Author's Notes:

Let's see who was right and who can guess why...

Also, double chapter post! Hurrah! After these two ones we hit the sky and we all the know what that means

Happy reading

****

Shallow Shale

Moonlit Echo

My fur tried to stand on end but the mats inhibited the action, and the shaking of my muscles added a new pain on top of the tugging. Well, it was more of a fear of pain, although there was pain in my muscles. My imitation of a new born foal was accurate to the floor worship.

This had better be worth it.

Little Grims from Tartarus seemed to hover around my legs, sticking me even tinier pins as they giggled behind their cloven hooves. Spasms ran through my muscles through their dark magic and yet I was still helping search my warden’s ship…No, Ari was ‘helping’ me regain feeling in my legs.

I had feeling in them.

That feeling he couldn’t be ignorant to, everypony has felt a little of this sensation before, but he appeared as unrepentant to the situation as the invisible Grims were for inflicting the pain.

That stallion’s ‘slow’ pace was too fast for me still.

Keeping my wings outstretched I grimaced and took another step. Only half paying attention to his glances back at me and the subsequent frowns he shot my way.

Complaining wasn’t worth it at this point.

It still was taking a lot of self control to not ask him what he was looking at, it wasn’t like I was going to fly off. My word meant more than that. And I had to solve this mystery, not just who was following him, although that intrigued me as well. But the real question of just who were the princesses? How much of what I knew was real? And of course to what end was this all going to? They spoke of peace and friendship…But they had fought the most conflict.They liberated the crystal ponies, well, sort of. But they banished discord!

Yet, they less than a week’s flight away from them there was slavers capturing beings and they didn’t know?!

Looking at the moon through the control room’s window I couldn’t help but sigh.

Ari moved around the room for the fourth time, his rough shape contrasting with the white spires of the castle I held in my mind. The orderly barracks at the base of the spire so far from this world, they had order, and weren’t…

I blinked as the scabs on the Alicorn’s back shifted in the cool light.

My pain was still present as I felt confusion cloud my mind, the harried circles of thought running around on how I was not dead yet. Not that I wanted to die, this pain would pass. It was just that I should have been bucked halfway to the moon or at the very least tied up again. Instead I was walking, wobbling around a control room while my target searched for a trace for the intruder.

Should I be helping? Probably, but I was still working on being able to walk without using my wings for balance. And I didn’t mind letting him look on his own, again, not that I wasn’t grateful to be free and walking. But, I would have loved to be free sooner, or at least not hogtied. Have you ever tried to use the washroom when you are tied up?

But I digress, that never happened, especially if Night Glider asks. I went on vacation after all, not on a secret mission. A mission that had somehow, in a roundabout way had led to working with the stallion that I was sent to watch.

Ari snorted before he silently walked back to the steering wheel.

We had an intruder to find and the scarcely furnished control room was clearly empty.

“Find anything yet?”I asked Ari as he sniffed the board for the umpteenth time; all the while I strained to keep my voice interested as pain ran through me. Before I could ask again I was forced to back pedal, my instincts saving me just in time to dodge his tail as he suddenly turned.

Despite how he looked he moved very quickly.

“Hmm,” he blinked as his eyes regained focus, and with a cocked head looked back at me. I froze under his cool stare. “Oh,” I said it slowly as I leaned forward a little in interest. “No, nothing different,” His voice was growing more disgruntled as his brow furrowed. “That weird smell is still here.” Weird smell, I inhaled and couldn’t understand what he meant, everything smelled normal to me. He noticed my confusion, “It’s that musky sort of smell. Do you recognize it?” Giving the clearly OPID suffering stallion a quick glance, in which I saw his intent look, and knew how my evening would be spent. Buck...I wanted his trust and so I returned to sniffing.

Ari gave me a curt nod as he went to sniff the wheel.

The little red jewels stayed suspended in their tube, occupying my eyes as I tried to filter through the scents. The moon seemed too foreign to me to kept my gaze on it, it called up feelings that didn’t help identify the ‘musk’ as Ari put it.

Nothing was unusual in what I took in, nothing ‘musky’. Well, I didn’t know what he meant by ‘musk’, it was so vague. Like a cloud, musk could be any number of things, especially to those that are unfamiliar with the scent. So perhaps I could just be too familiar with everything. After getting tracking drilled into your nostrils for a good thirty weeks all smells sort of fade into one familiar mass, unless I was looking for one in particular this would be near impossible.

There were simply too many types of musk.

Might as well throw him a bone…

“Well, I smell mares.” That was an easy one. But, instead of being satisfied with that he simply nodded and gave me his full attention. I really shouldn’t be encouraging this...It did, kind of, feel good to have him listen to me. Certainly, it was better than being carted around like a sack of flour. “I can also smell zebra, oil, dirt, changeling, your hybrid, and basically every other being that could have been on the ship.” There were so many scents and most of them didn’t strike me as suspicious. He looked a little deflated at my response, “I mean, who knows who handled that board before it came on the ship, or even what worked on this ship.” I took an uncertain step toward the door and winced as my muscles screamed again. “Zebrica has been hiring anybeing with skills for years to try and catch up with Equestria.”

