Their approach to Turkey became obvious when turkies flew over the ship. Braver birds landed on the rigging and peered at them. They were birds, through and through, with talons for feet, beaks, and wings. They had no exotic limbs that Silver could see. If there was a difference between the males and females, he couldn't see it. They looked like turkeys, just keenly aware ones.
While Silver sat watching them, one pointed at him with a wing. "Why do you have such strange wings?"
Silver perked up. It was the first words directed at him by the birds. "Hello there. I'm a lunar pony."
The bird tilted its head at a sharp angle. "Lunar pony? Like the moon?"
Silver nodded. "Exactly so. Watching over dreams is one of my royal duties."
The bird's feathers fluffed. "You can see dreams? How dreadful! How can anybirdy get privacy?"
Silver shook his head quickly. "Oh no! I won't visit any, uh, birdy's dream, promise, unless they ask for it. My duty only extends to other ponies."
The bird leaned forward on its perch, tail feathers spread wide. "You'd best not. That would be rude."
The bird next to it joined, "Appalling."
A third bird chimed in. "Disgusting."
A fourth tilted its head. "Interesting."
The three looked at the fourth one, who held a wing to its chest. "What? I want to know what he dreams of." The other three birds took off with mutual disdain, leaving the fourth behind to peer at Silver. "My name's Rutherford. Nice to meet you."
Silver dipped his head. "Nice to meet you as well. I'm--"
"Prince Silver Stars," cut in the bird. "Your fame spread faster than your boat. Is it true you leave a gravid hen in every port?"
Silver realized with a moment of thought that it was true, and turned red with shame.
"It is true! How? You're so shy. You look embarrassed at my mentioning it. They say you unleashed a plague on Catro." Silver sank a little. "And wooed the Pharoah of Anugypt." Silver raised a hoof, ready to contest that, but the bird went right along. "Some say you fight ghosts with the power of darkness itself. You're very frightening."
Silver tilted his head. "Pardon my asking, but if I'm so scary, why are you still here, talking?"
The bird leaned forward. "Scary things excite me a little, and you don't seem that dangerous to me, sir prince." The bird took off, only to land closer to the deck on a new bit of rope. "Is it true? Is it all true?"
Silver gave a hesitant nod. "Most of that. Really, I'm just Silver, and we're not here to cause trouble."
The bird clicked its beak. "I should think not. Look at you. Are you cursed? I bet you're cursed. It's the only way such a mild-mannered beast could do so much."
The bird suddenly launched again, landing right in front of Silver. "Was it something from Anugypt?" Silver scrambled backwards, almost toppling. His exposed form was enough to let the bird calmly step up and give his jeweled bangle a peck. "Here we are. We have one just like it, you know. Ours is a lot larger, prettier too. Everyone adores it, practically a national treasure."
Silver scrambled up to his hooves. He sat on his haunches and looked down at the brave turkey. For some reason he decided he liked the bold bird more than the timid ones. "Can you tell me about it? If it is what I think it is, we're hoping to buy it."
"Buy it? I should think not." The bird's feathers fluffed out. "Even I'm not brave enough to ask for that. Like I said, national treasure. It's in the great art museum, where birds come from all around to gaze at it. How did you get a little one, and why there? What part is that? My horse anatomy is pretty poor, I'm afraid."
Silver decided to spare the bird the potential embarrassment of explaining it and tried for a diversion. "Has the museum never sold a piece before? Surely not everything that goes in there never comes out."
The turkey considered the question with a curious expression. "I suppose not never, exactly, but it's decidedly uncommon." He launched himself at the edge of the boat, clutching to the guard rail easily. "You might upset a bird or two asking about it. Good luck, Prince Silver Stars. It was exciting meeting you." He took off on large wings, and was soon gone back towards land.
Silver heard someone approaching and saw Bottom trotting towards him. She settled beside him. "Good afternoon, sir. Did you see the birds?"
Silver nodded. "I did. One of them was quite talkative."
Bottom smiled. "I didn't get any of them to talk to me for longer than a word or two. Do you think they'll help us?"
Silver considered with a little shake. "The other half's apparently a bigger bracelet, and they consider it a national treasure. Getting them to part with it is going to be quite tricky."
Bottom looked over Silver a moment. "Where's the second one supposed to go?"
Silver rose to his hooves and lifted each hoof in turn. They weren't that much thicker. "Maybe around the neck, or the barrel?"
Bottom sat up, looking at Silver curiously. "Around your neck would make sense, sir, if it's supposed to counteract the first one."
