Expedition to the Cloudbreak Islands

by Starglider

Flower

The sun was clear of the horizon, but dew still glistened on the grass as the two creatures emerged from the great airship. One was a silvery grey hippogriff stallion with vivid pink crest and tail feathers, though close inspection might call that into question. After many hours of practice Reef Skimmer was looking much as he had when he joined the ship, yet there was still a broad band of bright blue gelatinous substance around his barrel.

The first time she'd seen a group of hippogriffs, just hanging out on the dock as her own ship came in, Set Sail was surprised how elegant they were. Griffons looked exactly what you'd expect a half-eagle, half-lion creature to be; an awkward chimera of two deadly predators, all sharp edges and attitude. Hippogriffs were tall and lithe and more, well... blended? Feathers getting progressively smaller down their barrel until they became fur at the waist, long crest and tail feathers that fell more like a mane, tufts of feathers the sides of their heads that gave the impression of pony ears without actually being ears.

Reef's band of goo disrupted that smooth look; he looked like a giant foal had broken her toys and then glued two mismatched halves together with resin. She tried not to chuckle at the thought. His head was a little different as well, with fishy fins marking the location of his ears instead of feather tufts, but that didn't seem like a big deal: he'd had those as a seapony after all. The stallion did look strangely naked without his amulet - not that the pegasus had seen that many hippogriffs, but of those she had seen, none had been without their sliver of magical pearl.

"One does hope a spot by the stream will suffice, Captain," he was saying. "The crow's nest is a little impractical now... I'd suggest a cloud, but alas, it seems they no longer deign to support my weight."

"I can't argue with the clouds, they just do what they are," Set Sail said with a shrug, "You'd think since they're made of water, you'd be able to sit on them since you're all water now." The brown pegasus was on the larger side for a pony mare, though that still left her head well short of the griff's withers. She kept just shy of making eye contact, she seemed dismissive of her carefully combed blue mane with a lush, red flower twined in it, one of the ones from the florid jungle across the stream no doubt. It certainly didn't look like it was tangled in there by accident.

"The stream is fine," she said, "Not like we need to go anywhere private to have a little breakfast together. I'm sure nopony will come bother us unless it's real important." She made that quite clear to her crew before she left. "Thanks for carrying the uh... the food."

"Least I could do." Reef said, glancing back at his saddlebags: the bowls inside clinked quietly against the pot of porridge. "Some of what I have to say... best said in private." He sighed. "As for the clouds... well." He cocked his head, considering how to explain it.

"Sails, you know how once one's wings are spread, you are only as heavy as you need to be? The tight grip of terra firma slackening to a light caress, one might say? An experience unique to winged creatures, one imagines... and apparently something I won't experience again. Flying now seems to be more of a case of smacking old terra firma clean in the muzzle with a summoned torrent, until the old sod is forced to relent. Relaxing on vapour is out of the question."

"Still sounds more like an earth thing, but I'm no expert on that stuff," she said, risking eye contact with her clear green irises taking him in. "And it's... more than fine. Whatever you need to say to me in private, I'm okay with. I like to think you can tell me anything, not just as a captain but as a... friend."

The two reached their destination, settling out the blanket and supplies. While Reef poured the porridge, Set Sail unpacked the bread, breaking off a piece of the tough stuff, one for each of them. There wasn't much of this left in the supplies, but it had to get eaten some day, so why not now? Sitting there as delicately as she could on her haunches, Set Sail looked up at her stern looking but warm-hearted friend saying, "So, what is it you had to say to me?"

Reef picked up the lump of bread in his claw and just stared at it for a while, before his eyes went to the pegasus, noticing her mane adornment at last. "Ah... I had no idea you had an interest in botany, Captain." A wink, hoping to put her at ease. "Firstly I must say I do appreciate your desire for a peaceful solution to the whole island of cats situation. Ponies are famous for it, to be sure, but still inspiring to see it in action. Hippogriffs, well... our efforts in that direction tend more towards protocols and conventions, minimising the chaos and brutality of it all, than avoiding conflict in the first place."

