The Maven's Suite <Private>

And so it was, that the guest stayed nearby to listen to the full song delightfully in silence. He even felt more inspired along the performance in other matters, especially as to what order he'd take to clean up his airship from the outside in. Once the music was over, he'd clapped his hooves lightly on the ground, signaling his proximity if she still hadn't noticed him. "Bravo~! That was very lovely, Miss."

She started at the clapping, eyes widening for a bit, "Were you standing there the whole time? There's a chair in here to sit down, you know." She shakes her head and smiles. "There was a bar that didn't sound quiiiiite right, but... well, this is a song I know well." She offers a small smile and gestures to a chair.

Sugary nodded and moved over to the chair for use, still giving Delphina a broad smile as he hoped for more. "I didn't want to intrude all of a sudden, but I'd be happy to be your audience for longer. By all means, please continue." He genuinely liked what he had heard so far. It wasn't likely he'd be bored any time soon.

She shrugs and works on some other pieces for a good hour, making sure that everything was perfect. As section leader, it was her job after all. She stops, however, when something flies past her window at jet speeds.

"Well, doesn't that take the piss... What do you suppose that was?" For an instrumentalist, she wasn't particularly... refined.

Sugary looked outside and then got up to check, somewhat annoyed at the sudden interruption with a scrunched muzzle. "Don't know... Probably a caped crusader?" He opened the window to check and see, and saw a one hero fighting a villain up in the air. "Huh... Looks like there's a duel going on up there... Wow, they are really going at it- Oh!?" He moved back from the window a bit as two figures passed by this time and over to the horizon onto the clouds. He had a light smirk. "And there they go..." He chuckled and closed the window and moved past Delphina. "Eh heh... That reminds me, I should get to cleaning. The performance was fantastic and refreshing by the way." He nodded, and began to move out. "If I finish cleaning early, I'll invite you, okay? It's the least I can do!"

She smiles and nods, "That would be fantastic." She stretches and scratches her head. "I might take a nap while you're out. I'm a little tired."

Sugary understood clearly, and went on his way...

Some time later, he'd be back, calling out to her from outside, or seeking to come in again if she hadn't locked him out by then. "Delphina~? Delphina, I'm done! You're welcome to come in now!" He'd wait as long as he had to for her...

And once she finally got around to following, he'd offer her a lift by casting a floating spell again, even forming a cloud for her so she wouldn't look down if it bugged her unless she insisted on walking. Eventually, he'd lead her onto the deck of his ship, which was about as normal as one might expect, but then he made way into the inside. The bridge contained quite a number of controls that would take quite a bit of skill to manage alone or multiple navigators, made of sturdy metal and intricate synergy. It had quite the view from just about every direction behind durable glass, as well as numerous maps and navigation instruments between the cabinets and a table. Further down were the main hall and most of the usable space between the large cargo room, the two modest but cozy bedrooms with two beds each of whom one was rather well decorated by the owner with many memorabilia of his travels, a small but fully equipped kitchen, and a working bathroom. There was another floor below, but he had stopped the tour before then. "Well, it's not much, but it's home. And sorry, but the floor below is the engine room. The grease wasn't quite as easy to clean up, so you'd be better off not going unless you wanna trip on your hooves down there. It's just plain not very safe yet." Among other things, she might notice the light hint of seabreeze scent the ship always seemed to have.

She allowed Sugary to lead her into his airship with his magic, admiring the woodwork and memorabilia. "You weren't kidding: this place is really a home." She turns a full circle, sticking her head out the window. "It certainly has charm. What do you call her?"

Sugary stuck his head out the other window with a chuckle. "Glad you like it. And I call her the same thing as the nameplates do: Black Mambo. ... And no, it's not a Pirate ship, just reminds me of a song I've always been fond of. By the way, since you're here, would you like a snack?"

(The author giggles childishly)

Delphina nods, "That would be fantastic. Although... The song this name reminds you of... I can't say I know it. Would you tell me about it too?" She would follow him to the kitchen.

"Great! And the song...? Uh... Not really one you sing, it's just a tune. Follow me, and I'll show you to the kitchen quick." He began to whistle said cheery tune along the way. Short, simple, energetic; He tried to add some lip sounds and light hoof stomps in time with the theme to add more flavor.

Shortly after, he opened the small fridge, and offered a plate with some mildly misshapen sweets on it. "Coconut and pineapple candy! They normally look better than that by the way, but I couldn't very well literally organize everything back again. Heh..."

She turns them over in her hooves and plops one in her mouth, still looking around. "I imagine you get a lot of places in this thing... Bet you could tell a good story or two to a guest?" She smiles and leans in cutely.

Sugary grinned as she leaned in after eating one of his sweets, and sat down on the table for 4, leaving the plate available still as he took some of the coconut candy. "Mm~... Well, I can tell you a short story. I once managed to go underwater with this ship; I was testing a Dive spell you see, and thought of how I could navigate it like a submarine. Wasn't easy, since the controls weren't made for that kind of function, but the propellers are already heavily waterproof, so I figured I'd push them to the limit at the time... And boy, what a trip that was. Deeper and deeper I went, lighting the way while exploring the sea near Yakyakkistan... There were a LOT of broken furniture tossed out down there! Some of it looked really ancient too; So I guess the rumors about their legendary bad temper is quite true." He took another bite. "Mm~... Ah, but it was as risky as you'd expect. Ended up resurfacing because a few tempermental sea creatures started angrily flopping onto the deck. I don't quite think I ever heard a crab snarl at me before either..."

