“Come on, either pay up or give it back!”
“But that pegasus said she’d pay for it all!”
“Then where is she? She’s probably dragon food, and no way can we afford to turn this whole thing into a charity trip!”
“Yeah! Look, I get it, it sucks, but think about this from our perspective! What kind of merchants would we be if we just gave everything we had away for free? We’ve gotta eat, too!”
“We’ve barely eaten in days!”
The sounds of commotion made their way up to Typhoon’s ears as she returned to Green Glade, and she grumbled inwardly as the words of the argument grew clearer the closer she flew. Though she didn’t get the sense that the Penny twins were bad or greedy, she had told Bluegrass to have everypony in the town take what they needed from the merchants on the promise that she’d bring compensation back from the dragon’s lair. It was understandable they’d be more than a little upset if what was supposed to be a profitable business venture turned into a ruinous charitable donation.
Not that she thought the Penny twins had much to complain about compared to the ponies of Bluegrass who were on the verge of starvation after suffering under Firestorm’s extortions for so long…
Still, she angled her wings and began to drop from her glide, her approach as of yet unnoticed by the bickering ponies below. She trained ruby red eyes down on the ground and frowned at the circle of increasingly agitated ponies forming around the pair of merchants and their wagon. Common sense seemed to be one thing the merchants didn’t carry in ample supply; perhaps it would be better to think twice about withholding food from a town full of starving ponies with nothing left to lose because they can’t afford to pay for it. If she didn’t intervene, there probably wouldn’t be much left of the twins by the time the ponies of Green Glade were done with them.
“Wait, there she is!” somepony from the crowd called out as Typhoon finally descended into the town square, landing hard on her hooves and grimacing as her injuries made themselves known again after a long while effortlessly gliding on thermals. Ponies gasped in shock and disbelief as they saw the old soldier battered but undeniably alive, and they all started to press in around her as they murmured to each other—at least until the merchants rushed to Typhoon’s sides and practically used her blond wings for shelter.
“There you are! Great to see you, old friend old pal!” Penny Saved said, throwing his foreleg around Typhoon’s neck and forcing her into an awkward hug. “We were just, uh, doing what you asked of us! Giving the good folk of Green Glade our supplies, free of charge!”
“Yeah!” Penny Earned exclaimed, and she even leaned in to brush her cheek against Typhoon’s. “Things just got a little… rowdy. Saved just wasn’t giving things out fast enough for their liking, is all!”
That garnered a glare from Saved, who leered over Typhoon’s neck at his sister. “I didn’t see you making to help! You’re the one who said we should pack things up when she didn’t come back this morning!”
“I was just trying to protect my business investment!”
“Yeah, more like trying to save your hide! I saw you thinking about flying off, don’t deny it!”
An irritated frown settled on Typhoon’s lips. “Stop touching me or I’ll turn you both into icicles.”
The soldier’s cold words had the intended effect, and both merchants jumped away from her sides in a flash. They regrouped by their wagon, and when Typhoon fixed them with a look, Penny Saved laughed nervously. “D-Don’t worry, we’ll get right on unloading the wagon, right, sis?” he said, forcing a smile to his face and punching Penny Earned in the shoulder.
“Ow!” the pegasus gasped, wincing and clutching her shoulder with a hoof. “That hurt, you brainless idiot!”
“Not as much as it’s gonna hurt to get torn apart by angry villagers!” he hissed back at her. “Now come on!”
Typhoon rolled her eyes and stepped away, the crowd around her parting as she walked. The townsponies all watched her in awe, the survivor of a fight against the dragon that had tormented them so, and they gave her almost a reverent amount of personal space as she passed by them. Typhoon ignored them, her eyes instead only scanning through the crowd for the one mare she had actually spoken to in Green Glade.
She found Bluegrass looking on in disbelief from the front step of her home, and when Typhoon approached her, the unicorn rubbed her eyes as if she was seeing things. “You… lived?” Bluegrass asked her.
“Yes,” was Typhoon’s obvious answer. “I did.”
