//------------------------------// // Tome 1 - Prologue // Story: Guns of Pegasus // by Twisted Gears //------------------------------// "...Hey! HEY! Wake up already!" "Hnnn... Wh... Wha...?" "Wake the buck up! Your crew and captain left you behind!" Shouted out the Bartender, an old Stallion with a beard as long as his age. He shook the shoulders of a younger stallion with a pair of navigator goggles on his head. His coat was rust-Orange, under a brown leather jacket. His mane was windswept and held a certain sjade of brown, but with a dominance of Red. His tail was exceptionally short, and he was drunk. Drunk like if there was no tomorrow. "Oh.. Oh, OH, SH-" He halfways cursed as he tried to get up, but he ended falling from the stool, smashing the hardwood ground with his back. Unable to move on his own, he just limited himself to look at the ceiling, the bartender looking at him from the other side of the counter with pure amusement. "Oh, and they said that you would pay the drinks. One-Thousand bits, kiddo." "WHAT?!" The younger stallion exclaimed, temporally recovering control of himself at the shock of a debt he was never going to be able to pay. "How the hay you want me to pay a -friggin'- Thousand Bits!" "I dunno, that's up to you, kiddo." Replied the barkeep, grinning from ear to eat. "But you have to pay up. Or else..." He patted under the bar, where a Blunderbuss was waiting. The younger stallion started to rub his mane in pure worry, sweat running down his brow. He didn't knew how to make that much money in such a short time, and without being part of a crew everything was going to be even more complicated. "Aw, sh-" Before he could end the curse, a dark-gray hoof stepped next to his stool. "You do not need to scam the poor kid, Whiskey. They paid their drinks already when they left him behind." Said a cold voice, coming from the upper end of the hoof. "Fine, fine..." Said the Bartender, taking his hoof away from under the bar. "If you excuse me, um... I'll better go..." When the Bartender -Propperly named Whiskey- left the bar, the same dark-gray hoof rose up to the level of the younger earth pony's eyes. "Come on, get up. You still have a sea of clouds to sail." Said the voice. The younger one took the hoof, and with a quick movement, he was on two legs already. He looked up to his saviour. Dark-Green Mane, dark-gray coat and one eye like a leaf and the other one under a black Eyepatch, the Stallion had a real imposing prescence. With some traces of a long life across the left side of his face. He was wearing a black trenchcoat, with a grey belt on its chest that led to a Holdster... Probably to the one of a Flintlock. "T-Thanks... What's your name, sir?" Asked the young stallion, staring at the other's eyepatch. "Captain Dragunovv, of the Northern Fjords." He simply replied, without taking his eye from the young one. "What is yours, may I ask?" "Mine... Mine's Tin Compass... Sir?" He said, emulating an old Navy salute, still under the effects of alcohol in his body. Tin somewhat managed to locate his hoof just above his brow, resisting the urge to return all the moonshine he drank through the night. The Captain left out a slight smile, still observing Tin. "I see. Well then, Tin. Make sure to do not get scammed again in a Tavern." He eyed Whiskey, that was cleaning a mug in the other end. He shrugged a bit, before combing his beard once he was done with the mug. "Some ponies prey on the pockets of the drunk." "Ah-hee... Thanks for... Well... Saving my wallet." Tin thanked, rubbing the back of his head, that was starting to feel the effects of a hangover already. "Well then, I must go now. My ship calls me. Good luck finding a new Crew." Said the Captain, tapping his shoulder, turning and leaving the Tavern the very next second. Tin stood there, processing everything that just happened. He looked down to the Hardwood floor, where the wooden Stool was. He placed it back on its four legs, and left the Tavern through the classic Western-like door, made out of the same Hardwood, as it swung back and fro just behind his tail. Cathedral, the floating neutral Commercial Capital. Former Canterlot after the mountain cracked by its half, almost destroying the city completely. Only Celestia, the Empress of the Sun somewhat made it long enough to save the collapsing city, with the cost of her life. The ponies that survived the cataclism adapted, turning the former Castle-City into the hearth of the Sun