Codex Ponera - Cliffside Eyrie

by Pepperbrony

Chapter Twenty One

Apple Bloom and her companions watched the battle finally begin to wind down. With the enemy forces contained by Poneran fighters front and back, and swarmed by griffon fliers from above, combined with the fall of Soaring Scavenger, they were thoroughly demoralised. The Ponerans cheered when the griffons threw down their swords and spears, giving up in surrender. The mercenary ponies did likewise, with the exception of a few who risked diving for the canal. Some of the jumpers looked familiar to Apple Bloom, one a grey earth pony mare, the others a pair of identical yellow unicorn stallions.

Running with her friends to the edge of the cliffs, Apple Bloom watched to see what would happen to those daring few. She saw the airship, now floating in the canal while some of her crew worked to cut free the deflated envelope. A pale yellow unicorn mare running about on the deck seemed to be a watercrafter, gesturing at the water and making it safely catch the falling pirates, then deliver them to the deck of the ship.

Scootaloo raised a wing, flicking it half-heartedly in the direction of the pirate vessel. Nothing happened. “Eh. I’m too exhausted to furycraft,” she said.

“Don’t worry about it, Scoots,” said Apple Bloom. “Let ‘em go for now.”

“Yeah,” agreed Applejack. “Don’t give ‘em a reason to fire back at us.”

“Could they really get us from all the way down there?” asked Gabby.

“Hm? Hmm,” hummed Applejack. “I reckon a really good firecrafter might. No offence, Scoots, but I don’t think you could have hit ‘em anyways. Not from this far up.”

“Whatever,” mumbled Scootaloo. “I’m just glad it’s over.” She glanced at Gabby. “It is over, right? You guys aren’t gonna try to attack us now that those other griffons have given up, right?”

“Don’t worry… Scootaloo, is it?” replied Gabby. “Apple Bloom told me about you. Anyways, we Effoh aren’t gonna take this city back from you ponies.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Apple Bloom, are you gonna introduce us to your new friend?”

“Oh, sure, sorry,” Apple Bloom said, turning away from the lamed airship now floating out to sea. “Guys, this is Gabriella, but you can call her Gabby.” Gabby waved a wing. “Gabby, this is Applejack, Big Mac, and Scootaloo,” said Apple Bloom, pointing out her family members in turn.

“Hello,” said Gabby. “I’m pleased to meet you.”

“Any friend of Apple Bloom’s is a friend of mine,” Scootaloo said, offering a hoof.

“Uh, I’d shake claw with you, but my leg’s broken,” Gabby said. “But I’ll still be your friend.”

Applejack narrowed her eyes at Gabby for a moment before sighing. “Alright, fine. If you’re gonna be friendly, I’ll be the same. Pleased to meet you, Gabby.” She offered a hoof, before glancing at Gabby’s broken leg with a chuckle and withdrawing her own. “Heh, sorry about that.”

Big Macintosh looked between Apple Bloom and Gabby. “If AB is friends with her, that’s good enough for me,” he said.

Apple Bloom threw a hoof over Gabby’s shoulders, giving her a quick squeeze. “Yay, now we’re all friends!”

The battle finally over, ponies bearing the marks of medical professionals streamed from the manor, to seek out the injured and treat their wounds. Meanwhile, the soldiers at the bridge, griffon and pony alike, started apprehending the surrendered enemies. The friends watched the efforts, staying out of the way, when Gilda landed before the group.

“Looks like we’ve wrapped it all up here,” she said. “Now, about our payment…”

“Payment?” Applejack said. “What payment? Apple Bloom, what’s goin’ on?”

Apple Bloom lowered her head, looking sheepishly up at Applejack. “Well, I needed to get them to help somehow, didn’t I?”

“We were told we would have the chance to make a series of trade agreements,” said Gilda. “I was told your… duchess? Your duchess would listen to offers.”

“And she will,” promised Apple Bloom.

“Apple Bloom!” snapped Applejack. “You can’t go makin’ promises for the duchess! You’re not part of her staff!”

“Easy, AJ,” came Coloratura’s voice. “After such a timely arrival, it’s only fair to at least talk to our saviours.” The duchess and the blue pegasus mare from earlier walked over to the group, nodding to Gilda as she arrived. “It looks like your griffons are taking custody of the others, and leaving the ponies for my people?”

“I thought it was fair,” Gilda said. “They all tried to start a war neither of us wanted. The way I see it, you should get to punish your ponies, and we’ll sort out the Effai griffons.”

