//------------------------------// // Chapter 11: Blackcap Peaks Part 1 // Story: High Seas of Adventure // by Silver Dragon Blade Wing //------------------------------// Dragon of the Depths It had been mostly an uneventful trip the rest of the way to Blackcap Peaks, expect for two incidents; the first happened about three days away from the island, a strong heatwave had fallen. The Traveler Group noted it was rather odd to see pirates, who would wear clothes almost all the time, to not. The heat had gotten to the point that quite a few of the crew had taken to sitting in the large freezers below deck to to cool off, others had set up spare sails as some form of tents, the Main Tavern looked like a warzone as heat-crazed creatures wanting something cool fought the staff for ice cream. It was hot enough to literary fry eggs on the deck, the hot deck leading to some rather funny dance moves. At least, it would have been funny if everyone wasn't sweating lakes. One Tatzlpony made the mistake of stepping onto the main deck with a ice cream cone held in one of his four tongues, the second he did all heads of everyone on the deck of the time had shot to look at him. He would describe it as being a prey animal in a room full of starving predators who hadn't eaten in a mouth. The Tatzlpony stood there with a slowly growing look of understandable worry as the others looked at him with growing, and rather scary, wide smiles. "Now look lads, I already had a few licks." He was preaching to the choir, and the choir was driven by the need for something, anything, to cool off even slightly. "ICE CREAM!!" "HAVE AT THEM LADS!!!" Like sharks to blood in the water, they came at the Tatzlpony who turned and ran like his tail was on fire. Speaking of tails on fire, a number of Pony crewmates, both old and new, had their tails somehow light up which were put out by nearby bucks of water set up for just that reason. Razor Looked at Atlas, "Next time we dock at Imperator's Grave, remind me to have air conditioning installed." Thankfully for everyone's sanity the heatwave only lasted one day. The second happen late the night before they arrived at Blackcap Peaks, Everyone but the nightwatch was fast asleep when a loud, ear shattering scream of terror rent the air. Razor had shot out of his bed and ran through the halls in the quarterdeck while the sleeping crewmembers fell out of their hammocks. The Traveler group shot up in surprise as everyone them picked themselves up. "What going on?! Are we under attack?!" Silversteam asked in a panic. "No! Snowheart's having one of her nightmares again!" Razor crashed through the door to Snow's room where the Mare shot up awake and flew into the Kirin's spread arms, wrapping her forelegs around his neck and burying her head into his chest as deep as she could sobbing heavily. Razor held her in his arms and wrapped his wings around her, shielding the Mare from the outside world. "It's okay Snowy, it's okay I'm here, you safe now, it was only a nightmare." He whispered softly to her. Snow just continued to sob into Razor's chest, the Kirin rubbed her back to show her that she wasn't alone. They sat there for a few minutes when Razor felt himself and Snow picked up. "You know the drill Steel." Razor said. "I know." Steel carried the two into the Main Tavern where the rest of the crew were waiting, the only ones not there were the nightwatch but after their shift was over they would join in. Steel set Razor down then the Kirin slowly opened his wings, revealing Snow who was still hugging him tightly. The first one to hug her was Silver, who nuzzled her neck and head. He was was followed by the rest of the crew one by one, with the Traveler group joining in. They all ended up sleeping the rest of the night like that, all cuddled together around the Pegasus Mare, sharing their body heat and taking comfort in each other's presence. The Next Morning The Dragon had dropped anchor as close as it could to its destination, Razor and the Head Officers expect Atlas and Snow stood next to the helm. "There it is, Blackcap Peaks." Blackcap cap Peaks had been named so because of its tar topped mountains, it was a fairly large island that was mostly covered with small alpines and thick jungle, with seven of the mountains towering high above the rest. There was the remains of a port here from long ago, but only the lighthouse and bits of the docks remained now. Razor walked over to a large crate that had been set up as a table and called his crew over, just as they did Atlas joined them. "How's Snowy doing?" "Better, Silver's with her now as well as her personal guard. But she wouldn't be joining us right now." "Best to let her recover, Atlas. Can you stay here for her?" "Of course Honey, I'd be glad to." Razor nodded and turned to his crew. "Alright everyone, now that we have arrived here's the plan. Apollo, Zenith and I will take a landing party and get what we came for. But then that would be to easy, as this book-" Razor picked up the book detailing the Power Ring "- said. As it turns out, there are two pieces to the Power Ring, look here." He opened the book to a page that showed the Ring, with a much smaller one next to it. This ring was cover in markings that the crew recognized as ancient Kirin runes and six slots. Looking closer