“I wonder why.” Ari muttered, and looking up from my hooves I saw his ears fold back. Blue eyes turned cold once more as he moved past me. The interest he held in my opinion was lost.

My mouth loved my hoof.

Of course they wanted to advance in technology! If I had the threat of being taken away to become some Dragon’s dinner or Arabian’s slave I would be fighting against it too. Species wouldn’t matter if they had a skill I needed…Thestrals were similar really; we had a skill that surpassed other species. Our night vision was on par with a vildkatt, if not better.

Is that why Princess Luna chose us?

No…Maybe…She just wanted ponies to appreciate the beauty that her night held. My eyes closed, she didn’t really make the night. I mean…Ari had said that they were both doing something unnatural with the sun and moon. They were supposed to move on their own. So was my princess just…I couldn’t even finish the question as the room boiled down to the glow of the moon.

My ears dropped as a heavy weight settled inside my chest. Manipulating things was nothing new to them. And the weather…It was controlled as well, made to be what they approved, and that was just what I knew.

Had I trained for a falsity as well?

Shaking off the question I focused on the task at hand, the mission, this one and not the one Luna gave me. Ari was going to save Equestria from the fate the other countries were facing and I couldn’t just let this stalker do whatever they wanted.

With the light powered down, Ari quietly sighed and moved hesitantly to the doorway, but my perception of the room still appeared clear to my eyes. The corners bathed in a clear distinctive light that didn’t come from the moonlight.

Ahead of me Ari stepped forward, slowly making his way until the moonlight illuminated the deck in front of us, and only then did his hooves step sure again. Tense muscles relaxed slightly as well, letting his feathers lay flat. I had stopped even keeping track of that reaction, seeing as this situation really bugged him this defensive puffing was happening every five minutes…Okay, maybe less often but it happened a lot.

I didn’t want to be the intruder.

As we returned to the deck he surprised me and stopped. The stallion’s eyes were on me as his ears swiveled. “So you guarded the princesses, eh?”

“Just Princess Luna actually, I am part of her personal guard.” He nodded along, keeping one ear on me, and the other still swiveling. “Although if Princess Celestia ever came to the night court I would guard her as well,” I replied as I thought back to the debacle that the court had become lately. Did he realize how much gossip his letter had started?

“Court?” Ari practically snorted out the word as a small smile broke out onto his muzzle and I perked my ears at him. Some hope entered by chest, his eyes looked interested again.

Keeping my composure I strained till I had caught up to him, “Yes, there is the Day Court and Night Court. A place where the populace may come and air their needs in the form of petitions,” a shudder passed through me as I recalled the amount of petitioners that had been storming the courts, it turned a relatively calm shift in a chaotic nightmare. If ponies still didn’t hold a fraction of fear for us then it would have been unmanageable.

Another shudder almost came over me as I pictured the drama that would ensue when he turned finally turned up. Nothing was ever going to be normal again…The weight returned, twisting my heart and slowing my breath. Luna as she tried to keep her composure before me, her worry clearer than her moonlight.

He continued to chuckle at the idea, before he grew quiet and he gazed at his hooves. Eerily familiar distance in his eyes as watched something I couldn’t see.

I still had only three or four days to turn him into a normal stallion, somehow, and I know it would be hard. He didn’t seem to care for normal or more likely he didn’t know what normal was on Equus. Everything here must be strange for him. I couldn’t imagine landing in a new world…Unaware of the rules and told to save it.

But Ari was handling it well, I guess. I really had no comparison for this.

The breeze ruffled my fur, tugging at my mats once again, and lifting my wilting wings up. Adrenaline whispered in my memories as I had the sudden desire to soar and glide among the clouds…I was unbound.

But I couldn’t fly.

I wasn’t really expecting to be roaming free after he found the nail and this little amount of trust he was showing was precious.

The truth was bound to come out with Ari around; he just had this way to throw status quo out the window. A siren hybrid existed, changelings weren’t evil, and the world wasn’t peaceful.

Both our muzzles opened and sighs escaped. An intruder was out there and here I was wishing for stuff I couldn’t have, questioning the night’s light in a futile conversation. Our hooves make faint noises as the slow walk resumed and the faintest tugs deepened my scowl.

The stairs approached and Ari waited for me, splaying his ears as I focused on remaining upright.

“So the guards are divided into different types then?” The dark stallion queried, steadying me with a hoof as we looked down into the first floor.

We didn’t move.

“Yes, Solar and Lunar divisions. And each branch is divided into different squads. Not to mention each branch has a personal guard for the princess that commands it.” I replied automatically. Thankfully that was cadet level information, buck, I’m sure most school age colts knew that.

My eyes and mind were elsewhere then.

Never had stairs seemed as scary as they did right then, looking down the steep descent only added to the shaking in my knees as I tried to think this through. I could…No; one look at my shaking knees told me otherwise, I would certainly tumble, and my wings were cramping up. Perhaps I could slide down on my rump? It would be embarrassing but I wasn’t asking for help from Ari, I was a trained guard.

This staircase was nothing compared to the Everfree Forest or the Living Maze.

Yet it looked like a long way down.