“Then is she…” Bluegrass swallowed hard. “Did you deal with Firestorm?”
“I didn’t kill her,” Typhoon said. “I wasn’t able to. But I did make sure she wouldn’t be a problem anymore.” The soldier shifted her weight from one side to the other and winced when her ribs reminded her of their injury. “Took a beating. She almost got me. But I destroyed her hoard and chased her away. She won’t be a problem anymore.”
Bluegrass shifted anxiously and looked to the skies. “Are you sure? What if she comes back?”
“She won’t,” Typhoon said. “She’s a dragon. Dragons respect power. I destroyed her hoard and nearly killed her by myself. I told her if she ever tried to do something like this again, I would finish the job. She won’t be back.”
Though Bluegrass still seemed unsure, the conviction in Typhoon’s voice seemed to at least allay some of her worries. The mare let out a breath and the tension in her shoulders seemed to dissipate along with it. “If you’re so sure… then thank you, ma’am. From the bottom of my heart, from all the ponies in Green Glade and all the other towns that dragon extorted… thank you. I just wish we could repay you somehow.”
Typhoon shrugged her wings, the metal plates on them rattling slightly with the motion. “Normally I’d ask for food, drink, and someplace warm to spend the night when I come to a town,” she said. “But I understand the first two aren’t really an option.”
“Of course they are!” Bluegrass practically exclaimed, and the enthusiasm in her voice caught Typhoon off guard. “You’re the one who got all these supplies for us! It’s only right that you at least get to have some of it! And if you want someplace to stay, you can have my bed for the night! I’d be honored!”
“Well… if you insist.” Typhoon silently conveyed her appreciation with a nod, though she stopped and pursed her lips for a moment in thought. “Actually, there’s something else you could help me with.”
Bluegrass tilted her head to the side. “Oh? If there’s anything we can do for you, just tell us!”
“I need information,” Typhoon said. “I have a few questions I’ll need answered.”
“Like what? I don’t know much, but if it’s something I do know, I’ll be happy to share.”
“Do you know of any wizards around here?” Typhoon asked her.
Bluegrass’ friendly smile melted into an awkward one, and she crossed her forehooves at the question. “I see. Well… how’s about we discuss that over something to eat, okay?”
-----
Within an hour, the smell of a hearty stew had filled Bluegrass’ house, and Typhoon felt her stomach protesting more and more the longer it went unfilled. The rations she’d eaten after waking up that morning were hardly the most filling food, and after all the energy she’d expended flying to Firestorm’s lair, fighting the dragon, and flying back, she looked forward to the chance to fill up on some warm food.
“Was it scary?” Penny Saved asked from the other side of Bluegrass’ table. After they’d distributed their supplies to the ponies of Green Glade, the two merchants had invited themselves into Bluegrass’ house with Typhoon, though the unicorn didn’t seem to mind too much. They had brought the food, after all, and even if things had gotten tense just an hour earlier, that wasn’t something Bluegrass was going to forget.
“It wouldn’t scare her. She’s a legionary,” Penny Earned said, shooting her brother a reproachful look. “Killing dragons is what they do!”
“Not anymore, they don’t,” Saved said, crossing his forelegs as he leaned back in his chair. “Considering the queen got rid of them all.”
“You know what I mean!”
Typhoon sighed to herself and fit her feathers through the handle on the side of her mug of ale, freshly unloaded from the Penny twins’ wagon. “Yes, I was afraid,” she said, interrupting the twins’ argument. “You have to be a madmare to fight a dragon by yourself and not be afraid. It doesn’t matter how good you are. Make a single mistake and it can be the end of you.” She winced as she shifted, feeling the sharp pain in her chest, and added, “It almost was for me.”
“You’re hurt?” Earned asked her, concern washing over her face. “You don’t look like it. I mean, other than the scrapes and bruises.”
“One of my ribs,” Typhoon said, gingerly touching the spot on her chest and sucking in a sharp breath when she felt the bone beneath it. “It’ll take some time to heal, but I’ll live.”