at the main ring they saw the smaller ring fitted in between were the diamond was placed and the rest of the body, the slots lining up with six arms the the main ring." "This smaller ring is, for lack of a better word, the power source of the Power ring. Without it the main ring is just a shell and the small one is just a hunk of rock. From what I read this was done as a failsafe of some sort as this smaller ring is in fact an old Kirin artifact." "How do you know that last part sir?" "I sent a picture of it to the Runesmiths at the Kirin Mountains a few days ago and I got a response this morning confirming it is in fact one, the runes are ones no Kirin uses anymore and in this case were used to power the ring." Razor then pulled out a map of the island and laid it for them to see. "I also found out this morning that a massive storm is headed for this region, it will hit in about twelve hours, maybe less, so we want to get what we came for and get out before then, savvy?" There was a chorus of Ayes. "Good, so when Apollo, Zenith and I reach this point-" He tapped a spot on the map which showed a small canyon, "-we'll slip up; Apollo, you will take your group here to were the old cave system is." Razor tapped the spot on the map, Apollo nodded his head. "While Zenith, you will take your group to the ruins of the fortress." He tapped another spot, Zenith smiled. "As for me, I will search for the wreck of the Explorer here," He tapped an area of small mountains closer to the north side of the island. "That a bit of a big area to search, how are you going to find it before the storm hits?" Fire Gem asked. "With this," He showed his magic compass, "and these." He flared his wings. "I'll be taking to the air to search for it." Razor then turned serious. "Now remember everyone, just because we were very thorough the last time we were here doesn't mean we missed any twelve years ago and just because this island is uninhabited doesn't its empty, so be on you guard." Everyone nodded. "Okay, also remember this map is twelve years old so be ready for anything, select those for your groups and we'll get going." After Apollo and Zenith did so five lifeboats were lowered and they moved to the island. Apollo's group included Thunderlane while Zenith took Soarin and Sky, much to the three's surprise. After they landed they carefully hip the boats and walked inland, unknown to them, they were not alone. Twilight's Group Twilight and co had been following the Dragon for a number of days and had followed them to Blackcap Peaks. "Are we there yet?" "No Pinkie we're not." Flash said. "Oh, how about now?" "No Pinkie." Flare said. There was silence for a moment, then... "Are we there ye-" "PINKIE! If you asked that one more time!" Rainbow shouted in rage. Since they had started following the Dragon Pinkie had kept asking "are we there yet" which had driven the others to the end of their sanity. "Pinkie, you are walking on a really thin line here. If you do not stop with the "are we there yets" we are going to muzzle you and lock you in the brig for the rest of this trip. Do you get me?" Night Light asked in a tone that very clearly said he was not joking. Pinkie, noticing that and the fact that the others, even Fluttershy, were staring at her with angry glares, nodded her head with a sheepish smile and did a zipping motion along her lips. Just then Twilight said, "Look! There they are!" Everyone looked over and sure enough, they saw the Dragon drop anchor. After dropping their own at a hidden cove the Mane Six went after the pirate's landing party while the others stayed at their ship, but before they left Night Light stopped them. "Twilight, girls, listen to me very carefully. I known you all want to beat the snot out of them, but that wouldn't be a good idea." "Why wouldn't it? We've faced worse in the past." "RD's right, we can handle a few pirates." Applejack said. Night facehoofed, then looked at Twilight. "Twi, remember those shows you and Shining used to watch on weekend mornings?" She nodded, confused at the question. "Well these pirates, are not like those show bad guys, these pirates wouldn't hold back because you Mares. They. Could. Kill. You if given the chance." Night said in a completely serious tone. "And don't give me the "You have worst" thing, Nightmare Moon was hammy and acted all high and mighty, Discord liked his games, Chrysalis wasted time by gloating and had her Changeling backing her up. These pirates have to fight and kill to survive!" He then looked Rainbow and Applejack in the eyes. "Have you two ever faced, or even seen, a Kirin before this one? I have." The two Mares shook their heads. "You faced a Kirin Dad?" "Not so much as faced, but watched. It was when I was still a Colonel" Flashback Canterlot Royal Guard Training Ground, Years ago We had set up a training scene where some of our more experienced Guards would face off against a powerful opponent. I was sitting with others who would watch the fight while the squad facing the opponent got ready. They were sure they would win, the General said the squad was ready, then the doors opened. Up until that day I'd never encountered a Kirin, only heard the stories. In the doorway was a Unicorn-born Kirin if the horn protruding out of his head was anything to go by, he wore red, gold-trimmed