She laughs, "I don't think it'd ever had to deal with an airship before. Did you bring anything back with you?"

He pondered for a moment, and then perked his ears as he got up. "Yes, actually! I'll be right back." He went towards the cargo room... And when he returned from it, he was carrying a huge yellow crab claw on his back. It looked quite heavy, and the table even stressed a little when he placed it on it with some ease and care. "Hooo... Trust me, you don't want one of these snapping at you... So I snapped it off that crab! That'll show him! The meat was really good by the way. I got some leftovers still, would you like to try some?" He was dead serious in his question even if he looked casual about it.

She runs a hoof along the claw ridges, feeling a little somber. A mariner's tune came to mind, but she waved it away. "Crab? Can't say I'm the boat fan of seafood to be honest. I more like baked goods." At the same time she was disguising a small amount of nausea: horses don't eat meat.

Sugary nodded in understanding and again pointed to the plate of sweets. "I could always make more of those, and then some. Maybe not riiight away, but if you really wanna try some more, I could sell a few to you... Hm..." He then shook his head, and smiled. "On second thought, you gave me a private performance for a long while. So tell you what; You tell me something you might like, and I'll see if I can't cook it up for you. How's that sound?"

She blushes a bit, "But, uhh... my instruments don't cost money to practice. Your cooking costs ingredients and such... but... I mean, if you're offering..." She flushes a bit darker, "I haven't had doughnuts in a while. That would be nice... If you don't mind! Of course." She sneaks another sweet.

He waved casually as he got up to get some ingredients. "Come on, you sound like a professional. Those instruments of yours look expensive. But these?" He pointed to some flour and sugar. "These are fairly cheap, even if good quality. It's hardly unfair, so donuts it is...!" He kept gathering the ingredients as needed, then looked to her curiously. "Do you... intend to wait here while I bake? You could take that plate with you and wait at your house if you want. I could open the ramp or levitate you back to your home."

"I li-" as she was about to comment on how much she appreciates the smell of baking, the blimp shakes. She immediately looks both the embodiment of a tired 'fuckit'. "On second thought," she says, as the sweets had spilled into her lap. "I think I'll go change into something a little more... suitable." She stands, "If you would lower the ramp, that would be much appreciated."

Sugary's increasing reverie is once more ruined when someone hits the airship again that day for a different reason. He grumbled and groaned ad he reluctantly escorted Delphina outside after spilling a few of the ingredients somewhat with a scowl. "Right... You go do that, Miss... Meanwhile, I think it's high time I showed the local talent a bit of my own brand of Justice..." He made sure that the exit was safe for her on the way out and down the ramp, afterwards seeking out where the latest trouble was coming from sharply from his position.

Delphina thanks him, going into her house. Once inside, she quickly goes into the basement and changes into her costume, putting on her mask, cape, and suit. She put the flute in her costume just in case, but since the enemy was so close she decided to use her best instrument: her viola. She walks through the tunnel under her house to a side street nearby and pops out, looking for the baddy who had disturbed her doughnuts.

Emerging, she side and saw her least favorite imp. Imp wasn't exactly a fair term - he wasn't actually a devil - but the small pegasi had an obsession with dressing as a demon, and a penchant for annoying her. She clears her throat, adopting a sing-song tone, "Oh Impy, you've returned! I thought I might have the afternoon off."

The pegasi smerks, "I knew you'd show up Maven. And for the last time, I'm to be called Imperator now! ... Impy is stupid..."

Back at the airship, Sugary had donned a ruby red full suit of armor, marching left and right on the deck to patrol his surroundings. He'd also, once in a while, teleport somewhere; He was actually also going back and forth between the kitchen and patrol duty as he made donuts for Delphina. But if he were to catch a villain near his ship again, there would be consequences!

The Imperator cackled evilly. "Soon, I will break into this ship and blow it's engines, causing it to crash into the houses below and-"

"You really didn't think this threw, did you. As much as I'd love to see you punted like a football, I can't have you messing up a ship I just fixed."

"Just try and stop me!"

She brought her Viola up to her chin as he fired a bolt at the ship. Thinking fast, she played as different mariner's tune about a boat surving rough seas. Unfortunately, it still rocked the boat a fair bit, but the explosion hit a barrier of purple and did nothing. Her song then changed to 'I Heard It Through the Grapevine, causing long vines to snap up and grip the imp.

He struggled and screeched, "You'll never catch me ali-ffff!"

The vines had been working on tying him up. She had them gag the squeaker. "Dearie, please don't interupt the songs..."

By the time the next attack came, Sugary was making his way back onto the deck. He then bemusedly neighed as he looked to the direction from where the new barrier just showed up to block something. "I saw that! And I can hear that too...?" The music became more notable the longer he was back outside. It already strongly reminded him of Delphina by the sound of it. Even so, something had attacked him, and he hopped off from the deck to float down towards the direction he assumed the bolt, and the music, came from. His horn was flaring, ready for battle...