Set Sail blushed when he noticed the flower, one foreleg briefly lifting up towards it before planting down again. She felt a little ashamed at his wink, because of course he knew what she was doing here. Clearly thought it was childishly amusing. At his praise, Set Sail said bashfully, "Well I don't know if it's all that," toeing at her own bread before her, not yet partaking of any porridge, "It's not like we're avoiding conflict, with the drow and all. And those... spider drow. I just feel like we got off on the wrong hoof with those others, accidentally trespassing in their sacred temple, and then accidentally touching their..." frowning, she had to clarify, "Semi-accidentally, but it definitely wasn't the best way to say hi, or the way I want us to be known."

The griff's stare became fierce at the mention of the spider creatures, yet he ducked his head, ear-fins flicking. "Captain... we both know Summer Scribe is a problem. Intrepid, knowledgeable yet incurable reckless, it seems. Yet... with us all focused on her predicament, I fear we missed a more general concern." Reef put the bread down and began to pace through the grass. "Hostilities with the spider-drow were likely inevitable. Through no fault of our own, we walked into an ongoing conflict between them and the sphinxes. And frankly, Sails, it was nearly a disaster. We were up against an archer, a caster and their pets."

"And what happened? Grenelda nearly took a magic bolt to the face... and then ran, abandoning her companions to their fate. Azure Feather... Azure could have won that fight on her own, I'm sure of it! Gustus told me about the bats; and that was before she became the 'Champion of Air'! Yet she hid behind a pillar, why?" His voice got louder and louder as he continued to unload, gesturing with claws and wings for emphasis.

"One can't blame Summer for doing the same. Sprocket though, that mare gave a tremendous showing, standing firm and flinging fire at the enemy mage, but... what if the archer had turned on her? As for myself, well... I'd have gone down to the first shot, were it not for my... transformation. Did I order a retreat? Try to scare the enemy away? Knock them prone, perhaps?" The griff clicked his beak.

"No, I stood there screeching like an idiot, letting the mage take pot shots at me, until I saw Sprocket joining the fight. Then I just charged in and slaught- Killed the caster." Reef let out a long breath as he finished his rant. "We were lucky everygriff made it through that fight, never mind the statue business. Had the sphinxes not seen the remains of the spider-drow and backed down, I'm sure that would have gone even worse."

"I can talk with Azure about that," Set Sail said grimly, "Grenelda said she thought you were right behind her. Didn't she come back for you? She kept telling me that she did. As for Sprocket... she hasn't talked about it at all." frowning, Set Sail said, "Something really shook her about that fight. She's not a fighter, but... well I'm just not sure what's gotten her so spooked. She said it wasn't the spiders but... she didn't want to talk about it. I don't think I've seen her out of the engine room since you got back. Maybe you could talk to her about it?"

Reef snorted. "Oh, to be fair to the hen, Grenelda had the right idea. Retreat would have been the safest option, particularly with the sphinxes right behind us. Only as a squad though, and no one gave the order." The hippogriff ceased his pacing, trotting back to the pegasus and sitting down. "Captain, I'm not here to complain about individual crewmembers. My point is that if we are to continue getting into these situations... which seems quite likely... then we should have at least basic training. Pre-agreed tactics. Chain of command. One is far from an expert in these matters, but... one has seen the Royal Marines in action enough times to have a fair idea what we're missing."

"I'm not sure Sprocket's going out again," Set Sail said, sliding onto her side there out in the sunny meadow, "But Azure has been doing plenty of training. And Grenelda well I mean, she's got a lot of experience fighting, if not a lot of training. What do you mean chain of command? Is that one of your hippogriff magical artifacts, like a chain necklace or something?"

