I reached up and knocked on the door to Corsica's lab.
No response. I figured I'd give it a minute and then leave without trying again; it had only been six hours since the party and she was probably still asleep. At the end of the hall, a bystander walked by, and I had to force myself not to be self-conscious in Corsica's new coat. My lingering unease about wearing something legitimately cool would make a perfect timer. Corsica had until my nerves about looking like this got the better of me, and then I was out of here.
Even though I was nervous, I didn't let that interfere with my act. This coat wasn't for skulking around and getting overlooked. It was for getting noticed, and if I didn't carry myself right, I'd look legitimately bad instead of deliberately bad. The difference was hard to explain, the kind of thing I knew by instinct and not by logic, but I was certain it was there.
So far, it was doing its job. I had noticed far more lingering looks than I usually got - more than most normal ponies got, at that. One upside that I hadn't considered before wearing it was that there probably weren't many ponies who matched me now with the scruffy urchin I usually presented as, and not only because they didn't remember the normal me. This could potentially be useful as an alter ego!
Or maybe I had no data points and was overselling it to myself. And besides, did I even want an alter ego when I already had issues with suspecting I was a different pony when I took off my-
Corsica cracked open the door.
"How are you already up?" she croaked, looking like she had used her own mane as a nest.
I shrugged. "Never went to sleep. Bad time?"
Corsica didn't seem to process what I had said, leaning against the door frame in a frumpy daze. "Party crash..."
I nodded appraisingly. "Why don't you just go back to sleep, and I'll drop by again in..." I glanced over her shoulder at the dimly-lit clock. "Three hours."
"You woke me up," Corsica protested, staying in the door and doing absolutely nothing. "You get to deal with it..."
"Dunno what your angle is," I replied, gently pushing her back inside and closing the door. "Go back to bed."
Mumbling sounded from the other side of the door.
I walked away, shaking my head. Oh well. I wasn't sure where Ansel was, but at least I could check over some of the things Gerardo mentioned in the library and try to corroborate them for myself.
How had I managed to make best friends with someone who was so not a morning pony?
The library, to my astonishment, actually contained mention of Writs of Harmonic Sanction, Gerardo's elusive goal.
Mystical magical scrolls allegedly sought by a goddess struck me as the last possible thing that would make it through Icereach's censorship wall, and yet, here they were. A thick, hundred-year-old tome on the Yakyakistani imperial financial system and international trade lay open before me, and deep in between chapters describing historical bartering practices and the forced adoption of currency during the imperial expansion, I found what I was looking for.
"The rarest tender with which the Church paid its debts was the Writ of Harmonic Sanction," I read aloud, muttering under my breath. "Only and exactly one is minted every year. The same writs are distributed in the same fashion by the Griffon Empire, making them the only form of currency that is officially recognized from end to end of the world."
My eyes scanned further along the page. "Along with their extreme rarity, Writs of Harmonic Sanction contain a single-use magic spell that targets the caster and has no readily discernible effects or applications. However, a second well-guarded spell can reveal whether a creature has ever used a Writ of Harmonic Sanction, making them function as a permanent and non-transferable mark of high favor among those few who can detect them. In this way, an unused writ commands a unique monetary value, while a creature who has used one holds a unique societal status. While useless to many, these spells are highly sought-after, and even individual writs can form the centerpieces to lifelong collectors' portfolios. Collecting more than two is nigh unheard of."
I reread the passage multiple times. Nigh unheard-of to get more than two, huh? I had three, stolen from the hideout where I had been stranded, and Gerardo... Well, who knew how many he had.
Hopefully I wouldn't ever run into anyone who had the spell that could detect their use. Although, if I did, the mark was apparently unstealable, so it wasn't like anyone would try to rob me, and they definitely wouldn't expect I would have more... It was good to know I hadn't broken one, at least?
How much did I trust this book, though? I stepped back to think about this. On the one hoof, its publication date was substantially older than I was, and therefore the institute as well. That meant someone would have had to tamper with it by hoof to hide something on Icereach's behalf. And, now that I had read this, I could agree it didn't exactly scream supernatural.
On the other, the world had changed a lot in the last hundred years, and even if true, this information could be badly out of date. Besides, this was Icereach I was talking about. The ultimate research killjoys. And yet, what what the book told me about the scrolls' effects lined up well enough with what Gerardo had said. He claimed they did nothing and were merely rare, and this description didn't render any of that untrue. All they really did was make you rare too.