armor that was very heavily scared and worn by battle. The same armor worn by their elite guard. The Kirin walked to his starting spot opposite of the squad, who believed they were ready, with a highly disciplined calmness that seemed almost unnatural. One of the guard said a taunt to the Kirin when the General started the fight, the Kirin merely arched his back, and flared his wings while releasing a roar that shook the room. I learned my first thing about Kirin at that moment. (Rarity) "And that was?" That Kirin deliberately damage their wing membrane if the scars were any indication. (Rainbow) Why would anypony deliberately damage their wings?! And destroy their own natural beauty with scars? Kirin have never found a way to armor their wings without weighing them down to much so they damage the membrane, though not enough to do permanent damage, to strengthen it. (Applejack) How does that work? (Twilight) Its called scarification, if I remember right Kirin see scars as a sign of respect and experience. In fact, the more scars and the nastier they appear, the more attractive they are in the eyes of a Kirin mate. And to answer you question Rarity, Kirins live in a very harsh land, one that makes the worst parts of the Everfree look like a foals playground. It has creatures that would devour things like Timber Wolves, Hydras, and even Ursa Minors like they were hayfries. I once meet a Kirin ambassador but I'll save that story for later. Thank you Twilight, but save anymore question until after I finish. Were was I, oh right... The fight wasn't long, the Kirin up the squad down like it was nothing. Two of them ended up in the hosptial, after the Kirin won he looked at us then removed his helmet. I will never forget it as long as I live; his face was heavily scared which included what I think was an acid burn, visible skin grafts, and he was blind in his right eye. He looked right at us then said: "Remember... little Ponies, it does not matter how strong, skilled or lucky you are, if you make a mistake in a life or death situation then you could very well be dead. Also, there is always someone better, always. I swear to Celestia, Luna, and Faust he looked right through us as he said that. Flashback Ends Night Light shuddered at the memory. "Since then I've held a very healthy respect for Kirin, and something to note girls. Male Kirin might be formidable fighters, but the females are just as fearsome. So, only follow the pirates and don't engage them, alright." "Yes dad." Twilight squeaked, her friends nodding their agreement. "Alright, Rarity asked, "So to them things like fashion is very low on their priority list?" "Yes, to be honest they see fashion as a waste of resources." "That line of thinking is because their land is so dangerous things that just make you look you best is, to them, useless as the creatures don't care." Twilight added. "In all honesty their idea of fashion is how well their armor, which is hand-crafted by each Kirin, protects the. Okay girls, now get going, they have quite the head start." The Main Six ran down the path as Night Light watched them, Spike walked next to him. "Um... dad?" "Yes son?" "Is what you said about Kirin true?" "Yes Spike, it is." "... You going to follow them, like at a distance?" "Yes, while I do trust them, they have made some rather... questionable choices in the past. So they might very well fight the pirates or their Kirin leader. I need to be there to help if that happens." "We'll hold the fort sir, you go ahead." Flare said. Night nodded and followed the girls down the path. The Pirates Razor held his halberd in one wing hand and his compass in the other as he chopped his way through the underbrush, twelve years had really caused the local plants to grow over the paths. Nothing his halberd and fire couldn't take care of. He cut more shrub down and stepped into the open, next to the canyon. Razor looked over it, and found that the bridge was gone. "Not surprising since this island has been abandoned for twelve years." He muttered, he then turned to look behind him at the others. "Slight problem guys." "What's wron-oh..." Apollo said. "That does complicate things." Zenth said with a frown. "Why?" Sky asked as he walked up yo them. "Most of us can fly, and the ones who can't... we can just carry them." "But we still need to find the second half," Razor reminded him. "And its a further walk to the other spot." "Oh, okay." Sky said. As the group took a rest the three leaders went over the plan. "So it looks like you two will have to circle around the canyon, that will take longer but we still have time before storm hits, think you guys can get there and search before then?" "We think so Razor but, what do we do if the storm hits and we're still here?" Apollo asked. "We won't, if you see the storm come too close to the island leave immediately and haul tail back to the Dragon, we can always come back after the storm passes." Both nodded their heads. "Um... Razor?" Sky asked, "Why can't we fly over to the areas? As I mentioned most of us can fly and we can carry the ones who can't" "Well Sky the two locations are in thick jungle which limits flying, and the Explorer is likely very unstable so it's better if I go alone so as not to risk anyone else." Razor explained. "Oh, I get