Reef stared at the pony, indignation rising in his throat; how could she joke about this? "Well I say, this is hardly the time for flippancy... erm, hmm. You really don't know?" He cocked his head. "I was under the impression pegasi, of all ponies, were the closest to griffs? Rich military tradition and all that? Have I been misled?"

Set Sail started to retort, but her eyes dawned in realization then. Her ears went down, and she turned away, head sinking guiltily. "My parents were earth ponies," she muttered lowly, "I grew up on the sea. Never wanted to leave but..." she spread her wings, "...wings are wings. I'm just better in the sky. I mean I love flying and I still visit them a lot, and there's plenty of flying to do around a ship even on the earth. But I went to Cloudsdale once, just to see if I could. Didn't even know what to do there. So I dunno about pegasi traditions. I know they didn't have enchanted chains though."

"Oh, I-" Reef blinked; although in principle, he knew the fundamentals of pony genetics, he'd always thought of the three kinds of pony as distinct tribes. Intermingled, to be sure, but distinct. "Both parents?" he wondered out loud, before immediately grimacing. "Ah, I do apologise. That does sound like a... difficult childhood. Though truly, you didn't want to leave?" Reef asked uncertainly. "I just assumed... your cutie mark, does that not speak of a desire to fly great vessels through the skies?" That was the whole point of cutie marks, wasn't it: to broadcast ponies' skills and desires so their society would run more smoothly.

“It's more that I just like balloons,” Set Sail said, straightening up enough to look upward fondly, “They're kind of my thing. I know earth ponies aren't keen on leaving the earth, but get in a balloon, and they'll go up as surely as I will. I got my cutie mark on a balloon ride with my parents. They're really supportive. I was just flying around the other balloons, and they were laughing 'cause I was having fun. Didn't even realise it until I landed in the basket. I don't know what a cutie mark is for other ponies, but for me it's just that fond memory, how I could give ponies a little bit of what I feel up there. Lift their spirits, you know?”

Her smile grew a bit strained as she said, “But yeah, then I had to go learn about balloons and airships and ballast and lift and all that. Nobody forces you, but ponies do kind of... assume that's what you like. I'm not ungrateful though. I got pretty darn good at taking care of a balloon. And I got to go on this expedition.”

Another avian stare, but Reef's beak was hanging open. "I had no idea. That's... beautiful, Sails." The big griff blinked, twice. "I mean, erm thank you for indulging one's curiosity, Captain. So... where were we..." It seemed such a shame, to turn the tone back to practical matters, but he had no choice.

"Ah, so if you would permit me an analogy. Imagine you are attempting some tricky manoeuvre with the ship, oh I don't know, let's say approaching the docks in a storm. A tough assignment but your close-knit crew of experienced ponies can handle it. The captain gives the orders, and when the captain can't be there the first, second... third mate, they make the decisions. When a rope snaps everygriff... pony, well they react immediately, because they've drilled for such in advance."

"Now, imagine that instead of your crew, a group of strangers are attempting this task. One was a junior deckhand on a different ship. Another has three years experience operating hot air balloon tours. A third has no practical experience at all, but wrote a research paper on aeronautics. A fourth, well he spent the last decade on airships... as a quartermaster. To cap it off, nogriff is captain; one fancies herself the first mate when the sailing is smooth, but doesn't take charge in the storm. Now how is that sorry bunch going to fair, docking the ship in a storm?"

"Oh, I get what you're saying!" Set Sail said, eyes dawning in realisation, "Yeah, we could be training to figure out what everypony should do in a fight. Or at least planning it beforehand. But what does that have to do with the captain, and the first mate and such? The captain decides where the boat goes, and keeps everypony working together in harmony, I mean, ideally. They don't make the decisions when a rope snaps though. That's up to the pony... griff...creature who's near enough to deal with it. Your people would just go ask their captain what to do, in the middle of a storm?" A pause, and she adds, "Oh, it must be because you can just turn into fish ponies, so storms are no big deal to you."

