//------------------------------// // Chapter 27 // Story: Captain's Journey // by Sphinx_Herald //------------------------------// An ominous wind blows through the sails causing a faint whistle as a heavy fog rolls sweeps over the ship. A blue-grey unicorn with a dark grey mane sighs as he looks out the porthole. He magically closes the book he was reading and walks to the door. He turns to a dull yellow pegasus wearing a set of white and gold armor. She is leaned against a couple of crates looking the other way from him. “Why do we have to pass through these waters?” he asks. The pegasus jumps, she whips her head around to face him. She sighs and then looks ahead once again. “Because we’ve wasted enough time in that storm, the only way to make up for that time is by cutting through Drake territory,” she says. “I understand that, but wouldn’t it be better to be late than dead?” “I agree, but you’re wanted in Canterlot soon and the captain doesn’t want to lose his pay.” “Yes, of course, but I just don’t see how I’m so special.” He looks at his cutie mark, two identical magic circles. “From what I understand, teleportation is a high level spell. Must be rare for someone as young as you to master it.” “But, why do we have to be there immediately? I won’t lose my magic if we’re a few days late.” “Blueberry,” she sighs. “The princess, herself, asked for you, we can’t exactly keep her waiting.” “I know that, but I’m sure she would be less happy if she found out where we are. Also, please don’t use my full name, Sunny.” The pegasus chuckles at him. “Well stop complaining then, Bluey.” “Don’t call me that ever again.” They hear shouts coming from above deck. They glance at each other and then back at the deck. Above deck, sailors run to the riggings and cannons while they throw nervous looks at the sky. There is a bright flash and a pop and suddenly Blueberry and Sunny are standing in the middle of the chaos. Blueberry looks over at the captain. “What’s going on?” “Go back below deck, you two, everything is under control.” “Looks like it. Listen, I’m here to look after him so just tell us what’s going on!” Sunny shouts. A large dragon-like shadow passes through the fog. Cracking fills the air, the rigging attached to the main mast snaps and the mast falls to the water. A roar rips through the air followed by the beating of massive wings. Sailors point their guns at the sky and try to take down the beast, but they quickly lose sight of it in the fog. Blueberry draws a sword from a nearby sailor. He looks over at Sunny, her own sword held in her mouth. She gives him a glare but nobs her head at him. They put the backs together and look for the drake. They hear the beating of its wings again. A shadow falls over them just a second before sharp talons come out of the fog and grab the captain, ripping apart the helm in the process. The drake disappears into the fog and becomes little more than a shdow. Cannonfire rings out as the sailors try to shoot down the drake. The shadowy figure dives into the water. The drake brushes against the bottom of the ship with its back jerking it to the side slightly. It shoots out of the water and lands on the deck. Blueberry and Sunny turn to face it. It whips its tail around and takes out a few cannons and sailors from the starboard side. It snaps its jaw cutting another sailor in two. Sunny flies at it, but the drake quickly swings its head and bats her to the other side of the ship. Blueberry glances back at her, he goes to run for her, but he spots a winged claw out of the corner of his eye. He only has time to brace before the wing slams into him. He is sent skidding across the deck, there is a loud crack as he head collides with the railing. Sunny raises from the deck holding her pounding head. She looks around for her sword, but doesn’t find it. The ship rocks and begins leaning heavily to the portside. She looks over at the drake to see it ripping away at the hull of the ship. She closes her eyes as her vision blurs. The ships rocks again and she feels the front of it beginning to raises. She opens her eyes, the drake grabs several bodies in its talons. Her vision clears allowing her to see that one of the bodies is Blueberry. The drake flaps its wings, the fog around the ship disperses and it takes to the air. She quickly follows it, her armor doing little to slow her down. She spares a glance at the ship, debris floats in the red water as the ship slowly slips into the waves. She focuses back on the drake. “Come back here, you stupid lizard!” she shouts. The drake turns its head to look at her. Its lip curves upward into something of a sneer. She ignores it and pushes forward slowly gaining on it. Pain