Ari nodded absently and started ahead of me. Carefully he placed his hooves on each step, growing more somber as he descended. The stallion’s muscles tensed with each step, the dark cracks on his hooves made a hollow echo with each new plank.

But my hooves refused to move.

My hooves didn’t have cracks at least, I could totally do this.

Now- I blinked- I was floating in his magic again. Briefly I scowled at him before composing my expression to a grateful smile. Sure I was happy to avoid an embarrassing moment, but being levitated down was almost as bad as being carried around by the heifer again. I wasn’t a little colt that needed help; I had fought for my position!

A sharp muscle spasm traveled across my wing and made me clench my jaw. But…I did need to recover. Days of staying still were still catching up to me.

Yell artificial light illuminated the room and forced me to blink at the change.

“Thank you,” it wouldn’t harbor good will if I was rude to him. Despite how much I would like to snap at him for assisting me I needed all restraint I could with him, especially after the nail incident. I shouldn’t be here, walking free, and yet he was allowing it. Sorry, I know I mentioned that already but it really grated on me. My captain wouldn’t have let a prisoner walk free like this; he would say it was crazy.

Ari was crazy…The good type, I think.

He just shrugged and looked down the spotless floor one way, and finding the right half empty he looked to the equally deserted left half. There was no pony here or any other being. But he cocked his head, swiveling his ears, and turned right again. The Alicorn was heading straight for the crate labelled ‘Katlego’s Supply Store’, his eyes were narrowed.

Making my way over I saw why he had investigated it, the nails were missing from the lid’s corners, and although the lid was perfectly aligned it with the edges it wasn’t secured like the other four crates were.

Was it a thief?

No, nothing added up for a thief. Ari had nothing to steal, well nothing easy to steal. Who would steal an airship? Only a stupid thief…And they weren’t silent enough to be a competent thief. I had heard them padding around the dining room last night. Sure, they could walk with hardly a sound, but I wouldn’t have paid any attention to the noise if they hadn’t bumped into the table, several times.

A clumsy thief…I doubted it, and last night also ruled out the intruder being a killer. Stabilizing the ship’s steering instead of killing the Alicorn right beside the wheel was just stupid. They didn’t even kill the changeling!

It made no sense. So I didn’t know what to expect with the motivation so unclear.

I fought down my shaking as we both tensed, he lifted the lid in his magic, and my training kicked in. Getting my unruly legs to fold into a crouch, I leaned back as the contents were revealed. We were ready for anything to pop out, yet nothing attacked us, and aside from the faint hum of his magic this floor remained quiet. Our mystified gazes took in the neatly stacked planks in the crate, noting the distinct gap between the top layers of odd sized ones. They had pried this open…But with what? Magic was ruled as any sane equestrian would have killed the changeling. So it had to have been opened by hoof.

But there were no tools around.

Leaning into the crate for a second, Ari looked to me and whispered, “The same smell is all over these boards.”

Before I could comment on the possibility of workers his magic suddenly had me above the crate, Ari’s eyes pointedly looking from me to the crate. Exhaling slowly, I reached my muzzle down and inhaled, only finding the smells of zebras and gryphons, both of which could have been workers at the supply store.

“Ari, all I smell is the workers.”

Placing me back on the floor, I could tell he wasn’t backing down with how his eyes narrowed and his easy pinned back. “And what do the workers smell like? Anybeing have a musky smell?” His whisper grew more forceful as I frowned at him.

“I don’t know what ‘musky’ means to you.” I let out a sigh, “But I smell zebra mares, zebra stallions, and gryphons of both genders as well. Which make sense, the coast often employ gryphons when there is heavy lifting or anything with heights is involved.” A frown was growing on his face, “But that doesn’t mean that somebeing isn’t on this ship.” That was for sure, something was definitely on the deck last night.

I could understand his thought process though, the odd smell was most likely the intruder’s smell, and tracking down somebeing that felt the need to sneak around was pretty important. Why sneak around if they weren’t killing or stealing? Too little was known to make any sense right now, not to mention my lack of sleep was getting to me. Still, their actions were all over the place and would have had me searching the castle…If I were at home.

The weight returned as I looked away from the crate, a strange disappointment went through me as I looked up.

Back in Canterlot, Night Glider and I would have secured the area for the princesses before retiring for the night. Which, I guess is what Chrysalis and Lyric were to Ari, his princesses. He was constantly fawning over them or worse. Oh don’t shake your head at me. I wasn’t a prude or anything, but there was such thing as too much affection. Especially when I was still trying to not gag at the thought of him rutting either of his mares. They just weren’t my cup of tea.

I bite my tongue, my eyes widening as the world moved once more.

Golden magic lifted me once again as we descended to the literal maze of food. I would say it was enough to feed an army, but with the amount this Alicorn ate I didn’t see it lasting longer than a year.

Setting me down he made eye contact and put a hoof to his lips, I nodded as I let the training in me take over. Ears upright and performing swivels every three seconds, tail held rigid to prevent accidental brushings, and slow, deep breaths through the nose.

Okay, this is going to be fun.