Reef raised a claw to his face. "It seems analogies aren't my forte either. Look Sails, combat is chaotic, and you're facing not just the environment, but an enemy who will exploit any weakness they can find. Ensuring everygriff understands the tactics and objectives is essential. Not just griffs... ponies, zebras, even Abyssinians, they all have a hierarchy of officers who expect to be obeyed on the battlefield. Dragons don't, and that's a major reason why they never conquered Equs." A long exhale. "Now to be sure, we don't need the whole bureaucratic business. What we need is a team that trusts each other, knows what each is capable of and what their role is in a fight. And when a tactical decision must be made for the whole team, somegr- somecreature has to be ready to make the call."

Ears going flat, Set Sail said, "I am not putting you in charge of the next expedition, if that's what you're asking. You're right though, we need to train together to practice what we're gonna do in a fight." Shaking her head, she said with a frustrated huff, "Can't believe it never occurred to me. Of course you're gonna want to get to know each other somewhere safe, before trying to fight off spiders with bows and spells. Is that what I've been doing wrong all this time?"

Reef sighed. "Captain, I'm speaking of what happens if... when we get into another fight. The skillset is quite distinct from exploration, or diplomacy. Clearly the ideal mare for the job would be Azure Feather; she is the only one among us with real experience in small unit combat. Yet... she seems quite unwilling to take the lead. Wish I could say why."

The griff stared into space for a while, trying to fathom the taciturn blue mare, then shook his head. "As for myself... well I confess to an interest in campaign strategy, fleet tactics, that kind of thing. The practical side, frankly rather tedious - beginning to regret skipping all those sword practice sessions, if I'm honest. Yet if there are none better qualified, one is prepared to do what one can."

"Well don't ask me about Azure," Set Sail said with a roll of her eyes, "She got turned into a flipping pegasus by that stupid air temple, so I don't think anypony knows what's going on in her mind anymore. Who says she wanted to defend you against those spidrow?"

As he shook his head, and said that stuff about himself, Set Sail listened, but confusion crossed her expression again. "What good would sword practice sessions do? We don't even have any swords. Anyway yes I'd appreciate it if you'd do some training too. You're pretty good at figuring out how to use your abilities to compliment that of others, so try that maybe? I'll talk to Blaze and CC, and Clashing. We can all get together to have a... pretend to fight party!" Chewing nervously on a wing, she added, "But uh, we gotta be careful, especially you. You're very powerful. I'm sure you won't accidentally hurt anypony though, right?"

"I am quite certain Azure's sense of duty has never been stronger!" Reef retorted hotly, not forgetting that the blue guardpony had been the first friendly face he'd seen after the incident with Cloud Cutter. "Her confidence however... I fear that has taken a dive." he said sadly. An odd whistle, then "And as for myself... still a dangerous monster, eh?" The griff held up a claw, staring at it angrily. "You do realise my talons are blunt as butter? Alas that poor spider mare was as stupid as I was, just casting and casting when escaping my foolish charge would have been a trivial matter." His voice cracked. "Maybe... maybe those were her eggs, that she was defending? The ones Summer blew up?"

Touching his upheld claw with a hoof, Set Sail said seriously, "You're not a monster, Reef. What do you think a monster is, anyway?"

Reef looked away, refusing to meet her eyes but not withdrawing his claw. "Oh, I don't know, something horrible and unnatural, born of foul magics or master of eldrich power or some such." he muttered. "Windigoes and hyfras and manticores and so on. Though I think manticores are misunderstood really, ponies just seem to have an inherent bias against..." he trailed off. "Rocs?"

Putting her hoof down, Set Sail said, "Windigoes almost destroyed the world. They didn't try to stop it. They couldn't or wouldn't restrain themselves. It's like any dark magic, feeds on itself, never stops growing. Hydras eat ponies, given half a chance, you can't live with them. Manticores and Rocs are dangerous, but they keep to themselves usually. They don't give others a hard time. Reef, you are very dangerous. The ocean is blunt as butter too, and it's one of the most dangerous things out there. But it's not a monster, and neither are you. Summer Scribe..."