floods through her body as the creature's tail smashes into her back. She plummets into the water. She tries swimming to the surface, but finds herself sinking deeper. She quickly wiggles out of her armor and makes her way to the surface. She breaks the water’s surface and grabs onto a piece of wood. She hears another roar as the shadow becomes more distant. Another roar rings out through the air. Captain looks back over at Starry. “See nothing happened, and you thought we would be killed,” he says with a grin. He looks back over the ocean with a groan. “This fog is annoying though…” “Which is why I didn’t want to come here, no merchant is stupid enough to come here and if we’re not killed we’ll be lost,” Starry says. “Yeah, well, uh…” “You’re lucky some of us know how to use a compass.” “It was one time!” He looks back over the deck, though he’s barely able to see the closest mast. “Twigs, call out if you see any debris! That cannonfire was coming from a ship, let’s see if we can find it.” “Aye, Cap'n” Twigs shouts from somewhere in the fog. Starry looks around the deck, with as little visibility as Captain has. “Ebony, use your special changeling powers--” Starry begins. Ebony tackles Starry to the ground before she can finish. “Don’t say that out loud,” she hisses. Starry looks back up at her with a smirk. “I see why Rose likes you, you like it rough.” “Oh, for buck’s sake. It’s bad enough with Rose, but now you have to harass me.” “I lived with her for two years, you really should have seen this coming.” Ebony sighs and shakes her head. She looks over at Captain, catching sight of his bandages. “Are you sure you’re alright? You are still pretty beat up.” She can feel that he's worried, but not sure what about. “Don’t worry about me, I’m fine. It’s just a scratch really.” “Cap’n, got some bodies over here!” Twigs calls. “Arrel, Craven, fly out there and find some survivors.” He hears them flap their wings. “Smokey, light the lanterns. Twigs, lower the sails.” He walks over to a small crate and sits on it. Ebony looks at him curiously for a second. “Only the survivors?” “Hm?” “You only told them to search for survivors, never mentioned anything about cargo.” “I’m no monster, I’m not going to just leave them.” “But you’re a pirate, what if they’re military?” “So? I’m not going to let somepony drown, pretty bad way to go if you ask me.” His ears flick toward the sound of flapping wings. Craven appears out of the fog carrying a soaked, dull yellow pegasus. She is covered in bruises and scratches, there is a large cut above her right eye. She is thrashing about in Craven’s arms, screaming and shouting something about a drake and some sort of berry. Craven drops the pegasus onto the deck and flies back out to sea. Captain takes a few steps closer to her, mainly so he can see her rather than curiosity. She jumps to her hooves and charges at Captain. Before she knows it Captain’s hoof rams into the top of her head slamming her into the deck. Sunny’s eyes flutter open, but quickly shuts them hoping to subdue the throbbing in her head. She raises a hoof to her head. Her hoof touches soaked bandages. She reluctantly opens her eyes and recognizes the sway of a ship on the open sea, though the interior is unfamiliar. Turning her head slightly she spots a light blue stallion leaning against the door frame to the room she is in. A dark blue unicorn stands at the end of the bed. She lowers her hoof back down onto the bed she woke up in and tries to sit up. She quickly gives up though. “Where am I?” she asks. “You’re on Misfortune, your ship was sunk by a dragon,” Captain says. She jumps to her hooves as the memories flash back to her. But, her vision fades and she feels light-headed. She sits back down on the bed. “Blueberry! Where’s the drake? I have to save someone.” “I’m sorry, but if your friend was taken by a drake, he’s not alive anymore,” Starry says. Sunny glares at her. “He’s alive and I am going to save him.” She turns back to Captain. “Please, I have to save him.” Captain scratches his chin and looks at Starry. “You think you can find a flying lizard?” “You can’t be serious, do you really plan on helping a complete stranger save a friend we don’t even know from a drake we don’t know where it is?" After a moment she hits her fore head with her hoof. "What am I saying, it’s you, of course you are. Fine, drakes are territorial, chances are that it lives on one of the nearby islands.” “Wait, you actually plan on helping me? Just like that?” Sunny asks “Why not, besides I always wanted to fight a dragon.” “A drake and a dragon are two completely different things. Drakes are smaller, live near water, don’t breathe fire, but are more vicious