This felt just like the training exercises in week forty, which were stealth based operations. We had to navigate a living maze, The Living Maze, and our instructors laid traps for us. The exercises firmly reinforced the notion of never letting your guard down. It wasn’t that the traps were life threatening, it was more like everypony knew and would know for weeks if and where you had been caught. Pink dye, everywhere, and it certainly didn’t make the future missions easier.

With a cautious wobbly step, followed by a slightly surer one, I proceeded slowly beside Ari. I stayed in a crouched position as we started down the first aisle.

Quiet bore down on us.

His attention was ahead of us, taking in the shadowed areas with apprehension as I focused on the sounds.

With only the faint magical hum from below me to keep track of the time we crept on. The nearly silent hoof steps faded to the background as the white noise of the engines began to captivate me. Slowly the enchanted technology began to emit what resembled a lullaby to me; a calm humming that fought my training for control. Even as my hooves moved on my trained reactions continued to waver, my ears were stilling and tail drooping by the time we had reached the halfway point.

The air was still.

And the wood beneath me was covered in a menagerie of prints, all too mixed up to make heads or tails of them. But I tried to anyway, trying to picture the perfect hiding place down here. While the shadows of the bales and barrels loomed over me. Some were precariously stacked, silently threatening to topple on me.

Humming continued from below as I tried to stay awake, somebeing was stalking the chance a god gave us to save ourselves.

Come on, where would I hide in this maze?

My steps grew more confident, surer as we encountered nopony in the long corridor. The shaky spasms slowing as my muscles ached more insistently, but they grew steadier. I felt happier as that realization occurred yet also more concerned as we moved on. Aside from the crate there was no sign of an intruder.

With my motor control improving I took more time to scan the area, really looking over the food. If somebeing was down here they had to eat something.

The hay bales were untouched, except from where Ari had been teleporting from, and they went right to the ceiling. The barrels were in the same condition except not stacked quite as high. There was no room underneath the stacks as they formed a gapless line and the space above the barrels was so small that hiding up there was foalish. Unless you were a small colt no being could fit. My frown deepened and nothing came to me, the food was as orderly and tightly packed as one could imagine.

And this intruder made as much sense as what I had learned of this world, namely none. Who sneaks onboard, rustles around, helps to control the steering and doesn’t touch…

Wait, I take that back.

Unfurling a wing Ari blocked my path. We both halted as the same sight greeted us. I peeked over the dark feathers as they began to rise and my mouth tried to work the air before I closed it. We just stared at the barrel of Asipo melons.

The lid was crooked.

Blue eyes whipped from me to the barrel before he took a big breath in, probably trying to find his elusive scent. I humored him, knowing I would smell the zebra workers…Maybe it was a zebra? It really could be anybeing. I mean, I had tracked him through several countries and he had been to several before that, anybeing could want him, and not just the way Ayodele did. He had been making enemies along the way, who knows how many. Ayomide’s presence told me all I needed to know about how deeply somebeing felt for him.

The smells on the barrel were interesting to say the least. Stallions, mares, ink, and hen all were present.

Ink…With hen, such a combination was weird, curious, and made complete sense in a crazy way.

“Ari,” I whispered, the sound making me cringe as I came to many conclusions. His eyes found mine even as his ears continued swiveling. “I smell ink.” His ears went back and he went to sniff it again. Seeing his eyes go wide I continued, “The intruder didn’t use the stairs at the city hall and it was the evening after…” I trailed off as it fell into place for him.

His ‘musky’ smell that eluded him could be a gryphon’s natural smell, an earthy mixture usually. I wouldn’t have called it musky. But, the point was that we only saw one gryphon in that town.

“Bente,” Ari whispered.

Again I winced, she could still be here.

Of course, it could be another gryphon. Though the likelihood was slim, not that I didn’t doubt that he probably annoyed a gryphon along the way. But, who would know he would be in Malawia when he didn’t even know he would be there? The way I understood it, Ari took a walk with a magic inhibitor on and was poisoned before some slavers found him. And Ari’s species made him instant front page news so they wouldn’t advertise that they had him, even among whatever criminal ring they traveled in.

“Bente,” He repeated in a louder whisper, sounding just as confused as I was. She had seen him, received an explanation, and then left. He didn’t even have time to annoy her!

I nodded in his direction as he straightened the lid and proceeded onward.

Both of our steps were light, tense, and very aware that if she was here she would already know where we were. But I had to confirm my thoughts with him, I knew it was a stupid reaction…And even worse, It still didn’t answer why she was here or why she had torn apart the office.

Silence resumed, it felt even hazier with that new knowledge floating around us. Neither of us had a clue as to why she had done what she did. So we slowly crept along, flank to flank, and hoped to catch the stowaway. I focused on the shadows and prints in front of me to tune out the screams from my underused muscles. Eventually, they were merely a buzzing in the back of my mind as my senses tuned in to my surroundings. The magical hum, his soft breathing, and the occasion whistle of a breeze that came from above.

You couldn’t even hear any talking from the cabins down here.

‘Why’ buzzed through my head as Ari ruffled his feathers beside me, looking between the shadow’s arches with a new rigidity to his movements.

Despite being a bookseller he moved at a steady pace, his muscles absorbing the sound of his hooves, and a silent determination on his muzzle in spite of his hoof’s cracks. The sight of such focus would have made my ‘Stealth 101’ instructor smile…If he smiled.