Coloratura shrugged. “Sounds good to me.” She nudged Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. “I’d hate to have to sort out the paperwork on so many griffon prisoners.”

Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Gabby giggled. As Gabby shifted her weight, she hissed with pain. “Ow.”

Glancing at her, Coloratura noted the splint and bandages on Gabby’s injured leg. “Are you hurt badly, little one?”

Gabby’s eyes went wide at being addressed by a Poneran duchess. “Ju-just a broken leg, uh, your duchessness,” she said.

With a chuckle, Coloratura said, “‘Your grace’ is the accepted term of address for a duke or duchess, my little griffon. And we can’t have one of our new friends walking about on a broken leg.” She spoke to the blue pegasus, asking her to find a spare tub and some water. The mare quickly found a tub, followed by a burly pony carrying a pair of massive barrels of water - they were so heavy that he was forced to use his earthcrafting strength to carry them, evidenced by the slight tremor in the ground around him.

Coloratura gestured at the barrels, sending some water streaming up out of them and into the tub. When the level was high enough, she dismissed the water bearer before looking at Gabby and tapping the tub. “Go on, hop in.”

Gilda put a claw on Gabby’s shoulder, holding her still.

“Nest Leader Gilda,” Apple Bloom said, a slight tone of authority in her voice, “it’s alright. Duchess Coloratura is only going to help her.”

Gilda looked at Apple Bloom, before narrowing her eyes at Coloratura. “Alright,” she said, releasing Gabby. “But I’ll be watching you, pony.”

For her part, Coloratura appeared completely unconcerned. “If our positions were reversed, with Apple Bloom or Scootaloo here with the broken leg, I expect I’d react the same way. After all, they’re under my protection.” She smiled at Gilda. “If you care about all the fledglings under your protection the same way, then I think we’ll get along just fine.”

Gabby flapped her wings and hopped up into the tub, settling down carefully. At Coloratura’s urging, she lay down, immersing her broken leg.

Coloratura dipped a hoof into the water and closed her eyes. “It’s been quite a while since I’ve done this,” she said, gently stirring the water. “Ah, there we go.” Her hoof stopped circling, instead pointing at Gabby’s injured leg. The water stirred about on its own, swirling about the point of break in the griffon’s leg. “Looks like somepony got the bones lined up properly,” Coloratura noted.

“Not a pony,” said Gilda. “Our doctors know what they’re doing.”

“My apologies,” Coloratura said. “Somegriffon knows what they’re doing; this would heal up fine in about six weeks or so. But watercrafters such as myself can speed up the healing process quite a bit.” Her brow furrowed in concentration, and the water in the tub started swirling up and down the length of Gabby’s leg. After about a minute, the water calmed and Coloratura withdrew her hoof. It came out of the water completely dry, not so much as a drop of moisture clinging to her coat. “That should do it,” she said, holding her hoof out to help Gabby up. “Sorry it took so long, I’m a little out of practice at healing watercraft.”

The young griffon stood up, gingerly putting her weight on her bandage-wrapped leg. She bounced on the leg a few times, before whooping. “Wow! It’s not even sore!” She took Coloratura’s hoof and leapt out of the tub, deliberately landing on her formerly injured leg. “Look at it, nest leader! It’s perfect again.”

Gilda peered at Gabby’s foreleg while she helped unwrap the bandages. She gently squeezed on several points along the leg. “I can’t even feel where the break was.” She looked up at Coloratura in surprise. “You healed a broken leg in less than a minute, and then apologised for taking too long?”

“That’s furycraft for you,” replied the duchess. “Now, you said something about trade discussions? Shall we discuss the matter in my office?”

Gilda looked about, seeing that her army seemed to have wrapped up the arrest of the Effai griffons. “Alright then,” she shrugged. “Lead the way.”

Apple Bloom watched as Coloratura and Gilda departed toward the Ducal Manor, already deep in discussion. Leaving Gabby to experiment with her newly healed leg, Apple Bloom turned to find Scootaloo chatting with rainbow-maned blue pegasus mare. “Hey Scoots. So, who’s your new friend here?”

“Huh?” said Scootaloo, glancing over at Apple Bloom. “Oh, right. AB, this is Rainbow Dash. She helped us yesterday.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t do more to help you then,” said Rainbow, offering a hoof to Apple Bloom. “But I guess we wouldn’t have had our new friends here if I had. At least it all worked out so well.”

“So it was your craftin’ that knocked those griffons down,” Apple Bloom said, taking the offered hoof. “Pleased to meet ya.”