and have a resistance to elements. Dragons are bigger, slower, breathe fire, stronger, but oddly more docile,” Starry says. “Whatever, it’s a lizard and it flies. Starry, plot a course for the nearest island.” “Yes sir,” she says with a roll of her eyes. Sunny blinks a couple of times while she stares at Captain. “So you plan on fighting a drake and helping me for no reason?” “Yeah.” “Uh, thanks.” Sunny rotates her shoulder testing out the movement of the armor she had found onboard Misfortune. The dull grey metal covers her chest, forelegs and a small section of her wings. Satisfied with the armor she flies above deck. Fog no longer blocks the sky, instead dark grey clouds cover the sky. Thunder roars in the distances, at least she hopes it’s the thunder. Lightning cracks across the sky lighting up the island before them for a brief moment. It’s not a very big island, just a small mountain, a jungle that spans the north and west sides of the island and a beach to the south. She glances back at Captain as he steers the ship toward the drake’s nest. He lets go of the helm and walks up next to her with a deer following close behind. “We have to row from here. The rest are staying here in case the drake decides to attack my ship.” “Sure,” she says. She watches Captain jump over the railing and into a rowboat. Willow quickly jumps in behind him. She flies down the the boat as it touches the water. Captain looks up at the dark sky. “Let’s get this done with quickly, I don’t want to row back in a storm,” Captain says. He and Sunny each grab an oar and begin rowing. “Do you really expect to kill a drake with three ponies?” Sunny asks. “Two ponies and one deer. And no, I think that two ponies will kill the dragon.” “Drake,” Willow corrects. “Wait, you expect us to kill it? Then what is she here for?” “She’s here to track the dragon--” “Drake.” “Find us a good path, and fight if need be." Soon the boat slides onto the sand of the beach. Captain jumps out and begins pulling it further onto the shore. Sunny takes to the sky and hovers just above Captain and Willow. She looks down at the deer. “So, which way?” she asks. Willow points to the mountain. “I saw some movement up there.” Captain steps forward with a grin. “You lead. Sunny, keep watch at the sky, I don’t want the dragon--” “Drake,” Willow sighs. “I don’t want the lizard surprising us,” Captain finishes. Willow gives a quick nod and starts their trek toward the mountain. The jungle they walk through isn't too thick. There's not too many trees, mainly because they're walking close to the beach. Sunny and Willow pace themselves to stay back with Captain. The mountain slowly becomes large as they get closer to the rocky slopes. The few trees begin to disperse giving way to a small field before the mountain. At the bottom of the mountain they find a rough path up to the cliffs above. Willow stays several steps ahead of the others, staying silent and watching for any possible dangers. Captain, however, is not nearly as nimble, falling or tripping every second step. Sunny silently chuckles to herself as she flies next to him. The trees begin to look smaller and smaller. After a couple of minutes of walking they are able to see the deck of Misfortune. From where they are they can see that the island isn't quite as small as they thought. It is about the size of Hayvana. It is possible to see the wrecked hulk of an old ship washed up on the opposite side of the island. Willow quickly gets to the end of the path. She ducks down behind a rock and peeks around the side. She swallows a nervous lump in her throat. The summit is relatively flat asides from the jagged rocks making a rough circle. The clearing is scattered with skeletons of ponies, griffons and the occasional shark. A large winged lizard sleeps at the furthest end of the clearing. It is covered in small dark blue scales, a scar cuts across its upper lip. It doesn't have arms really, but large bat-like wings. A row a larger scales runs down its back and ends half way down its tail. Her eyes travel to a small pile of bloodied bodies. She spots no movement from the pile. Captain stumbles up behind her and falls to the ground with a thud. Willow whips around. “Quiet,” she hisses. Sunny and Captain look around the corner as well. Sunny immediately focuses on the pile of bodies. She spots a sliver of blue-grey through the multitude of colors. Without a second thought she flies out of cover and over to the pile. She starts pushing bodies out of the way to get at her friend. She eventually uncovers Blueberry. She quickly pulls him out of the bloody pile and lays him on the ground. She presses her ear to his chest. Good, still alive… for now