Taking a right we froze, somewhere something had rustled, it was so slight that it could have been a mouse. If we didn’t know better…But mice didn’t produce that sort of rustle, trust me, I had spent hours hiding in the forest during the final exam. Mice sounded different, that sound was hay stalks shifting, dry and hollow. A mouse wouldn’t cause such a loud rustle, mice were just too light.

We waited; blue eyes looked into mine as I strained to pinpoint which aisle it came from.

Very faintly a ‘schlick’ sound echoed across the air. My mind raced until it found a comparison, it was almost like a feather running across something, and it was to our right. In the next aisle, I pointed my muzzle to the direction and we shared a brief nod before picking up our pace. Perhaps it was two or even three aisles over. But, it was hard to tell where the sound came from with the sound buffering the hay provided.

Pausing I tried to slow my breathing but still couldn’t pinpoint the aisle. What if she gets away? The thought spurred me on.

Slowly we resumed walking, faster than the slow creep now. My right ear stayed trained ahead of us as I tried to pick up her breathing with my left.

No feedback came in.

Then more rustling came from up ahead, faster, and louder as we closed in. But we kept our pace, staying quiet as we stalked forward. We didn’t want to give away our position. Even Ari had enough sense to play invisible till we confirmed her location.

I waited at the corner to the second aisle, looking for movement in the shadows. Seeing none I nodded before we proceeded down the shadowed alley. The hay looked untouched and no barrels had crooked lids. But we continued down.

Still more rustling sounded one aisle over.

Did she know?

Grinding my teeth I broke into a silent speed walk, rushing down the aisle.

It was empty.

So we turned the corner. It was just as empty, no hiding places in sight, and the rusting had stopped. I looked uncertainly to Ari as we paused, the sound and trail was lost to me. The whole room had traces of Gryphon and zebra.

He raised his eyebrow to which I shrugged.

Blue eyes went to the makeshift walls of the maze, a frown growing deeper on his muzzle before he shook his head. Ari looked back to me in the silent room pointing a hoof at his nose and the floor before using the same hoof to point at my eyes and in front of us. It could have been my ears but I understood the point, he wanted me to be his eyes and ears.

Twitching my ears I kept pace with him as he literally put his nose to the floor. Moving it around before he settled on a trail, tail swishing as we crept forward.

Silence reigned as the shadows didn’t change and even our steps didn’t sound out with how quiet it was.

A right turn, left, and right once more. We zigzagged, following the trail to a ‘T’.

My nagging sensation of tiredness returned as the monotony of movement didn’t change. Walls of hay towered above us as pyramids of barrels threw off my senses with the shadows they formed. Even Ari seemed to slowing down.

Our withers started to slump as our tenth row proved fruitless.

The next aisle and so forth provided no results, not many were left now, and I was certain she knew we were here. Bente had to be here. What were the chances that he had two stalkers at once? My face dropped as I realized what I had thought, this was Ari I was talking about.

Dear Faust, this was crazy making.

With each consecutive failure Ari’s muscles had grown increasingly taunt and his ears disappeared onto his head. His nose sucked up the dirt and debris as he tried to keep the scent and I winced as his eyes watered. But, he kept on moving forward even as I saw the faint illumination ahead of us.

The stairs were up ahead and we had run out of aisles to search.

Disappointment started to well up in me, no sounds of movement were reaching my ears, and the shadows stayed still.

And as the aisle ended he looked up from the knots in the floor boards, watching my ears as I tried to figure where Bente went. But it was useless, the engines hummed on and no sounds of life came from the stacks.

His eyes bore into me, searching for something as I frowned and shook my head.

Buck, I wish I had a different answer.

I wanted to find the bird, learn why she was here, and to truly earn his trust. But ultimately, I wanted for him to save the world and reveal the truth to the world’s duplicity.

The wind whistled loudly for a second, filling the hull with a barrage of echoes.

My mind raced as Ari looked at the staircase with a frown. After a long time he turned back to me, his expression one that made my inadequacies even more apparent.

One gryphon…I had been caught in a trap. In fact, I walked right into the demonic rodent’s nest, and now…I couldn’t even find one gryphon.

Something lodged itself in my throat as our eyes continued to stare, a blankness taking over mine as the cool blue orbs met mine. I knew everypony had bad nights but I wasn’t having any good ones lately.

Luna’s blue wide eyes flashed in my mind’s eye for a second and I couldn’t help but grimace.

And I still didn’t understand the most basic part…Why was this gryphon following him? Why Bente would be hiding here when she seemed to want the same thing as him back in Zebrica, assuming she was honest. If the Gryphon Republic had come to Zebrica for help and Ari was fixing the problem then why was the hen following Ari? My mind tried to spin crazy tales but I swatted those down, it usually never was a convoluted reason. That only happened in fiction. Most criminals, beings had simple motivations. Perhaps she just wanted a free ride? That still didn’t explain her trashing the office…Somehow I didn’t buy the old saying ‘as wild as a gryphon’, it held about as much water as the adage ‘changelings are evil’.

