//------------------------------// // ...You Got Pirates // Story: The Olden World // by Czar_Yoshi //------------------------------// "Behold, our majestic... Oh hey, we're actually there this time!" Howe sounded legitimately surprised as the next major valley rolled into view, five vision-blocking hill corners after he had first started guessing. This valley might have been large enough to be called a ravine, except it had filled with water from rains and nowhere to drain, and was now playing host to a long, narrow lake. And that lake held an airship. It was a sad mockery of Shinespark's work on Project Aslan, making a ship that was fit for both the skies and sea. Someone had outfitted the gondola with inflatable pontoons to keep it from sinking or being submerged, and from the tension of the ropes and supports, the dirigible was still doing most of the work keeping it afloat. She wasn't sure whether to be flattered that someone had copied Sosa's idea or offended that they had done such a halfhearted job of it, but at least it was doing its job. It only hit her a full minute later that just because it was moored in the water didn't mean that was how the pirates were intending to use it. This was an airship first and foremost, in a land that had done little to embrace the technology. She was looking at the Empire's perhaps-first sky pirates, in a land dominated by the sea, and that sent a small shiver down her spine. "Here we be," Golbez sighed in agreement, giving the airship a resigned look. "Alright, missy. What be ye knowin' about how to captain a ship? Prove yourself through competence or else leave me and me crew alone." "Oooooh," Puddles giggled bouncing and bouncing at his side. "That's a big one, Mister Pirate! How did you get on- woah! Heeheeheee!" Belinda seized her in her talons, flapped her wings, prepared to take off... and nearly faceplanted, pitching forward and losing her grasp when Puddles refused to become unstuck from the ground. Some minor griffon caterwauling ensued until Golbez forcefully put a stop to it, Puddles grinning stupidly in the background as Howe and Neon Nova continued conversing in low tones. Shinespark watched from a hilltop, unimpressed. "Arrr..." Golbez rubbed his face with a talon. "Silly Missus Pirate," Puddles sang. "Puddles didn't ask how you got on board! I wanted to know how you got one of these in the first place! I wanna know how easy it is to replace if I ram it into something." "Please, uhhh..." Howe half-shadowed his face with a wing, peeking out with a dramatic smile. "Please don't do that! It was an epic story full of drama, heroics and intrigue, but after we nobly- oww!" Shinespark frowned harder and dimmed her horn, having hit him with a small ball of hardened telekinesis. If she was following them, there would have to be a talk about what was and wasn't tasteful to say about Ironridge. "We named her the Spirit of Sosa!" Neon proudly added, and Shinespark immediately gave up. "Ask us where we got that name sometime!" "Regardless," Golbez sighed, looking like he desperately wanted a bottle of something hard and a fluffy bed afterward, "if ye want us to lift ye on, ye be needin' to-" Puddles winked, then stomped. A wide spear of ice lanced out from the hillside towards the boat, and continued growing as she walked out on it, crafting itself continuously until it had latticed, crystalline railings and an artistic tiled floor and even a carpet of frost down the middle that tinkled and crunched underhoof. It wasn't a functional bridge so much as a walkway straight from a palace. "Well, that be doin' the job too..." Golbez sighed in resignation, choosing to walk rather than fly. Shinespark stood a ways down the side of the airship from where the ice bridge made contact, close enough for Puddles to see she was still following but not close enough to attract pirate attention... she hoped. Puddles was dancing excitedly, dispelling the bridge and hopping around the boat's deck. "Yay, yay, yay!" "Captain?" Belinda frowned at Golbez, standing alone with him to brave Puddles' antics; Howe and Neon Nova had wandered elsewhere and Shinespark didn't see them. "What are we actually going to do now? You think she knows how to pilot an airship? She'll ice us if we refuse, but if we let her fly this, we lose our ship, our lives, everything." "A good question," Golbez sighed. "Where be ye wantin' to go, missy? Perhaps we be doin' the flyin' and ye