Shaking her head and looking away, Set Sail reluctantly concluded, "She's... more of a monster than you are. I really think she's got some good in her, but she was just out of control. Plenty of creatures are dangerous. It's the ones we can't live with, who won't or can't stop hurting others, the ones who... must be stopped. Those are the monsters."

Reef frowned, thinking this over. "After I was done moping in the hold, I went to Summer. Told her she was criminally reckless or something like that, that she should put Blue Gripe in charge. She convinced me it was an accident and she wouldn't do it again and... we could be friends again. Yet here we are." He sighed. "She isn't responsible for the death of that creature though. Only what came afterwards."

"To be honest, Grenelda was the one who screwed up there," Set Sail said, looking over the way of the ship, "At least, if she hasn't been totally lying to me, but it makes sense. She was just trying to make a meal of one, and get them to back off. She's right that spiders don't usually hunt in packs. But everything after that, the only response you could all be responsible for is defending yourself. I do think you should have retreated, but I wasn't there. It's my fault really, I should have thought of you all practicing what to do together, before it gets all crazy and hectic."

"Oh, she couldn't have known." Reef said, withdrawing the claw and waving it dismissively. "For all she knew it was just a pack of mindless vermin. Look... Captain, I appreciate the effort, but there's no getting around this. Nogriff ordered me to kill that creature. One just went ahead and did it." He started into the distance, his eyes haunted, as he murmured "Just like last time."

"She was a-attacking you," Set Sail said, looking up uncertainly at the despairing whatever he is, still unable to read that face, but something in his voice worried her, "With magic. You said she kept casting magic... bolts at you."

"Quite so, and were I still a hippogriff, they would have been quite deadly." Reef said, his voice bitter. "Yet once my rage was trained on her, her magics were easily overcome." He sighed. "I know for some the intent to kill is justification enough. No quarter given, except perhaps for formal and complete surrender. The oath I took though... well, not to do no harm as I hear pony doctors profess, but to minimise suffering. Cure what I could, and cause no more than strictly necessary." The griff dipped his head. "On that count I failed. Likely one's actions awarded us another mortal enemy, at least if they had any means of reaching us."

Set Sail stood alongside him and leaned against him as well as she could, lending weight and warmth to her words as she said, "Reef, I'm—I'm sorry. I didn't know you felt that way. I don't know what happened; I wasn't there. ...Sprocket was really shaken up by something."

Reef looked startled for a moment, then slowly and hesitantly extended a wing, placing it lightly over the pegasus. "Oh, Sails... I should be the one apologising." He reached out with a claw, one talon lightly touching the petals of the flower in the mare's mane. "For leading you on with the promise of a roman- err, that is to say pleasant breakfast and then burdening you with all this nonsense." He sighed. "Although... if you would permit me one more flight of fancy..." the griff said uncertainly, "I did come up with a notion last night, a chance perhaps to turn this around."

Looking down at her untouched porridge, the brown mare pulled away from him, looking at Reef in shock saying, "You wanted me to think this was going to be a rom...roman—a pleasant breakfast??"

"Not at all! Erm, I mean, not as such." Reef dipped his head. "Look, I-" His beak opened, then closed again. "In truth... that sounds delightful. It's just, we're in such a pickle right now what with Summer and the sphinxes and the pirates and that deadful business with the spiders... oh hang it all." He cocked his head, looking at the mare sadly. "Perhaps one could... make it up to you? After things have calmed down a little, I mean."

Facing Reef, Set Sail eyed him with an even more unreadable (to a griff) expression than usual, then said cooly, "It's fine. Go ahead and tell me your idea about how we might turn this around. I need all the help I can get at this point."