Bluegrass, who had been listening along from the fireplace as she kept an eye on the stew, turned toward the conversation happening at her kitchen table. “If you need a place to stay…”
“No,” Typhoon said with a shake of her head. “Thank you. But I couldn’t take advantage of your hospitality for that long.”
“It wouldn’t be a bother at all!” Bluegrass insisted. “I still feel like I owe you so much, after all you did for us.”
“You don’t owe me anything,” Typhoon stated, and the flatness of her tone put an end to that argument.
After a moment’s silence, Penny Earned cautiously returned to the topic. “I can’t imagine flying for that long with a broken rib, though. You’re going to be grounded for a while.”
Typhoon shrugged. “I flew back here. I’ll push through the pain, unless you two have something that can help with that stashed away in your wagon.”
The merchant twins gave each other a look that didn’t go unnoticed by Typhoon. After some unheard conversation passed between the two’s eyes, Penny Saved turned to Typhoon and tapped his hooves together. “Weeeeeellllllllll, we always keep a little something stashed away for when we go to bigger cities. I’ve heard it’s good at taking the edge off of pain, but we wouldn’t know anything about that, right, sis?”
“I’m not the law out here,” Typhoon said with a frown. “The Legion is gone, and all I want to know is if you have something or not that can help keep me on my hooves.”
Penny Earned let out a breath and dug into one of the saddlebags she’d kept close by her side since entering Bluegrass’ home. After a moment, she retrieved a small cloth pouch, the top cinched by a simple drawstring. “How much do you know about whispersalt?”
“Enough to know that it was popular with the milites in the barracks when I was a younger soldier,” Typhoon said. “When Cirra started trading with the unicorns and earth ponies after the Exodus, that was one of the more popular things to come out of the Diamond Kingdoms. Use too much and it takes your voice away for a while. Thus the name.”
“But it’s also a sedative,” Earned said. “It helps ponies sleep at night. A little pinch might be enough to take the edge off of your broken rib until it’s healed.”
Typhoon gave the pouch a long look, but finally, with a flare of her nostrils and an exhale of breath, she swiped the bag to her side with a wing. “I’ll see if it helps,” she said. “Thank you.”
Penny Saved cleared his throat, and when Typhoon shifted her gaze to the stallion, he flicked his ear in the direction of the pouch. “You know… just want to bring it up that, well, we still haven’t been compensated for everything. Just, you know, putting that out there before anypony forgets or anything…”
Rolling her eyes, the legionary snatched the strap of her saddlebag in her teeth and lifted it off of the floor. She dropped it onto Bluegrass’ table with a heavy thud and tipped it over. The flap of the bag flopped open, and the merchants’ (and Bluegrass’) eyes widened at the clattering of gold coins and gems spilling out across the table. “Take what you want,” Typhoon said. “I tucked away some money for myself for the road. And, if you’re feeling adventurous, there’s more of that in Firestorm’s lair to the east of here.”
The two merchants stared at the pile of wealth in shock for only a moment before both lunged forward and dragged as many coins and gems toward themselves as they could with their forelegs. “That dragon was loaded!” Penny Earned exclaimed as she used her wings to sweep up some gemstones with her feathers. “Some of these gemstones are very rare!”
“It’s enough to fully cover everything from this trip, and then some!” Saved excitedly shouted. As he slid the coins into a saddlebag, he looked at his sister. “How much more do you think is up there?”
“I don’t know but I think we should find out!”
While brother and sister began to plot grand schemes of heisting Firestorm’s lair, Typhoon pointedly turned her attention toward Bluegrass. “If your townsfolk are feeling up for it, they might want to go after Firestorm’s lair as well. The wealth will help get you back on your hooves and get more supplies you need. I doubt this one wagonload is going to last very long.”
“I’m not sure we’ll have the strength to get up there so soon,” Bluegrass admitted. “But we’ll try.”