Whatever the case, I still suspected there was more to them than what I knew. If two empires on the opposite ends of the world both knew the secret to creating them, and they were thus far unforgeable, that spoke to some force maintaining the status quo. A setup like that, especially for distributing something so desired and rare, sounded to me like it would face tremendous pressure to implode. There had to be something unseen keeping it working for it to stand the test of time. Neither Gerardo nor Icereach was telling me everything.
...I thought back to my earlier wondering if the writ I had used had actually been a spell to give me miraculously good luck. I use a spell with no tangible effects, yet is one of the most valuable things in the world, and suddenly fate bends over backwards to accommodate me? If I was some elite in knowing possession of a spell like that, spreading false rumors about its mundanity certainly sounded like a smart thing to do.
Interesting. I sighed resolutely, closed the book, and got to my hooves. This would merit further investigation later.
This time, when I knocked on Corsica's door, it didn't take as long for her to answer. She slid it open, sized me up, and nodded... and I took in her appearance too. She still hadn't brushed her mane.
I raised an eyebrow. "Three hours not enough?"
She shrugged. "You're all dressed up. Figured someone's gotta keep the universe in balance." Then she opened the door all the way, the lights already on inside, and beckoned me in. "What's up?"
"Usually, you keep yourself looking perfect," I pointed out, entering anyway. "You sure you're fully awake?"
Corsica yawned, but I suspected this one was mostly for show. "It'll take a day or three to fully sleep that off. So, enjoying the present?"
I glanced down at my new coat, trying not to feel self-conscious with my actually-brushed mane. "It's, err... well... useful. For some things. But, I feel like making a change, so here we are. Speaking of changes, how do you feel about going to Ironridge?"
"Same way I did yesterday." Corsica dug a bare hoof around in her ear, sitting on a swivel chair and rotating slowly. "Should I put thought into this, or just smile and wave?"
"I think I've waited long enough," I said. "After the Aldebaran stuff, I mean. I'm ready. I want to go."
"Okay," Corsica replied, still spinning.
"You, err..." I raised an eyebrow. "You wanna come too?"
Corsica shrugged. "Why not?"
I frowned, detecting that I wasn't being taken seriously. "You... wanna come ask Elise about it with me, right now? See if maybe we could get that offer we turned down six months ago?"
"Sure," Corsica mumbled.
"Okay." I got to my hooves, opening the door and stepping out. "Let's go."
"Wait a minute." Corsica straightened up, suddenly lucid. "You're actually serious? Not just trying to get me to perk up? I mean it, I'm fine..."
I tilted my head at her. "Fine? Never said you weren't. You okay?"
Corsica huffed and went back to spinning.
"I am serious, though," I told her. "I'll tell you all about it. But it's not like it can't wait if something's up..."
For a moment, Corsica stared at me, and then she nodded. "I'm secretly a powerful mage recovering from casting a spell that warped reality as we know it. Or, I'm an elite Ironridge ninja spy operative and haven't slept in forty-eight hours because every time you think I'm sleeping, I'm remote-controlling a Whitewing and infiltrating foreign governments. Or, I got a taste of whatever the yaks were drinking last night and now my head hurts. One guess as to what's up."
"I gotcha." I nodded back in understanding. "So, bad time, then?"
"I can focus if it's actually important," Corsica complained. "This is the second time you've come by. What happened?"
I chewed the inside of my cheek. "So, basically..."
"...And now you want to go to Ironridge again," Corsica finished, sounding much less out of it but still looking like a raspberry pink shag carpet with eyes. "That about it?"
"Well, technically I never stopped wanting to travel," I corrected. "But, yeah. I started talking with Gerardo, and one thing lead to another, and, well... Doesn't feel like it'll get all that much better if we keep waiting. He really made it sound like the only way we can learn is by doing, and that we're already a lot better than we think we are."
Corsica hummed in thought. "I suppose. You talked to Ansel yet?"
"Couldn't find him." I shook my head. "But, anyway, you on board?"
"I'll heckle Elise with you," Corsica agreed. "And Graygarden. But make me give the final call while running on fumes, and I'll just agree with whatever you have to say. Wait until tomorrow if you want a thoughtful answer."
"Wait a minute," I said, getting a cheeky grin. "You're saying that if I tell you to do something while you're this tired, you'll do whatever I ask?"