Blue eyes grew too much for me so I tried to focus on the third staircase instead.

Hiding in the engine room would be smart; it would be the loudest and most complex place. Surely it was filled with hiding places and stuff to use as weapons.

“I just don’t understand.” I looked up from my observation of the third staircase. “Why is she following us?”

He seemed to have abandoned silence so I sighed and followed suit. It wasn’t like we could even catch her without a way to sweep search the area; there were just too many places to hide. “I don’t know either, logically she should see you as an Alicorn that freed many slaves and feel satisfied to let you have the job of saving the world.” The stallion cocked his head and frowned. “I’m just saying that what you did is pretty impressive…But I don’t know why she trashed the office.” I paused as my other theories reared their heads, chiming in their cases. “It could not even be her; maybe there was another female gryphon, and Bente could have been traveling with others.” It was a bit farfetched but still possible. Would they send a Gryphon across the Narrow Sea alone if they knew about pirates and sea monsters?

I doubted that theory though, she seemed too desperate to flock to him for a Gryphon flying with others, and that glint in her eye when she saw his wings…His raised eyebrow told me he held the same doubt. We were just grasping at stalks here.

Exhaling loudly Ari made for the stairs, the stairs leading up.

“Where are you going?”

Pausing, he looked down at me, “I am tired, my mares are anxious, and I doubt Bente is even on this boat anymore.” Before I could point out the noises we had heard he pressed on. “Besides if I was her I wouldn’t stick around this boat when she has a mountain full of worried gryphons to inform about the new Alicorn.” His sudden turnabout had me flabbergasted. This stallion had gone from ‘search the ship and catch the intruder’ to ‘let’s sleep’! What in tartarus was wrong with him?

Although, that was actually a good point, Bente would want to inform her counsel of the news.

But why did she trash the office?

Catching up to him on the first floor I watched his expression, which was still tense despite his claims of being ‘tired’. He probably had realized he couldn’t teleport to her or restrain her without seeing her. “Ignoring the fact that she could be hiding on the third floor,” Ari flinched and slowly exhaled but I pressed on. You don’t just give up and leave a floor unsearched!“What do you think she was looking for in the office?” You don’t trash an official’s office in the middle of the night when you want a ride, which she would have had secured if she was traveling out there.

His wings ruffled a little more as the wind whistled down the stairs, “I don’t know.” He snorted at the stairs as he tried to settle his wings, “Maybe information on me?” Ari’s voice started to drop, losing gruffness as his ears went sideways. “Perhaps she needed to view a paper having to do with her country? I really don’t know this world’s situation completely. But, I don’t like what I do know.” By the end of his sentence he was back to a whisper.

I nodded as I followed him; not wanting to push the issue anymore than I reasonably had to, my point was made. With one more glance back to the hull he continued, watching the stairs with a faraway look in his eyes. He was clearly lost in his thoughts.

Meanwhile my own thoughts were catching up to me as well. My chest seemed too small as my mind whispered uncertainties in my head, and I began to fear returning home.

What if it all was a lie? I still didn’t know what had happened to the Gryphon ambassador’s Bente claimed to have been in Equestria. She had said they didn’t return…

****

Ari

Closing the bedroom door behind me I felt strange.

The light dimmed and I still couldn’t put my hoof on what was wrong. Was it ending my search early? Or leaving Echo untied when he could easily get help? A chuckle bubbled in my chest as I walked but I held it down. The day Echo makes it away from an eight foot tall Minotaur smith’s grip is the day I don’t eat. Dinari had muscles to spare.

No…It wasn’t that.

Maybe it was how chatty the Thestral had become? He was questioning this and that to no end it seemed. I understood that he was trying to be helpful, earn my trust and all that jazz. But his talking out loud bit hadn’t helped me. His scent identification helped, but now it left me with a whole new slew of questions and the sheltered guard wasn’t much use with answering those.

At least Bente just seemed shocked at my herd from what I remembered.

But she trashed that office…And secured the steering wheel. Bente didn’t appear to be exactly life threatening.

I shook my head and thought back to something much more amusing. The scowl Dinari shot me as I woke her could had cowed the old me, but after everything it was just funny. Not funny for Echo of course. As she held him in a hold that was reminiscent to a sleeper hold I got the distinct impression that she was imagining me in his place. And the wary colt lay as rigid as he could in her arms. I knew would be hearing about this later though. His stink eye guaranteed it along with the grumbles from the other occupants.

At least he had lost that dour mood he had on the way back. I know I felt conflicted on my decision but he seemed to take it worse for some reason. It wasn’t even like he had a herd to protect!

Maybe it was something else, but his sudden change had bugged me. Even if he was a prisoner, it was just temporary, eventually I would have to release him, and then I whatever he chose to do would be out of my hooves. That part scared me more than a hen sending weird signals.

But…He had changed since I met him.

A yawn escaped me as I turned off the dining room light.

That strange feeling put aside, my instincts were quieter since I found out it was her. And thinking through her actions I didn’t see a threat. She had two chances to harm my herd and didn’t. The Thestral was safely tucked in, the ship was mostly searched, and I was safe for now. No need to further tempt Murphy.