it." Sky nodded. "Alright, we'd better get moving, that storm is bearing down on us and I want to be out of here before it hits. Good luck to you all and remember, just because this island was abandoned does not mean it's empty. I'll see you guys later." Razor slipped his halberd into a holster next to his rifle's before walking to the cliff edge, looking over below for a minute, then spreading his massive wings. He then pulled out a pair of goggles, slipped them over his eyes, then dived off the cliff. After falling half way his wings spread again, catching with air with ease and sending him soaring through the air. Mane Six "Look! There goes the Kirin!" The Mane Six had being walking for a short while and had reached the end of a canyon leading out to sea when Applejack called out and pointed with a hoof. Sure enough, there was the Kirin pirate flying off in the distance. "Quick! Follow him!" Rainbow said and spread her wings then picked up Pinkie while Twilight picked up Rarity and Applejack as she and Fluttershy spread their wings then took off after him. Night Light appeared soon after, looking worried as he saw them fly off. He knew it would take some time for him to catch up. "Please girls, don't do anything rash." With Razor Razor loved flying, the wind in his face, the pleasant feeling of it moving against his wing membrane, and the feeling of freedom. Razor loved these moments when he could leave his duties as a pirate lord for a short time and just lose himself in the soothing feeling of freedom. Pulling himself out of his thoughts he scanned the ground below; the jungle had ended a short time ago and gave way to short mountains. He frowned, there were thick spires of smoke and steam ahead. While he could just fly through them, Razor hated flying blind and it was the same thing at night; too hard to see things before you crashed into them. Spotting a clear landing point he dived folding his wings against his sides, then flared them to slow his landing, which he did with practiced ease and grace, the wind kicking up small amounts of dust and sand. Removing his goggles he pulled out his compass, opening it he saw the needle was pointing into a cave. "Tunnels, of course." He then pulled out a large lantern, it was red in color with emerald and gold trimming. It was shaped like two four-sided triangles attached together at the bottom with a four-sided rectangle in between, in the center of the rectangle sides was a circle. One circle had a dome while the other three held a ruby skull each, the glass was green, the handle was metal with two silver chains attaching it to the lantern, at the base of the chains was what looked like a small ship wheel, and within were large crystals. Grabbing a small dial at the base of the chains Razor turned it and bright light emitted from the lantern with the dome projecting a beam like a flashlight. He walked into the cave, only to find it went straight down. Shaking his head he reattached the lantern to his belt, pulled out his sword and carefully started to climb down. Unknown to him, he had some company; the Mane Six saw him enter the cave. They had landed further back and had stuck to the brush just out of eye and earshot. "Don't lose him!" Rainbow said. Dash, are you and Applejack sure you want to actually fight him? You heard what my dad said." "He's just trying to scare us Twi, we've handled worst." "Besides Twilight, there's six of us and only one of him. We faced an army of Changelings and won." Twilight was about to say something but was cutoff when both Pinkie and Rarity agreed with RD and AJ. Fluttershy walked next to her. "If it makes you feel any better Twilight, I agree with you." Twi gave her a smile in thanks. They then started carefuly climbing down the shaft with Twilight hovering and ready to catch any that lost their footing. Meanwhile Razor reached the bottom of the shaft, took his lantern off his belt and held it in his right wing claw. "...Wow..." The area ahead was a massive cavern, with a thin layer of mist throughout it. "Better tread carefully." Razor slowly walked forward, taking careful steps. The cavern had many side tunnels, ridges, and pathways, it was easy to get lost here. As he walked he took note of many wall paintings scattered across the cavern. "Shame I can't study them right now, maybe later after the storm has passed... and why am I talking to myself? Whatever, its helping me think." After some time Razor finally found an exit and stepped onto a sandy, sunlit beach. "Ahhh fresh air." Putting his lantern away after turning it off he pulled out his compass, following it he soon came up to a cliff wall, with the needle pointing right at it. "...What?" Looking at the compass in confusion he brought it up to his face. "There's a wall in front of me and there's no way around it. Is this thing broken or... wait," Razor was holding the compass vertically to his face with the key-shaped needle pointing upwards, he eyes slowly widened. "Not in front of me, above me." Looking up he spotted something, moving around the cliff base he saw the remains of a ship, the same one he was looking for. "The Explorer." Putting his compass back on his belt Razor crouched down like a cat readying to pounce, then leaped onto some outcropping, leaping up again to more that were