Corsica gave me a dangerous look. "Is that a bet? Push it, and be careful what you wish for."
I nodded. "Alright. Can I brush your mane?"
Corsica turned her back to me, yawned and sat down. "Oh. Sure, go right ahead..."
I hesitated, not expecting her to say yes and not having thought through what I was signing up for. "I mean, I wasn't being serious..."
"Wuss," Corsica declared.
So that was how it was, huh? "Listen," I gently told her. "Normally, I'd tell you you have a very nice mane, and brushing it would be like admiring a pretty sculpture. And normally, I'd tell you that right now, working on it would be like trying to restore a damaged painting, which is a lot less appreciation and a lot more work. But in this case?" I raised a serious eyebrow. "I don't think that metaphor's nearly violent enough to capture what you've got going on here. That mane should be described in terms of axes and chainsaws and stuff."
Corsica matched my expression, perfectly unflappable. "Then why'd you ask about it?"
I blinked. "Look, usually-"
She cut me off with a sassy smirk. "What did I say about being careful what you wish for?"
I narrowed my eyes at her.
"In your defense, I would have made you regret anything you could have asked," Corsica primly proclaimed, turning away from me again. "You can't win when I'm a lot more shameless than you are. But you said it, you bought it. All I want to do today is sleep off that party, so if you want me as an accessory to your scheming? Better make this presentable by yourself." She bounced her fluffy nest of a mane with one hoof like a lawyer resting a case.
"Fine," I relented. "Let's see what this takes. Got a brush anywhere...?"
If I was really in a hurry, I probably could have finished with Corsica's mane much faster than I wound up doing. It wasn't every day that I got to play with someone else's appearance, for a change, let alone someone whose looks held so much potential. And even though my future was waiting, I usually had better luck finding a hole in Elise's schedule the later in the evening it was, so stalling was technically productive! Never mind that it was barely past noon, let alone evening.
...Barely past noon. Maybe I should have let Corsica sleep a little longer.
There was no turning back now, though. Corsica looked peppy enough to hide her party fatigue, I was finally starting to focus less on what I looked like in Corsica's new coat, and the hallways of the administrative wing stretched out before us, beckoning with the hum of ventilation.
"You sure you want to do this without Ansel?" Corsica asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Hey, we just spent like twenty minutes looking for him," I pointed out. "Besides, I haven't seen him since the party. It's not like we're gonna commit to anything, just see if that offer's still valid. I'm not leaving him outside the loop."
Corsica stuck her tongue out. "That explanation's three times as long as it would be if you really believed it. Whatever. Bets on whether Elise is home?"
I shrugged. "Probably too early, but you never know until you know!"
With one hoof, I pushed the door open. Over the last six months, Elise had upgraded her office to a multi-roomed complex like Graygarden's, though instead of styling it like a throne room, she had moved her secretary into the lobby like a sensible administrator. The secretary, a bespectacled mare with a short gray ponytail called Marle, looked up as we arrived.
"Oh. It's you," she greeted, shuffling papers with her horn. We weren't quite familiar enough to call each other friends, but I was enough of a regular that she always knew what I wanted. "Elise is in a meeting with Head Scientist Graygarden that's scheduled to run until one. You might be able to catch her during her lunch break if you're determined, but I'd advise waiting if it's not important. It's a chaotic day at the office..."
"More chaotic than usual?" I asked casually, leaning on the desk.
"Took an unscheduled meeting with a foreigner at the crack of dawn, then cleared her schedule immediately after," Marle replied, looking at a ledger and not at me. "Hopefully it doesn't mean trouble. Hard not to remember the last time she changed all her plans the moment after some travelers appeared."
I tried not to wince, suddenly worried that my attempts not to be paranoid had made me miss something legitimately important. "Uh, yeah. Don't want that happening. But she's meeting with Graygarden?"
"Been in there ever since." Marle scribbled something with a highlighter. "Now, if you'll excuse me, the head of atmospheric friction shielding is upset about his own meeting getting canceled, and I need to compose a response..."
I saluted with a wing, wandering back towards Corsica.
"Oh, and nice new coat," Marle muttered after me as I left. "Looks better than the last one."
"Busy?" Corsica raised an eyebrow as we left the office. "Should have taken the bet."
"Can't have a bet if both of us guessed the same outcome." I nudged at her with a shoulder. "Anyway, it's not that far to one. Wanna go wait outside Graygarden's door for her to finish?"
