave for months, trapped on an island threatened by pirates. The crew wanted to unwind and she couldn't blame them for it.
Grenelda downed the whiskey in a few quick gulps, slid off the stool, and slunk away from the bar. Time to see what these drums were are all about, huh? She walked up to one and side-squinted at it: "You make music with these, huh?" Tap tap tap. Drum drum drum. Not much response when you use your claws. So she did the logical thing: backed up and flung her whole body onto the nearest drum-trampoline, wings flapping awkwardly and legs going in all directions.
The sight of the flailing electrified griffon was too much for Azure Feather. At long last, a tiny smile made its way onto her face. Sunburn was regarding her one of those avian stares again... "I'm supposed to be watching over Nutmeg and Grenelda and-" She was indeed doing so, and said adult griffon was currently throwing themselves at giant drums without a care in the world was. Her gaze travelled down to the glass of cloud wine in the dragon's claw. "...Damn it."
Sunburn snorted tiny jets of flame as he watched the griffon's antics. "She's just having fun," he said, "after all there's just one of her. Likely Gustus, Ebony and the rest of her flock are making more of a scene."
A quick sip then a surprised cough, as Azure regarded the bottle in a new light. "Pegasi back home would give their left pinions for this... ugh, Celestia was kind this day." Her tiny smile slowly broadened into a wide grin as she drained the whole glass.
Nutmeg just sat there perched with her forelegs on the bar, looking down at her drink. She poked her nose into the glass and drank a delicate sip, but then went back to perching there quietly contemplating it.
Meanwhile Clashing Gale was frantically ducking out of the way of Grenelda, as the griffon careened around the airspace above the drums. Catching sight of Azure, he called out over the drumbeats: "Hey, griffon... looks like you've got either a drinking buddy or a competitor... I'm not sure which one."
Grenelda sensed opportunity and flapped towards the bar, crash-landing near the others and sending a couple of stools flying. Her beak widened as she cawed out: "Sunburn, keep us topped up. You've got gold for days, right?" Then the hen leeeaned in to watch Azure closely, her claw held out to receive a mug of something sloshing and fizzing from the dragon, which she immediately began draining.
"You're going to be *so* nice and relaxed when we're done. Y'all need it bad, trust me."
Spurred on by the griffon's efforts, time passed into the night, and soon both fliers were well and thoroughly buzzed, Grenelda's cheeks were red enough to see through her feathers as she hiccupped: "Y'know, with those wingsh of yours - hic - you ever get tempted to, just, like, go ham and make tornadoes over the placesh, just to show that you can? Eheheh - I know I would. You're damn good at holding back with powers like yours."
Azure Feather wasn't faring much better. She really hadn't intended to finish the bottle of cloud wine, but Grenelda was right: she'd needed it. The pegasus was definitely relaxed now, more than she'd been since... well, ever since she could remember. Listening to the gryphon talk about her powers though... Azure shook her head widely. "Nah, nah... y'know how it is, in the guard, you fail discipline, you get chewed out... plus one for me on that, as my Lieutenant... sheesh, you think I need to lighten up... phew, you ain't seen her..." A huge smile was plastered on her face as she tried to imagine her old Lieutenant with a bottle of that stuff!
"See that's really the difference, between the bad guys... and the good guys," Sunburn said slowly, "Bad guys blow up whatever they want, good guys have to keep track of the set of stuff you're not allowed to blow up, and the set of stuff you are allowed to blow up. Which is bad guys and their stuff... for the most part."
He struck a philosophical pose, observing the chaotic trajectories of four bouncing sharks (the chaos came mostly from the fact they bounced off each other almost as often as the drums). "Now that I think about it, that definition is sort of recursive."
The night wore on, further drinks were consumed and things began to blur into a warm haze. The group stumbled out onto the street, where a green earth pony was circling around a heavily scarred shark. It turned out Blaze Trails had bet Rockhammer that she could knock him down before he could pin her. The burly shark might as well have been made of granite himself, with her drunken bucks not quite enough to topple him, while every time he went for the grapple she twisted through his clumsy arms like butter.
A circle of onlookers quickly materialised, and someshark began to take bets. The cheering drew the attention of a trio of griffs flying above, and with much squawking and flapping they landed clumsily in the street, scattering angry sharks to each side. Somehow Ebony Hail ended up in a claw-wrestling contest with Sunburn, while Indigo Burst challenged Static Signal to a race to the nearest cloud and back (both of them missed the cloud). Creatures were dispatched to the bars for further drinks and snacks and in no time a very rowdy street party had erupted.
Soon, Blaze Trails was in a stumbly pile on the ground, groaning and submitting defeat to the proverbial wall of shark in front of her. Grenelda got into a shouting match about who was the toughest creature, that nearly escalated into a bar fight. Fortuantely she was distracted by the commotion outside, nagging Azure to come join in the fun with her. But the blue pegasus was very comfortable sitting by the bar, reduced to a quietly smiling pile of pony. The bottle of cloud wine was long gone, and a very happy Air Elemental was just taking in the sights and contenting herself with that.
Giving up on her companion, Grenelda half-flapped, half-sprinted out of the bar, shrieking with fearless excitement as she loses herself in the crazed, chaotic, drunken energy of the outside atmosphere. That left Azure alone with Clashing Gale: pretty much the only one of them still clear-headed. Sunburn's prediction that there was nothing here strong enough to affect him much was proven correct, so he just sat back and watched the party.
“Woooooo!” Nutmeg cheered as she ran along through the street with at least three establishment proprietors chasing after her. The kirin’s delight at the discovery of 'fire' vodka that you could actually set on fire was only matched by her complete inability to drink it, spilling it all over her face and fluff, and promptly catching fire in the good way.
“I’m on ffffire!” she cheered, as one of the proprietors was forced to abandon the chase by a rather large explosion in the growing blaze consuming his establishment. The kirin trailed smoking fragments of a net that had been used to capture her, escaping when the fire managed to burn through it as everyshark tried to figure out how she was just sitting there on fire, and how to put it out after she crashed into a lantern, getting kerosene all over her in the second place.
A very exasperated Sunburn exploded into existence, blowing back but not extinguishing Nutmeg’s puny alcohol and oil fire. Grabbing the wiggling kirin under his scaly arm, he declared, “Go put out your fires. She’s with me.”
“Bye bye!” Nutmeg declared happily, waving a foreleg vaguely in the direction of the four bar owners still chasing her. Wait no, three. Okay now four. “I love youuuu!” she told her four new friends as her fellow fire friend dragged her into an awesome burning tunnel of fire, appearing with a flash of flames by a city fountain, and dropping her into it, holding her down until the tipsy kirin was extinguished, licks of flame still flaring up from the oily spots around her as she lay on her back and giggled into the starry sky.
Of course the angry sharks weren't going to give up that easily - Sunburn ended up tossing the last of his coins onto the ground as a distraction and then flying away from the resulting scrum. He kept the wiggling, giggling kirin held firmly in his claws as he glided back to the ship. With that source of amusement removed the remaining ponies did their best to teach the sharks a selection of Equestrian songs, but somepony always forgot a line or switched into a different song entirely, prompting gales of laughter.
The party was left to slowly wind down, creatures staggering away in twos and threes as fatigue got the better of them. Several griffons ended up roosting in attics, figuring that if they could get the windows open that was as good as an invitation. Sliptail the gill-woman had to reassure several sharks that her uncle hadn't drowned himself in a fit of melancholy; he was fully amphibious and just sleeping it off in that old water trough. At last the ponies trotted back to their airship, leaning on each other for support before finally collapsing into their bunks.