only point out directions for us to follow?" Puddles thought on this for a moment, holding a hoof to her chin in the world's most serious contemplation. Then she flung it out in a westerly direction. "Okay! Puddles wants to go that way. Don't tell Puddles you're stuck in this lake and need her to carry the boat out to sea..." "It's an airship, you foal," Belinda growled. "And its power reserves are at fifteen percent, so if you're smart, you won't fly it around unnecessarily and get us truly stranded. What we were trying to do when you hijacked us was find a way to rob the city's main power line and get a recharge." Puddles pursed her lips. "But Puddles wants to go that way. Don't worry, it's not far..." "Not far, she says," Golbez remarked. "Just what kind of agenda do ye have, here?" Puddles stuck out her tongue. "The bridge is this way..." Belinda sighed, making for a network of staircases and scaffolding that hung from the supports tethering the gondola to the dirigible. High above, the bridge room was affixed directly to the dirigible itself, giving it a perfect view of the surroundings in every direction but up, and Puddles eagerly bounced after her. "...Ugh," Shinespark sighed, starting to realize how weak her legs felt. She had come for Valey, but was now something of a willing captive to a demon mare with unknown but certainly-existent goals... She just wanted to see her friend safe and sound and fly her back to the Dream. Not this... "Hail, fallen leader of Ironridge!" a spooky, dramatic voice whispered behind her, and she glared backwards to see Howe approaching with his ears flat and a slightly abashed look on his face. "Don't call me that," Shinespark said, turning fully and giving him her attention. "What now?" Howe fidgeted. "We, errr... Well, we're aware you don't like us, and there's a long and complicated story behind our actions, but the point is, we realized we were on the wrong side! We... wanted to help you, and it's apparent we left a baaad-smelling impression. Catch my drift?" Shinespark raised an eyebrow behind her impassive visor. "You've stopped talking like a lunatic, which means you're at least somewhat serious?" "Eh heh... hee..." Howe nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "Well... yes! Mostly. The Howenator's speech patterns are a mystery not known to this universe. Yes, but, however... We... wanted to make a peace offering of sorts, and introduce you to someone you've clearly been missing." "She's here?" Shinespark blinked, suddenly interested. If she could potentially break Valey free, they could escape here and now! "At the stern of the ship," Howe promised. "Follow me." "Here?" Shinespark frowned. The ship's stern was actually several levels high, not having been built for water travel, and they were presently on a raised balcony with a door leading back inside, looking luxurious and private enough she wouldn't have been surprised to see it connect to the captain's quarters. "Here indeed," Howe promised, nodding to Neon Nova, who was standing by the door. "Just one question... You are Shinespark, correct? The leader of the Spirit of Sosa and frequent masquerader in shiny armor? We, err, didn't meet that much." "Yeah?" Shinespark frowned, looking at the door. This felt staged... Howe jumped back, and Neon knocked on the door. "Excellent!" the pegasus beamed, cloaking himself and preparing to fly away. "Then we shall leave you to your noble selves! And with that... Pow! We're gone!" Both stallions departed in bursts of feathers and teleportation, and the door started to swing open. A burgundy hoof stepped through, followed by a horned head with a mane styled identically to Shinespark's. The mare blinked about for half a second in confusion, then three more seconds in disbelief when she finally saw who was there. "B-Braen," she whispered under her breath, voice growing louder and stronger with each heartbeat. "You survived. You came for me...!" Shinespark tore off her helmet and shook free her red mane, blinking in disbelief. "Grenada!?" "You died in the tower!" both mares exclaimed, pointing hooves at each other. "I... you...!" "You're alive!" Shinespark gasped, grinning, mission completely forgotten. "My favorite lieutenant..." "I'm alive? You're alive!" Grenada beamed back, lost in shock. "You're alive! You're aliiiiive!" She charged forward and hit Shinespark's armored body with an unbreakable hug, nuzzling for all she was worth.