“It’s not going anywhere.” Typhoon took a sip of her ale and then set it down with a foreboding clack. “Now, about my earlier question…”
“The wizard one? Yeah… well, the stew’s finished, and I mentioned I’d rather discuss that over food…” Bluegrass floated down four bowls from a nearby shelf and ladled a helping of stew into each one, then set them down in front of each seat at the table. The Penny twins immediately started to dig into theirs, acting far more famished than the soldier who’d only eaten trail rations since fighting a dragon and the townspony who hadn’t had anything to eat in days because of said dragon. Instead, Typhoon patiently waited while Bluegrass sat down at the table and allowed herself a spoonful of stew before talking. The unicorn shivered and hummed to herself, and she couldn’t help herself but grab a second before she found the strength for words. “Oh, I haven’t eaten anything this hearty in so long…”
“Yes,” Typhoon agreed after taking a mouthful of her own. “It’s excellent.”
The deadpan compliment spurred Bluegrass back towards the topic the legionary was waiting for. “Right. Wizards,” she said, setting her spoon down while the other three ponies watched expectantly. “There have been a few over the years. Mostly passing through, though. They never stay too long, especially not when the Legion was still around. I don’t think most of them were on good terms with Everfree.”
“Not usually, no,” Typhoon acknowledged. “Wizards are dangerous ponies, especially when they refuse to conform to the laws and practices of Archmage Diadem’s school of magic. Many of them go to the frontier to get away from the eyes of ponies who care about what goes on in their workshops and laboratories.” Her eyes narrowed as she added, “Sometimes, however, a wizard who’s willing to cut corners or try things the Academy forbids is the only way to solve an unconventional problem.”
Penny Earned blinked and swallowed her spoonful of stew. “Is that what you have? An unconventional problem?”
Typhoon’s silence, or rather, her lack of a reaction entirely, was her answer.
Bluegrass nervously chuckled and tapped her hooves together. “Right, well, ponies out on the frontier are… familiar with that. Which is why we aren’t usually too happy about any wizards who come to town. Sometimes they’re helpful, dealing with a monster or something, but They often build towers in the middle of nowhere and stay there. Which is fine by us. I’d rather not cross paths with somepony who can fry my brain with a spell.”
“Or rip out your soul,” Typhoon muttered to herself.
“Uh… what?”
“Nothing.” Typhoon dismissively waved her wing. “Are there any towers nearby? Preferably occupied?”
“Not close to Green Glade, no,” Bluegrass said. “But there’s a pretty good town southwest of here by the name of Boiling Springs. I think they have a wizard or two that stops in at their market for supplies every so often. It’s centered around some hot springs maybe two days’ walk from here. Or, well, I don’t know how long that is as the pegasus flies. It’s close enough that Firestorm could have gone after it if she wanted to, but she would have had to contend with too many ponies that could fight back. Does that help?”
The old soldier nodded. “Yes,” she said. “It does. It’s a direction at least, and a big town is what I need. The more ponies there are living there, the more likely somepony will know what I need to find out.”
“Maybe we should head there too,” Penny Saved said to his sister. “It would make a good place to stock up after all of this.”
“After we go get all that gold,” Penny Earned assured him. “We can’t just let free money pass us by!”
“Or us passing it by.”
“You know what I mean!”
“I’m just saying!”
Typhoon shook her head, blocking out the twins’ bickering. “Two days’ walk will be an afternoon’s flight for me, if I have the wind at my tail. I’ll leave in the morning.”
“So soon?” Bluegrass asked, her ears folding back in disappointment. “But you only just got here! Don’t you think you should rest for a bit and let your ribs heal?”
“A good night’s sleep is all the rest I can afford right now,” Typhoon said. Though as she said that, she frowned and thought back to the dreamcatcher in her bag. “Or the best I can hope for. I can’t delay forever.”
“Then at least let me offer you my bed. I can afford to sleep on the couch one night. Having something soft to sleep on should help with your ribs.”
Typhoon thought for a moment, considering the offer, and finally nodded. “Thank you,” she said. “You’re too kind.”
“Nonsense!” Bluegrass exclaimed with a smile. “Only trying to repay you however I can! And make sure to eat up, there’s plenty of stew for everypony. I’m already ready for seconds!”