Cult, following the Regime of the Alicorns. Love and Tolerance, under the promise of paying Taxes and sharing whatever edible food one owns with the rest of the populance, while the rest of the world crumbled into new civilizations and reigns.. The streets of the main Boulevard were wide, and made out of a well-mantained Cobblestone. Not even the pass of the centuries eroded it. The Docks were at the south, heading towards the right of what's left of the mountain. Hardwood bridges connect a set of smaller floating islands, where the Farms and the Lighthouse were located at. Tin went straight to the Recruitment center. A small wooden hut at the side of the Docks, marked with a sign with the image of a contract printed on it. Even the iliterate majority of Ponies knew that they could go there to sign up for a Crew. Tin trotted to the Stallion that was attending the Hut. He was a tall grey Unicorn, with a blue mane. He was wearing glasses with a telemetric augment, to look at smaller documents without forcing his sight too kuch. He looked down towards Tin once he approached. "Hm... I think that I remember you." He said, as a few crystals moved in front of the glasses, making his purple eyes look even bigger. "Y-Yeah... I signed in two months ago." Replied Tin, looking at the gi-normous eye. "Tin Compass, if you don't remember the name." "Ah, yes. Tin, Tin..." He muttered as he shifted on the papers behind him, levitating them with his magic until he found one with a drawing of Tin's cutiemark on the upper-left side. A compass. "Yes... You signed for Captain Spyglass' Crew... Did they kick you out?" He asked, looking back at Tin. "Well... Kindoff... They dumped me here, and I have nowhere else to go." Said Tin, looking down to the border between the Hardwood Docks, and the Cobblestone walkway in shame. "I see. I'll put you back to the Queue for a Captain, then..." He said, taking out a pencil, and rewriting some details in Tin's file. "How long will it take for you to find a captain for me?" Asked Tin, observing him rewrite the file, distracted by the constant movement of the crystals of the glasses. "Well... We don't have many Captains here, at Cathedral. It might take around a week, because there's plenty of Ponies in front of you in the list." Replied the unicorn, after he was done rewriting some details. "Oh, come on! Is there a way to speed up the process?" Asked Tin, observing the list of Captains, right behind the Stallion. It was alarmingly short. "No. This process takes a long while, unless somepony passes in front and hires you like th-" He got cut mid-sentence, as a blood-Red Pegasus Mare showed up, basically crashing on Tin's back, in the perfect bombardment angle. The stallion fell to the floor, with a loud 'THUMPH'. "Ah- AH! S-Sorry!" She said, stepping off from Tin's back, Him being in a deep pain, mixed with the hangover. The Mare combed her snow-White mane away from her ruby-like eyes, and moved a hoof to help Tin up. "Are you 'aight?" Tin catched the Mare's red hoof, and got up, feeling the pain on his back. Again. "N-No... I think I broke a spine or somethin'..." "Aw, come on! Tis' nothing!" Said the Mare, as she slammed her hoof on his back. The pain returned to Tin's back, for the thirth time in a row. "By the way, I kinda noticed that yer' in need of a Crew. And my Capn's in the need of a new crewmember..." She said, observing Tin, from tip to hoof. "I-I... I guess that I'll jump in..." Said Tin, rubbing his back, his eyes half-lidded due to the excruciating pain. "Ooh, nice!" Said the Mare, cracking a big smile. "My name's Bloodwing! What's yours?" Asked Bloodwing, tapping her chest, where a grey jacket leaving space for her wings to maneouver was on, and extending her hoof for a hoofshake. "Tin Compass." He said, taking her hoof, and completing the hoofshake. She had a stronger pull than him. "Nice to meet ya'! What's your speciality, so I can tell it to my cap'n?" Asked Bloodwing, tilting her head. "Ah... Engineering, and cartography. I also do some Astronomy." Said Tin, remembering the details like an automaton. "Ooh... We do need more engineers in our ship, that's for sure. I do the Gunnery in our crew, so I guess that you'll make sure that I can shoot nice and steady, hmm?" Said Bloodwing, with a certain tone of mockery (And flirt) in her voice and acts, fluttering her eyes and brushing her shoulder upon his chest. "I-I guess..." Said Tin, rubbing his mane, understanding a sliver of the double