Corsica shrugged. "Your call, not mine."
"Right then." I nodded, setting off at a brisk pace. "Camping doors we go."
I loitered within eyesight of Graygarden's door, brow furrowed in annoyance as my thoughts threatened to descend back to paranoia. I had been so eager and interested to get this show on the road mere moments ago, and now at the first sign of trouble, I was re-evaluating everything... All because Marle had told me that ever since Gerardo showed up, Elise was acting unusual. Or, at the very least, like something important had changed.
There were dozens of rational explanations for this. Odds were, Gerardo had told her some important businessy thing like an impending change in international patent laws or Varsidel threatening to get its act together and become a competitor. If I was the administrator of a scientific research colony, things like those would certainly merit clearing my schedule and hunkering down at the planning board.
Probably the least plausible thing that could be going on was that Gerardo and his crew were shapeshifters who had abducted and impersonated her during the meeting, accounting for her changed behavior. After all, I had just talked with Gerardo and Slipstream several times, visited their airship, and everything seemed great and perfectly in place. The only warning sign here whatsoever was Elise.
Only problem was, that was exactly how things went down six months ago.
"Come on," I growled at myself under my breath, knocking a hoof against my head. "No thinking like that. It happened once, but if it happens again, you're clearly under some sort of curse..."
"Huh?" Corsica asked, lounging against a wall beside me.
"Hey," I said, deciding I needed her opinion on this. "Gerardo seems cool, but apparently Elise is acting weird. Bad sign? This is exactly what happened last time."
Corsica didn't need any time to think. "He's good," she told me. "Or at least not in league with Aldebaran. Remember how fancy their ship was? If he was in the same circles, his would be way better."
I narrowed my eyes. On the one hoof, that didn't have anything to do whatsoever with Gerardo's moral fiber. On the other, how many factions of nefarious changelings intent on taking over Icereach could there be? It did feel like it would be pretty unlikely for him to have the same goal and powers while being cut off from the previous group's web of resources.
But, as had been established many times, my luck was very-
The door opened. Ansel stepped out.
I blinked, surprise yanking me out of my broodings. "Oi, where'd you come from?"
Ansel jumped a little, mirroring my surprise. "Hallie! I... Well, this is a coincidence. Believe it or not, I just got out of a meeting... You're not looking for anyone, are you?"
"Heard Elise was here," I explained. "Talking with Graygarden. What are you doing, hobnobbing with both of Icereach's bosses?"
"Getting hired for what might turn out to be the shortest gig of my career," Ansel explained, nodding over his shoulder at the door. "Why don't you head on in and see for yourself? I think they were going to take a break now that I'm done here."
I nodded, pushing open the door, which hadn't even clicked shut yet behind him. How strange it was that I could nearly paralyze myself with worry over changelings, yet stroll in on Icereach's head honchos without breaking a sweat... Maybe Gerardo was right that once you went through enough, you just got that much tougher.
Inside, Graygarden and Elise were sitting in their usual spots, the head scientist behind his grand desk and Elise off to the side. Graygarden gave me a look that asked if I had ever heard of knocking. I gave him one that asked if he had ever heard of using his reception room for its intended purpose.
"Halcyon," Elise said, wearing a perfect poker face as Ansel mimed something, my Aldebaran nerves simmering quietly on the back burner. "I'm surprised to see you at this hour. What can we do for you?"
I steeled myself and took a breath. So far, I hadn't committed to anything. If I really wanted to play it safe, this was the last chance to go back to my room, nothing ventured, and hide under my pillow for-
"Hey, Pops," Corsica said, stepping past me. "We're getting bored of Icereach. That offer you made six months ago still good?"
Graygarden gave Elise a flat look. Elise looked politely surprised. Ansel fell over laughing.
With that, the tension snapped, and I felt like I had been buried in a snow drift. "What?" I asked, glancing between everyone and realizing Elise was trying not to laugh too. "What's so funny?"
"Oh ho ho..." Ansel stood up, wiping a tear from his eye. "So, that gig I told you about? It was to find out how you two felt about exactly that idea."
I blinked. "Wait, what? Why?"
"Because, if you wanted to, this might be an opportune moment to go," Elise told me, keeping her voice professional and level. "Of course, given all of your histories, I wasn't sure if the offer would be in good taste. We wanted Ansel's opinion about whether it would be worth asking. But, I suppose it's suddenly a moot point."