Reef stared back, wondering for a moment if ponies and hippogriffs were just not meant to be together. Finally he got a grip on himself, setting such sentiment aside, at least for now. "So. Erm. Well, I was thinking back to what you said about the Battle of Canterlot. The storm guards, and how they, erm, coloured your view of bipeds. These spider-drow, what do you suppose their view of other creatures is? Locked in a mortal struggle with the sphinxes... creatures that might as well be pony heads on griffon bodies."

"I imagine they saw us as allies of their enemy, or at the very least, a similar threat." Reef looked guilty as he realised what he'd said. "Not that you're to blame for your feelings, of course! But I do wonder... perhaps if we had a more familiar emissary, negotiation would be possible?"

The captain didn't seem to follow, so he explained. "We do still have a drow on the ship you know. A drow looking for an opportunity to prove herself. Or perhaps just put us in her debt, yet... perhaps that would be worth it? If we could find out why these 'spidrow' risk so much, breaking into the sphinxes' sanctum... well." The griff's beak cracked open just a little. "Perhaps your desire to make peace is infectious."

"Oh I..." Set Sail said, lifting a hoof to look at it, "I hadn't thought about that. The sphinx was said to have the head of a pony. It's hard to imagine that we could be as fearsome as those... giant storm beasts. I could talk with Silent Arrow, I suppose. She still doesn't seem to understand the slightest thing about friendship but I think... we might be having enough of an impression on her to impress uh, her." She sighed.

"She might just turn the spi-drow even more against us. But I couldn't think of any way to approach them at all, in a way they didn't make them think we'd kill any more of their kind. We're already stretched pretty thin though. I don't know if we could risk that, while I'm off getting captured by the big cats, while Clashing's getting caught in the sphinx's temple, or whatever awful thing is going to befall our current plans."

"It's your decision of course, Captain." Reef said, looking down. "But Sails... I implore you, to give it a chance. If Miss Arrow agrees, that is. Surely between us we can come up with a protocol that minimises the risk, and..." He looked up, his eyes haunted "...I just can't get the image of that spider creature out of my mind. To be sure they fired the first shot, but she was... she looked so scared, at the end. Wouldn't want her death to be for nothing, you understand?"

Set Sail looked down, saying lowly, "Nopony should ever have to die afraid. Angry, surprised, content, anything but fear." Then she met Reef's eyes with her own green irises, saying, "It's a long shot, but they deserve an apology more than any other of those rude little creatures. I'll try to figure something out. Thank you for caring so much about the poor mare, even after she hurt you. And... t-thank you for taking me on a romantic breakfast." The dark fur on her muzzle concealed the blush.

"I didn't... mares don't know if they're just being foolish and reading the wrong signs in stallions. I didn't know if you were even considering thinking of... me in that way. I know you needed to talk about this serious stuff, but... you still thought of me in that way, and I didn't wear this... flower in my hair for nothing. So..." She risked a swift kiss to his cheek, then fluttered back, red-faced and flustered, saying, "Thank you. Let's um, eat and get back and... get ready to do whatever we're gonna do about that cat island, and the spidrow."

The griff's enormous wings fluffed out, and for a moment his claws started to revert to blue goo, before he was able to regain control and change them back. "Truly? Well, erm... that's just splendid, Sails. Captain. Captain Set Sails!" he stammered. "One is eternally in your debt, of course. Oh, err... the porridge is almost cold." And with that he busied himself with spooning breakfast into his beak.

Author's Note:

This story is a collaboration between myself (playing Reef Skimmer), Ferret (playing Set Sail, some kirin and 28 background ponies), Patashu (playing Summer Scribe) and Spearmint (playing Azure Feather), based on an online RP.

A little 1:1 with Reef Skimmer pouring out his worries and botching his opportunity to find a special somepony (and this is before he even puts Summer's advice into action!). Still at least we got some cute backstory for Set Sail and a lead in to the much-needed training montage.