Silver nodded as he started for the stairs leading into the hold of the ship. "I'm going to ask Oman about it." Bottom followed a short distance behind without prompting, but shortly after descending the stairs, they passed Fiddah. A little glance was enough to make Bottom break off from her following, and Silver proceeded on his own to Oman's quarters.
The cantankerous stallion was there, floating above his bed in a state of meditation. Silver paused at the door, watching the alien magic be used. There was a hazy glow, like unicorn magic. It had no clear source, unlike unicorn magic. It simply existed all over the stallion's form as Oman held himself up in the air.
Silver grew curious about the magic, but didn't know where to start with throwing his magic out like that into a cloud, leaving aside his still perverted network meant it would be uncomfortable and arousing to try. Silver settled himself quietly and relaxed, deciding that being patient would be the most polite thing to do.
Seconds turned the minutes, into what felt like an hour, and still he was just floating there, almost taunting Silver with how still and unmoving he was. Was he even awake? Silver wasn't sure. He was determined to not lose what had become a challenge, and remained where he was, watching Oman float.
There was a soft rapping at the door before Shei's snout poked in. "Master? Are you still in here?"
Silver looked to her. "I'm waiting for Oman to be done."
"Still? It's been hours, master."
Oman huffed softly. He lowered his legs to stand on, simply not floating as soon as he had his hooves in place. "I would have made him wait a few more hours, girl. You should know better."
Shei's ears fell. "Sorry, teacher. Dinner is prepared, and the mistress desired the master's company. I was sent to fetch him."
Oman nodded lightly. "Very well. Let's all get something to eat, hmm? You can ask me your question afterwards." He trotted out of the room, leaving Silver to rise and follow, with Shei taking up the rear.
They arrived in the dining room. Celestia nodded to each as they came in and gestured to different seats. Silver she put beside herself and nuzzled his cheek. "You look like you've learned something. Care to share it?"
Silver smiled. "You're getting to know me well. One of the birds was quite talkative, and told me about the other half. It's apparently a national treasure of some cultural value."
Celestia frowned delicately. "That will complicate things. Perhaps a trading of artifacts is called for? An art piece for an art piece will draw less suspicion and outcry than trying to buy something they value so dearly."
Silver lifted an ear. "I can't and won't argue that, but what do we have to offer?"
Celestia's magic wrapped around the golden necklace she always wore, and she detached it and set it on the table. "This is older than any bird, and of great personal value to me."
Silver went tense before he shook his head. "Let's not start there, please. I don't want you to give up something that's become part of your identity for me, especially if there's any other way."
Celestia picked the necklace back up. "It was my decision to bring you. I will not leave you crippled for that choice. I won't start there, but I will end there, and I suspect they'll take it. Everyone knows it, and having it will be a mighty prestige for whatever museum it rests in."
Shei raised a hoof. "Mistress, there is another angle to consider. As a merchant, I long ago learned to measure how much the other person wanted what you had. If we come across as too needy, they will demand more and more, thinking they can get anything. Even your fine necklace may not be enough to satisfy them, if they think they can get more with just a little stubbornness."
Fiddah nodded from where she sat. When she finished chewing a bit of a dinner roll, she spoke, "The young Windsong speaks sense. We don't wish to give the impression of desperation."
Patty snorted. "Of course she does. My little Shei always speaks sense." Patty's utter disregard for propriety seemed to agitate Fiddah, but she was too well-mannered to speak on it directly to a person who wasn't her responsibility.
Oman looked to Silver directly. "Why don't you scare them into it?"
Silver tilted his head. "I'm not using that spell again. It was wrong the first time, and I have no reason to repeat it."
Oman rolled a hoof. "Not that one, you single-minded stallion. You are a dreamwalker, are you not? Surely a few night terrors are not beyond your abilities."
Silver snorted loudly. "A terrible idea. I'll already have to deflect accusations of nightmares so long as I remain here."
Oman nodded. "Excellent. If they'll have some of their own, they won't know which you cause. The sooner you get your bauble, the sooner I can return to much more interesting duties."
Celestia shook her head. "I've learned my lesson. Let's do this the proper way, as friends, not as conquerors. Silver, if you happened on any useful information, just looking, I wouldn't be opposed to that."
Silver sank a little. "I promised some birds I wouldn't visit their dreams unless I was asked to." But a thought came to him abruptly. "Except one. He, or she? I couldn't really tell which. They seemed more excited about me than scared, and were quite polite. They said they wanted to know what I dreamed. That counts as an invitation, right?"