I could return and test out my new bed… And try to ignore the fact that I might still have a gryphon hen playing hide and seek in my cargo hold for discernible reason.

Nope, think on the Brightside…The positive of the night is that Echo seems to be really trying to help.

Making my way back across the deck I looked up at the moon. It appeared so large, the many stars forming foreign constellations to my eyes, and although several large flashes came from the heavens they held no answers.

Questions pressed on my mind as I stood frozen for a moment. Waves continued to lap at the docks and a pleasant flowery scent ran in with the breeze. I sighed, holding onto the feeling of peace.

Around me the boats remained dark, the only yellow light coming from a far watch tower and my cabin.

Sometimes I wondered what the hell that whack job was thinking throwing me here. Wouldn’t it have been better to change a local since they would know more on the situation? I mean if he could change my gender, species, and fertility then why bother grabbing me from earth when there were plenty of ponies here?

The flashes transformed into blazing balls of light, comets or meteors. I couldn’t tell the difference. But it was still a nearly pointless to know, they were pretty, and either way I hadn’t found Bente.

Bente’s image flashed into my mind. Her white and gray feathers working into creamy fur, her body held no clues as to her true reasoning but...I was grasping at straws as to why she acted that way, trying to see something I might have missed in the five minuets I saw her. Five minutes…This world still so vast and complex that a reasonable answer was not really possible from that. Well, besides the whole ‘there is a new Alicorn’ shtick that ran through everybeing.

Going to the capital will at least get that over with; everybeing will know I exist then.

A sigh escaped me as the cool breeze came off the water and soothed my increasingly itchy scabs. The breeze ran along my body, running through my feathers, and made me lean into it. As it settled down, a fluttering caught my ear; it was the wind struggled to snatch a feather.

But mine remained firmly attached to my wings.

Looking up I followed the wind, it stilled as I spotted a large white feather. It was wedged in the metal siding of my cabin, and seemed determined to stay there.

You were up here Bente?

The skies were clear, the docks empty.

Ripping it from the spot it had wedged itself, I inspected while it floated in my magic. It was in excellent shape, a long primary feather, and the most interesting part was the fresh flowery scent it still held. I inhaled the scent, bringing the feather to my nose as I tried to remember the scent. The gryphon musk was present of course. But the personal scent reminded me of days running in the park, and how fresh the ground smelled when I tripped onto it.

Putting my nose to the floor I briefly tracked her across the deck. The scent strongest around my cabin and faint around the stairs, she hadn’t returned to the hull then. But…My eyes scanned the deck taking in the air as I realized there wasn’t any place to hide. Her scent hadn’t been in the other cabin that I remembered and the control room held no fresh traces of her scent.

She was definitely gone now, this was the freshest I had smelled her. Maybe she really was going to go spread the word…

The thought didn’t help me lower my feathers.

Keeping the feather in my grasp I entered my room, briefly glancing back at the harbor.

It was still devoid of life.

Closing the door quietly I smiled at the sight of my room. Chrissy and Lyric were already snuggled barrel to barrel under a new blanket, lazily purveying the remaining blankets in what had the most serious inspection of blankets I had seen. Beside the bed the bags had been folded, while the other presents had been unpacked and roughly sorted. The five books occupied the one nightstand, joining the clock that confirmed that it was far too late to be up. While the other nightstand had the bag of gems beside it and a precariously stacked mountain of blankets on it, the blankets that had been inspected in detail I assumed as another one floated from Lyric to the stack.

What was with them and those blankets?

Chrissy suddenly scowled as I watched in my confusion. She wiggled beside Lyric as if the luxurious bed wasn’t comfortable suddenly.

But I still wasn’t acknowledged, the blanket held their focus as they adjusted it. This was new, she had never been this obsessive before, I mean of course she had been very into preening and grooming in general, but this was very odd.

Finally I stepped in, shutting the door with a quiet click, “I returned!”

They looked up from adjusting the favorite blanket. Both mares perked up, quickly making a space between them. Lyric levitated the blanket as they both gave quiet nickers which I answered with my own nickers. I immediately filled the gap between them, no encouragement needed for these sore hooves. The warmth radiated off them as the blanket settled back over us, bringing a sense of thoughtless comfort that I sorely needed after tonight’s drama.

But their eyes were on the feather.

Wiggling in the indention I was creating in the bed, I tried to think of a good segue into ‘a hen I met for five minutes is stalking us and I don’t really know why, but don’t worry she left’.

It wasn’t coming to me and the longer I shifted the more my marefriends frowned at me.

“So what was with the blankets?” They briefly looked to the pile of plush blankets then back to me, splaying their ears. I could see their eyes flicker to the feather as I held it above my head as I let the question sit with them.

“Blankets,” Chrissy queried, cocking her head.

I nodded, feeling a grin crept up as I twiddled the feather in my magic, ignoring their gazes.

“Well, they are very cozy…” She trailed off, looking across my chest to Lyric. Lyric rolled her eyes and mouthed something I didn’t catch back at Chrissy.

“That they are,” I wasn’t against blankets…But, I had stood there for a minute without acknowledgement! It makes one wonder just what was going on. Were they culturally significant? Was it related to the foals, like some sort of foal blanket thing? Better to find out now then find out the hard way later.