meaning, a light red emerging on his light brown coat. "Tssk! Can you sign him in our crew, since we're at this?" Said Bloodwing next, turning towards the Stallion in the recruitment hut, that limited himself to observe the strange situation with a face of pure unamusement. "E-Eh... Sure." He affirmed, erasing what he wrote earlier. "What's the Captain's name?" He asked, moving to the files behind him. "Baron Von-Owl, of the Southern Fjorlands!" She said, with an extra tone of proudness. "Uh-huh. Let me check... Baron, Baron..." He mumbled, checking among the files. At last, he took out a file, with the drawing of an owl's eye on the upper-left side. "Ah, yes... Baron Von-Owl... Of the... Southern... Fjorlanders... Here he is." Mumbled the Stallion, taking the paper, and filling in the details, as any other bureaucrat would do, filing it back among other papers. "...Are we done here?" Asked Bloodwing, in a hurry to bring Tin to her crew. "Yes, yes... You both can go now. I'll fill in everything else." Replied the Stallion, as another set of crystals moved to his glasses, this time reducing the zoom he had. "Allrighty then! Come on, Tin!" Said Bloodwing, grabbing Tin's hoof, and pulling him along the Docks. Everypony outside that conversation that saw them made the assumption they were a couple in love, running among the docks like if nothing. And Tin noticed this, by the looks and smirks other sailors were giving them. "I-I can walk, you know!" He said, among the blabbery caused by the Alcohol-poisoning. "I doubt that you can even stand..." She released his hoof. "But, can you fly?" Said Bloodwing, stopping a few steps away. "F-Fly?" Asked Tin, looking at Bloodwing's eyes, surprised and confused. She unfolded her wings, and with one single movement, she was in the air, and in another quick movement, she swooped down to Tin, picking him up. With Tin on her hooves, she left out a giggle, and a smile. "Well well, seems that you can fly!" "Hey! Put me down!" Shouted Tin, suddently realizing that he only liked to fly on Airships. Bloodwing took Tin to a nearby Airship. A Galleon, to be more prescise. The Galleon was also known as The sideways Tank, due to the heavy cannons at both sides of the large airship and the upgraded shielding -At the cost of speed. It had to be lifted by three balloons, thanks to the heavy weight of both, the metallic hull and the guns themselves. It was slow, but strong. A direct hit from the heavy Flak cannnons this Galleon in particular had installed would pierce a ten centimeter hull, and cause horrible damages due to the splinters of the hole, and the shrapnel of the bullet itself. A weapon that inflicted pure terror in the skies. Perhaps not as much as a Yeshan Hwacha, but it was a formidable foe. Bloodwing flew close to the embarcation platform. "For the Blizzard's sake, Tin! You're heavy!" She said, mocking him. "I'm not the one that decided to lift somepony else from safe ground!" Replied Tin, getting into a tighter hug on Bloodwing's hooves, mostly to prevent a freefall from the Docks. Nopony that fell down from the ledges of the islands ever returned. "Hey, wait untill the third date for physical contact!" She jested even more, until she landed in front of the Galleon. She looked down and under her belly, where Tin was still holding himself, a few milimeters from the hardwood floor. "...You can get off me anytime, Tin." Tin opened his eyes, noticing that he was on safe lands again and soon released his grip from Bloodwing, landing on the wooden floor with his back, for the third time today. Then, a voice raised from the direction of the Galleon. "Bloodwing! Who is this pony?!" Said an old Stallion's voice. Bloodwing looked up. "Ah, Baron! I mean, Cap'n! I got a new Crewmember for you, sir!" Said Bloodwing, making the same Navy salute Tin made back in the Tavern, her hoof going to the side of her head as she stood upright for a second. "I see." Replied the voice. Tin looked to that direction, and managed to observe an old Stallion, with a black coat and grey mane, under a blue cocked hat, a white trenchcoat, and aviator goggles under the hat. "Well well well, what is the name of the Rookie?" Tin tried to regain control of his mouth, and speaking while laying on the ground, while having a hangover wasn't easy at all. "T-Tin Compass... Sir..." "...Welcome aboard the Changeling Charger, Tin!" He said, gesturing to the blue-painted Galleon behind him. ...This is going to be interesting.