higher. "Good thing for that parkour training. Razor had started learning how to parkour early in his pirate career, using the masts of his ship for practice, drove the crew up there crazy, which for him just added to the fun. Finally he reached the ship which sat on thirdly stories, give or take, worth of rocky cliff. How it got there was a mystery, Razor's best guess was a giant wave had carried the ship and set it down here. He reached the top and pulled himself over. There in front of him, was the wreck of the Explorer. Time hadn't been kind to the ship; while the hull was mostly intact, all traces of its paint and other markings were long gone. The masts and bowsprit were almost completely destroyed, the quarterdeck was cover with debris, meaning he could enter the Captain's Cabin that way, and there was a large torn section of hull under the rear of the quarterdeck with only the remains of the support ribs remaining. "Well, that's not scary." Below the Mane Six saw the tri-bladed tail tip disappear over the edge, Rainbow made to follow when Twilight stopped her. "Wait Dash, he will have the advantage up there, plus that wreck doesn't look very stable." "Twi's right RD, even if that wreck was stable, I reckon that pirate will have experience in fightin' in close-quarters like that.' Applejack said. "So, what do you two think?" RD asked. "We ambush him in the cave, he doesn't know we're following him so we can catch him by surprise." Twilight said. "How do we know he wouldn't simply fly over the mountains?" Rarity asked." "The smoke and steam cover, to many things to crash into." The six Mares nodded in agreement and went back into the cave, unaware they had left clear prints int the sand. Up above Razor reached the hole as with the quarterdeck blocked by debris he would have to go another way. Carefully, he reached out with his tail and gently pressed some of the beams. There was a creaking but the boards held, it seemed stable. Razor slowly climbed on and entered the ship, it took some time to reach the floor of the Captain's Cabin but he would much rather take it slowly as moving through the old ship was risky enough, it was sitting on an unstable surface and even the slightest shift could sent it falling, with him in it. Razor knew that, while Kirins were able to take an incredible beating, they were far from invulnerable, as the scar at the base of his wing would say. They could still very well die from a broken neck or spine, at least the former was instant. Razor finally reached the floor under the cabin and pushed some loose boards out of the way, after that he lifted himself up into the room. It was clear he was the only one to enter this room in a long time if the thick layer of dust was anything to go by, the room was filled to the seems in treasure, so filled that Razor couldn't walk without stepping on coins or other items. While other pirates would be drooling at the amount, Razor was only after one item; the Power Ring. He found it after a minute of searching, it was resting in the grip of the remains of the Captain who was laying in a large king-sized bed. Razor reached forward, grabbed the ring, whispered an apology, and slowly pulled. No sooner had the ring moved a bit that the head of skeleton of the captain moved! Razor looked at the head which stared back at him as if saying "excuse me". Razor's ears fold against his head, as much as he wanted to deny it, this wasn't the first time he had encountered moving skeletons like this. "I know the ring is valuable, but I need it for something very important to me. Would you be willing to trade?" The skeleton's head tilted slightly to the right, signaling it was curious. Razor let go of the ring and reached into one of his chest-like saddlebags, he pulled out a large, diamond-shaped blue gem the size of his head. The skeleton's head moved back very slightly, as if in surprise. "Yes, this is exactly what you think it is; a Seapony Gem, one of the rarest treasures in the Sea of Legends." Razor wasn't kidding, a Seapony Gem was so rare it was up to half a continent worth of bits. The skeleton stared at the gem, then slightly nodded. Razor smiled and placed the gem on the bed in the skeleton's hoof, which released the Power Ring body which Razor took. "I'll leave you to rest in piece now." He said with a tip of his hat as the skeleton laid it's head back down on the bed and Razor moved to the hole he came in. Razor moved through the ship and exited out the way he came back into sunlight. He walked to the edge of the cliff and used his wings as a parachute. After he landed he looked at the Power Ring body. "One step at a time, we will find the Lost Tombs." His smiled happily, but that smile faded when he spotted something, hoofprints, and not his own. They came from the cave, then looped back, and they were fresh. Leaning down Razor took a sniff. "Mmmm... Lavender, with the smell of books. Perfumes and makeup with fabrics of various types. Apples, vanilla with the different scents of animals, outdoor workouts with a blend of berries, and the nice smell of cotton candy and baked goods. The Mane Six!" Looking at the cave entrance with a narrowed-eye glare, Razor let out a low growl. "So you want to hunt and ambush me huh? Well Mares, let me show you how much a Kirin loves the hunt."