A sigh escaped my changeling before she perked her ears and turned to look at me. “Look, I didn’t know when it would start.” I frowned at her, not really following her train of thought. “But,” a small smile wormed it’s way up from the frown, “It means that our foal is doing well.” Her voice cracked as she said foal, almost not finishing the sentence.

I blinked, smiling wide as I began to rub against her. A purr rose from her as Lyric began rubbing on me in turn. If this was the instincts she mentioned then it would be no problem, I could handle blankets.

We were all smiling widely for awhile.

My happy thoughts were derailed as Lyric’s voice rose above the purr, “The feather?”

That made me pause, the moment lost as I realized I still didn’t know how to explain this without causing worry.

“So Echo is really trying to be helpful,” they nodded as I placed the feather on the nightstand; their eyes followed it, and narrowed before they shared raised eyebrows with each other. Shaking out my wings under the blanket, I adjusted them to cover Chrissy and Lyric as I let out a breath. Be smooth. “Thanks to him I finally figured what and who is following us.” They tensed beside me, ears splaying as I tried to keep calm. “Bente,” as I said her name Lyric started muttering in what I think was Saddle Arabian while Chrissy cursed that Tartarus place.

“That’s her feather then?” I nodded to Chrissy. She slumped back down, lacy wing creating a muted buzz as she splayed her ears, “Why are you so calm if you didn’t find her?”

Just like what Echo didn’t seem to get. Although, I had to keep telling myself it too, but my instincts were certainly calmer from the mantra, ‘she was gone and not a threat’. “Well think about it, she had the opportunity to do anything to us last night and she didn’t.”Their ears stayed splayed as I moved a foreleg over Chrissy’s wither, thinking loving thoughts as her chitin smoothed my fur. “Instead, she secured the steering wheel, which was very helpful.” And I shouldn’t have fallen asleep. “If she was hostile she could have easily grabbed a knife from the kitchen and slit my throat.” Both mares snorted as they tried to relax, but their muscles stayed rigid.

Fuck, I could have worded that better.

I started picking my teeth through the impeccable blue mane, getting a low moan as my mare’s head lowered onto the comforter, and her shoulders loosened up.

Although that moan sent tingles to my sheath I focused on relaxing Chrissy, knowing her she might want some more love later anyway. But, now I needed to calm them down. My marefriends had never really gotten a break. From their family dying or disappearing to now it was one big struggle and we weren’t even to the biggest one yet.

“But why did she trash the office?”

Spitting out a bit of loose hair, I turned to Lyric. “I haven’t a clue.” That got me a frown from both of them. “But, aside from the mess Wekasi said nothing appeared to be missing.” My siren continued to frown as she eyed my work on Chrissy’s mane, her frown growing deeper the longer I worked. I started to get an odd, nagging feeling. “But I found the feather by our cabin; it was fresh so I am willing to bet she was making a beeline for the Gryphon Republic.” Slowly Lyric nodded while agreeable murmurs came from the mare under my foreleg.

It made the most sense to me.

Lyric seemed to be satisfied with my answer, but her eyes were glued to her herd mate’s face, and that feeling finally clicked.

Now she was biting her lip.

Pushing her closer to my chest I started on her golden mane, grooming it as Chrissy started to wiggle up against my side, pulling a new blanket from the ‘uninspected’ pile on the bed. With a flourish she spread it over the blanket already on us, intensifying the heat between us.

It was summer, two thick blankets in the summer.

But, I ignored the weirdness of that, if blankets made her instincts feel better I would simply learn to keep cool in other ways, and it wouldn’t be summer forever.

My eyes were on Lyric as she made this odd light cooing sound, a musical quality to it as it changed pitches with my position on her mane. It made my heart race seeing Lyric melt under my teeth, her eyes closed in such a relaxed expression.

Apparently sensitive pressure points were located along the maneline and all of them caused immense relaxation. At least that was the gist of what they had explained last time.

With the last knot removed I felt my muzzle open of its device. The clock ticked on, insistently backing up my body’s signal.

Darn, I had hoped to last a little longer.

“So you will help me solidify the plan tomorrow right?”

I didn’t really know what to expect for answers seeing as both Chrissy and Lyric had their eyes closed, but both murmured something unintelligible and low.

“What was that?”

Lyric’s horn glowed pink as a shadow fell over me. Before I could look up a mass of fluffy blankets covered us. She tucked her head into my chest, snorting slightly as her horn dimmed. Well, it was warm. Okay, it was almost to that point of too warm, but my body disagreed with another yawn.

No more sounds escaped them.

But now I was pleasantly trapped and half asleep in a very bright room. Instead of leaving the confines I focused on the jewel, producing an ethereal stick. She had said it responded to magic. The light dimmed on contact, till only the moon’s glow lit the room.

Calm and cool, a full moon felt perfect for falling asleep under. My instincts were silent, happy with the night as well.

Bente was gone…Tomorrow we would hit the skies again.

And as strange as it was, the blankets and bodies didn’t overheat me despite the season. It was like being wrapped in a cozy Sunday morning cocoon from my childhood, and I was pretending to be a caterpillar again.