"I was just talking with Gerardo, and... remembered some old dreams," I explained. "What do you mean, an opportune moment?"
"Exactly what it sounds like," Graygarden sighed, showing visibly more stress and age than he had six months ago. "If you wanted, the three of you could visit Ironridge, under the care of a trusted associate. There's an opportunity to do it more safely and cheaply than otherwise possible, at present. Though I assume you would need to talk about it first."
"What kind of associate?" I asked, cautious yet curious. "You mean Gerardo?"
"Not Gerardo," Elise explained, shaking her head. "Although we likely would offer to pay him to take you there. This would be Corsica's prospective stepmother."
Corsica blinked in realization. "Ohhh. Your mistress." She raised an eyebrow at Graygarden. "Isn't she a little... poofy?"
"I don't follow your meaning," Graygarden said dryly. "But she's honorable, and she's willing to do it. She'd keep you safe."
"What makes now a better time than earlier?" I pressed. "Did Gerardo bring a letter from her, or something?"
"No," Elise said. "But he did bring a detailed and trustworthy report about the conditions of the world abroad. This may or may not come as a surprise to you, Halcyon, given how much you gripe about Icereach's censorship, but sometimes we have difficulty staying accurately appraised of the comings and goings in the world as well. Now, while the news is fresh, we can be much more confident in what conditions you might encounter."
I nodded slowly in understanding. "So it's not use-it-or-lose-it like with Aldebaran. It's just you think the sooner we do it, the safer we'll be. What are you even afraid of, out there? More changelings, or stuff I've never heard of?"
"Mostly, the political and economic stability of the world," Elise answered. "Icereach is fortunate that both of its sponsors have coherent governments, but that isn't the prevailing state of the world at large. And, as your leaders, it is our duty to worry over whether our own sponsors might go the same way as countries like Varsidel and the former Griffon Empire. The last thing we could conscientiously allow is for you to be in a foreign nation when it collapses."
"Hold on, though," Ansel cut in. "Like, obviously that would be a bad thing, but if Ironridge or Yakyakistan really go belly-up, will being here be so much better? I thought the reason Icereach is as safe as it is is because we've got powerful neighbors to control the airspace. And with how much stuff gets shipped in here on a regular basis, you can't tell me life as usual would carry on without them."
"You wouldn't remember it," Graygarden sighed, "but before the treaty, Icereach survived on its own. Most everyone who lives here is a native. If the treaty was going to collapse, it would probably go back to the way it used to be. These ponies are smart enough to defend themselves from foreign meddling."
Something about his words struck me oddly, but I couldn't put a hoof on what it was. "So having the Institute here doesn't count as foreign meddling?"
"Not when it's made up of locals," Graygarden explained. "The only foreigners are a few administrators like us, and we spend more time keeping the rest of the world out than ordering around the ponies within. Everyone else does work we can tell the sponsors is useful, and things never change. Just the way everyone likes it."
My ears pricked up in annoyance. "Wait a minute, you mean the reason we've never launched a rocket is because no one actually wants to? Because everyone wants things to never change?"
Graygarden shrugged.
"You're bluffing," I challenged. "That's stupid. What kind of meaningless existence is that!?"
"The kind undertaken by ponies who have chosen not to ask for more," Elise softly explained. "Ponies who are very much unlike you. Which is part of why we have worked to arrange this opportunity."
"Don't the sponsors care that you're defrauding them?" Corsica asked, tilting her head. "You just said everyone's only doing things you can report up the chain of command as useful. I doubt you'd be telling us if you really had the wool over their eyes."
Elise shook her head. "They know, and no, they don't care. The reason is that a remote, tightly-insulated, never-changing colony like Icereach is an excellent place to store secrets. While it is unlikely that we will ever launch a rocket into space, Yakyakistan and Ironridge were never under any illusions about that fact when they asked the ponies of Icereach if they could build here. Yakyakistan, Ironridge and Icereach are all here for one common reason and one alone: to be left alone."
Ansel pointed a hoof. "And you're telling us this now because...?"
"I suppose you're just old enough to know," Elise answered. "But also because it sounds like you've already made up your minds about this offer."
I stared at her. Something told me if I pressed, I wouldn't learn anything about what those secrets were. Something else told me I might have seen one already: the Nemestasis machine in the hideout where the changelings had stranded us. Something like that didn't just spring into existence, and it fit perfectly with what I was being told.