that is. He needs help. “Need help?” Captain asks. Sunny yelps and jumps back. “Quiet, that thing might hear you,” she whispers. “It’s asleep,” he says. Willow comes up quietly behind him casting a nervous glance over her shoulder at the drake. “Still, be quiet. Are you trying to wake it or something?” “No, if I was trying to wake it I’d be over there.” Sunny sighs and lifts Blueberry onto Captain’s back. “You carry him, I’m not strong enough to fly him down.” A crash of thunder causes them to jump. They all look over at the drake, Willow and Sunny let out a sigh of relief when they see it still sleeping. Captain starts walking back to the path. “See, I wouldn’t have waken the stupid dragon just by talking.” He hears a growl come from the drake. Turning around he finds himself staring into the eyes of the beast. He looks over at Sunny and Willow, he barely catches a glimpse of Willow running past him while Sunny stays in place staring at the drake with a mix of fear and anger. The drake picks itself off the ground and spreads its wing to their fullest. It lets out an earsplitting roar and flaps its wings. The gust of wind from the wings sends Sunny, Blueberry and Captain flying off the mountain. Sunny dives into action and snatches Blueberry from the air. She tries to lift up, but the weight of the armor and her friend brings her crashing down into the sand. Captain feels a pair of talons grab his shoulders and his descent begins to slow. He goes to swing around and hit whatever grabbed him, but meets the grinning face of Craven. “I don’t think you should try flying again,” he says sarcastically. Captain smiles up at the griffon. “Good, cause I don’t want to fly ever again,” he says. His smiles turns to a frown. “Now, put me down.” They hear a roar coming from the top of the mountain. The drake shoots out from the top and starts circling around the group. “If you say so,” Craven says nervously. He goes into a dive and drops off Captain by Sunny before flying back to the ship. He doesn't look back as. “Wait, come get--” Sunny tries, but stops knowing that he won’t hear her. She turns to Captain. “Now what, that thing is awake, Blueberry is dying and we can’t get him out of here.” “We clip its wings,” Captain says twisting his neck, earning himself a little crack. “Wait, you’re serious about fighting that thing?! I thought you were kidding, you’ll die if you try!” “We can’t row back to the ship without that dragon attacking us and even if we do get back it’ll sink my ship.” The drake stops circling, it glares down at the ponies. “Either we fight or run, we’ll die if we run, we might die if we fight it. Either way we might die, but only one has the chance of getting us out of here.” “You can’t beat something like that! Why would you want to fight it in the first place?” “Because, there’s only one way of becoming a legend.” The drake lets out a roar and charges with it maw wide open. Captain shifts his weight and stands up on his hindlegs, he brings his right foreleg back. Sunny drags Blueberry to the edge of the beach and looks back at Captain still standing in the drake’s path. Wait a sec, he's not gonna-- She doesn’t have time to finish the thought, before she knows it the drake is a hoof’s length from Captain. His right forehoof slams into the drake’s nose, there is a loud snap and Captain is sent tumbling over the sand. The drake lands between him and Sunny, letting loose another roar as blood drips from its nose. The drake focuses on Sunny and it lunges forward. Either we fight or die, Sunny glances back at Blueberry. She plants her hooves into the ground and lowers herself to the ground. A cutlass flies from behind the drake and bounces off the scales above its right eye. Still the flash from the sparks is enough to cause it miss its target. “Is that all you got, because you’ll have to be faster than that to beat me!” Captain shouts. The drake turns to face him. Sunny takes the opportunity, she grabs the cutlass from the sand and slashes at the drake’s right wing. She jumps into the air avoiding the drake’s attempt at slashing her with its claws her. She lands next to Captain. “Good to see you want to join in.” “Don’t even begin to think I’m happy about this. You're crazy and I would have left by now, luckily for you I want to save Blueberry more than myself.” The drake lunges forward at the two. Sunny jumps over its head while Captain jumps to the side. Sunny dives at the back of its neck. It whips its head back smacking her out of the air. She loses grip on the cutlass as she tumbles across the sand. Captain charges forward and lands a solid punch on its chest. The drake stumbles back a little, but quickly recovers. Captain leaps