A Different Sort of Response

[anarchyarcher]

 Ako looked up shakily, red tear-soaked eyes meeting Sharpwit's uneasy look of reassurance with one of despair. 

"Sh.. Sharp..." The gryphon whimpers softly. "I... I don't know if I'll ever f..f..fly ag... again.."

In a pointless gesture she tries to move one of her wings, only to be rewarded with blinding pain and the wing bending into an unnatural s shape. Her voice was cut off as she gasped breathlessly at the air, eyes bulging out. She quickly let the wing go limp again in the room's grip, more tears dripping down the sides for her face. 

"I... I don't even know... know if I'll be able to fight again... not like I'm used to..."

Her face falls back down against the cot in despair. 

"So.. why should I even care about that sword... It's only ever brought me p... pain and suf.. suffering..."

Well shit.

[sharpwit]

If Sharp was feeling guilty before, now he was feeling a full onslaught of self-condemnation. He began to approach the sobbing griffon, but seemed indecisive as to whether or not to get within arm's reach of the poor girl. Finally, he settled on laying down at her level, his face full of concern. "Don't cry, Warbird," he said softly, his voice barely rising above Ako's sobs. "I'm sorry about what I did, but I promise we'll make it better!" He turned his neck to his back and pulled out the two pieces of the sword, laying them out in front of her. "I've talked to the Doctor, and he reckons we can have it fixed. He's willing to make the trip to see the original crafter and have him patch it up, good as new!" The small smile of reassurance forming on Sharp's face faltered slightly. "That'll be alright, right?" he asked nervously.

Injured Warrior

[anarchyarcher]

 When Cain and Sharpwit came back into her room, Ako didn't realize the pegasus was there at first. Where she lay on the cot in the middle of the empty room did not give her a good view of the door, not when she couldn't move for fear of more stabbing pain. As the two entered the Zero Room's field and the artificial peace tried overtaking them, the swordsgryphon made a soft coughing sound before speaking. 

"Th.. thanks... C..c...Cain..." She stammers, her tawny sides quivering slightly where she lay on cot with wings held aloft by the room, their spread showing exactly how mangled they'd become. 

Ako noticed Sharpwit after he came into her line of sight, a look of anger spreading across her face swiftly followed by a grimace of pain and then concern. The gryphon tries to speak, but her first few attempts fall over themselves and come to abrupt stops. 

"Sharpwi-... You.. eh... My Sword... I... I won't... d..don't..."

Her eyes quickly overflow with tears again as she stops trying to talk, putting her head down on the cot's surface and sobbing as salty drops drip down her face.

Preparations

[zervziel]

As the Doctor and Elder Ebb Flow walked off, the former seemingly eager to show off his blue box ship to the latter, the Queen turned back to her people. It wasn't until then that she really realized how few were here. About a thousand kelpies looked at her, the sun glinting off their shells, giving the appearance of a living ocean spread through out the city. And all their eyes were on her, her massive size working better than any podium for catching attention.

In the wake of the Time Pony's statement, quite a few kelpies were upset at the mention of their new queen leaving them for uncharted waters. Frankly she couldn't blame them, she didn't want to leave either. But what the Doctor said was true and as much as she didn't want to admit it, Riptide knew the future had to be prevented. She, the Doctor and the rest of the companions did not just save an entire race only for Riptide's future self to destroy everything.

Funny that I have to leave them to save them She mused briefly before addressing the crowd of kelpies.

"Despite his oddness, the weird one is right. We are not ready to face the Empress or her forces. Look around you. We barely number a thousand able ponies. Samudra's forces span the entirety of the oceans. We cannot hope to win against such numbers. And think what would happen to our children if that were to happen."

Riptide paused to let that sink in. It was an unsettling thought. The Silurians had at least been without the bias of the sea ponies. It didn't bear to think what would happen to a fry caught by sea pony forces. More than a few of the kelpies blanched at that thought, while other remained unconvinced. She'd have to change that.

Riptide raised herself to her full height. "I do not intend to take these recent actions lying down, however. The sea ponies have trespassed in our territory, kidnapped us, then placed most of us into that sleep before experimenting on our children."

That got a reaction. Every single kelpie present couldn't help but let loose a low growl, though one did speak up. The kelpie known as Storm Wrack pointed an accusatory hoof at the Silurians.

"These fishbrains are the ones responsible for that!"

About ten kelpies started to move towards the reptilian creatures only to start in surprise a loud crack split the air before looking to the source.

Riptide ignore the numbness in her tentacle as she locked her gaze on Storm Wrack. "Yes, they did and they will be punished for it, but they only did those experiments at the behest of the sea ponies. As I said they will be punished and in some ways already have been.

Riptide waved a wing at the group of thirty something Silurians. "This is all that is left of their kind. I can understand your anger, but as a wise kelpie once told me, "we kelpies are hunters, not murderers." As we were under their thrall, they are now under ours and it would be hypocrisy itself to slay them while proclaiming ourselves not to be the monsters the rest of the ocean believe us to be."

Riptide nodded to the Silurians. "I will not have you executed. Your kind will stay until the end of it's day, but you will help us restore this city and share your knowledge with us in return. Do not even entertain thoughts of betrayal. After all you've seen the abomination spawned by one of your own in his own hubris."

The Silurians may not have known much of mammalian mannerisms, but to a one , they all nodded in agreement. Satisfied Riptide looked to her people.

"As my friend from earlier said, we are few in number and we have almost no allies at the moment. This is not the right time to attack Samudra. We need more than what is present to succeed. I want the entirety of the oceans scoured for our kind. What we have here are only what the Empress's forces managed to gather so there must be kelpies that have slipped through their nets. We need to find them as we only stand a chance together."

Even more kelpies were nodding now. Now was the subject of her leaving, which was going to be the hardest.

"As for allies, I'd be foolish to turn down my most powerful one."

At those words, a grim mood settled over the crowd. Many knew what was coming and yet hoped it wasn't as the queen continued.

" The "Doctor" as he likes to be called, is a powerful ally that has already helped me in many ways and it is with his help that we can triumph!"

Many kelpies looked as if they were confused at this and Riptide couldn't blame them. She had just been telling them that they only stood a chance at survival if they summoned as many kelpies as possible and now she was talking about outright winning?

Riptide continued on, her eyes glazing over as she remembered.

"My friend was not lying earlier about his machine's ability to manipulate time. In my travels with him, I have seen sights, place, and beings you would never believe. He has literally been to the end of time itself and back. He has seen literally everything."

The big kelpie gave her head a small shake as she pulled herself back to the present. "If I go with him, I can learn more about being a good leader and how to use my powers than if I simply stayed with you. Even better is I can learn the strengths and weaknesses of the Empress herself. With that knowledge, we could defeat her forces for good. But that's only if you allow me to go."