"Probably doesn't hurt that they can use whatever other tech we make here," Ansel added. "Smaller inventions and the like."
"It's a bonus," Graygarden said. "Now, Elise and I have more to discuss regarding Gerardo's report. Go and think on our offer. When you have a decision-"
Corsica, Ansel and I were already looking at each other. "I mean, I was just coming here to ask if we could do this anyway," I told them. "You?"
Ansel shrugged. "Eh. I've seen what comes of dragging my heels. How bad can it get?"
I glanced at Corsica, and she raised an eyebrow. "What? You think I'd miss my glamorous life here?"
Last chance for paranoia to step in and convince me otherwise... Nope. Too late. "We're in," I said, nodding to Elise and Graygarden. "So, err... What next?"
"Let us conclude our own meeting," Elise requested, echoing Graygarden. "You may wish to petition Gerardo for a ride yourselves, as that would be by far the cheapest, fastest and likely safest option. Beyond that, you are adults. I trust you all know how to get your affairs in order before a journey that may be long-term."
In the hallway, I lasted about three seconds before I grabbed both of my friends, a hoof around each of their necks, and pulled them close in a hug. "Eeeeeeeeeeee-"
"Wow." Corsica ducked out of my grip. "That eager, huh? You sure are touchy-feely."
Ansel just swaggered. "Well, isn't that sweet. Saved me all the trouble of trying to gauge out whether you'd turn into a puddle of stress at the mere mention of the idea."
Stress? I thought about it, but... "I dunno," I explained. "Something just feels... different. Maybe it's that I've already made the decision. Come what may, I hate it a lot more if I've got stuff riding on a choice I'm about to make. But now we're all in."
"You know," Ansel pointed out, "it might be a whole lot less stressful if you thought of it as our decision instead of your decision."
"Yeah, but you deferred to me pretty quickly-"
"That's because I just sat through two hours of questioning from those honchos about this very topic," Ansel interrupted, wagging a hoof in my face. "I've had time to think about how I feel, and frankly, it's a lot different from six months ago. If it were purely up to me, I'd like a little more agency in the world, and I've been feeling the limits of this life a lot more keenly ever since those pirates ruined my peaceful illusion. That's not enough to strike out on my own, but with a friend or two at my side, I think I'd be a yes vote purely on my own behalf." He glanced at Corsica. "What about you, wing-ears? Just in it to make my over-dressed sibling happy, or have you got a motive too?"
Corsica tossed her mane. "No, but she's cute when she's happy. What's wrong with that?"
Ansel frowned and poked her in the side. "Not really helping my point, here..."
Corsica snorted at him. "I told you months ago, I could care less what we do. It's like, a character flaw, or something." She flicked an ear. "It'll be the same for me either way. Graygarden, Graygarden's mistress... How different can they be?"
I tilted my head at her, still buoyed by a rush that didn't seem to be dragged down by my earlier panic. "You've never met her?"
"Oh, we've crossed paths a few times," Corsica said. "She's just usually busy making eyelashes at Graygarden when she visits. Felt like a gold digger, except I think she's richer than he is. I'd say it's a coin flip between her pampering us and letting us do whatever."
"Okay, that's reassuring," Ansel warned. "Just because I'm resigned to the potential of another Aldebaran happening doesn't mean we should actively court danger..."
"Elise approved it." Corsica shrugged. "Listen, Graygarden is as dry as cracked mud. Anyone who's courting him has to be a little eccentric, but if she was insane, you'd think Elise would know."
I snapped my wings at them, walking backwards ahead of the group. "Hey, can we stop trying to jinx it? I'm in a good mood, here!"
Corsica stuck her tongue out at me.
"Anyway," Ansel cut in, "I don't know about the rest of you, but I didn't get any rest after that party and badly need it, so I'm heading home to crash. Hallie, let's break the news to Mother first, and assuming she reacts with her usual nonchalance, all of us meet up an hour from sundown to go ask that griffon for a ride."
"He was pretty clear that his job was dangerous and he didn't want guests," I admitted, my ears going further back than usual. "But he also said his next stop was Ironridge, so maybe he'd be down with it? Sure can't hurt to ask."
"Right." I nodded, then turned to Corsica. "You mind if I drop by the lab first? Gotta make sure our monitoring equipment will keep collecting data while we're away, and then take stock of what to pack."
Corsica stretched, arching her back as she walked. "Sure. I might need another nap..."
Well, then I'd just have to make this quick.