back before the drake can close its jaws on him. “That all you can do, you stupid gecko?” he taunts. The drake growls and turns to face Sunny. “Hey, you can’t bite me from--” The drake whips its tail around, it slams into Captain’s already injured side. He slides through the sand until he eventually comes to a slow stop. He lets out a pained grunt lifting himself to his hooves. He looks over his shoulder and spots the familiar glint of his cutlass coming from the sand not too far away. He glances over at Sunny. The drake had turned around again, its tail bashes into Sunny's armor, the force of the hit send her tumbling across the sand, but she eventually manages to land on her hooves. She spreads her wings and with few forceful flaps she’s back in the air. She quickly starts to circle the drake. The drake tracks her movements, always facing toward the pegasus. She makes a sharp turn and heads straight for the drake. The drake snaps at her, she barely manages to avoid its teeth by rolling to the right. The drake turns to face her again, but spots Captain sneaking behind it. It lashes its tail at him again. Captain quickly uses the flat of his blade to block. It brings its tail around again. Captain jabs his cutlass into the tail as it whips around. He is sent flying into a nearby tree and the sword is ripped from the tail leaving a deep bloody gash cutting across half its tail. The drake rears back roaring in pain. Sunny flies at full speed and rams into its throat. The drake falls to the ground coughing and wheezing. Sunny lands next to Captain. “We need a plan, I can’t do enough damage to kill it and you can’t get close enough to do anything.” Captain leans against the trunk of the tree. He groans and holds his side. He’s almost dead. So I’m the only chance now… Captain passes her his sword and stumbles toward the drake while it lifts itself off the sand. “What are you doing?” “You need something to fight the dragon.” She grabs the sword, with a quick nod she takes to the air and begins circling the area. Captain and the drake begin circling each other. Captain shifts his weight slightly waiting to see which one would be the first to strike. The drake jumps forward and tries to catch Captain in its jaws. Captain jumps to the side and quick delivers a powerful punch. Its head whips to the side, but it quickly swings its head back and slams into Captain. He rolls head over hoof, until he comes to a stop. The drake jumps forward, Captain rolls to his hooves and slips under the drake. They turn around to face each other again. Captain throws a punch, but the drake backs up avoiding the punch. It lunges forward aiming at Captain’s foreleg. Captain shifts his weight to his hindlegs and punches the drake with his other forehoof. He jumps back to avoid one of the drake's wings. As soon as his hooves hit the ground he charges forward. He slides under the drake’s maw on his back, he brings his hindlegs to his chest. Before the drake can do anything his hindlegs shoot up. There is a loud snap as his hooves collide with the drake’s lower jaw. Sunny flies at the drake and sinks the sword into its throat. The drake falls to the ground again coughing up blood. It tries to roar, but it comes out as more of a wheeze than anything threatening. After a few seconds the drake stops moving. Sunny sits down on her haunches with a deep breath. She looks over at Captain lying on the ground with blood seeping through the tattered bandages on his side. She looks over toward Misfortune which had moved closer during the fight. A rowboat holding two ponies and a diamond dog paddles its may to shore. Captain gets up to his hooves when he sees Ebony stepping off the boat. “Ebony look, I beat it!” She looks over at the corpse for a second before turning back to Captain. She smiles at him. “This is going to make me feel lot better.” Before Captain can ask what she’s talking about she punches him across the jaw. He falls to the ground. “You bucking idiot! What made you think you could fight it in the first place? You’re hurt from your last fight, but you still go off to fight a bucking drake! Of course you didn’t even want to do it the smart way by bringing some of the crew. No, take the bucking deer and some random stranger to fight something that is seven times your size!” She takes a deep breath and looks back at boat. “Howler, bring him back to the ship, I hope I don’t have to stitch him up too often. Smokey, go get the unicorn.” She glares at Sunny. “You, go find the deer and row yourselves back.” She heads back to the boat. Before she steps into the boat she looks over at the drake. “Howler, I need you to do something else for me.” Several hours later Sunny, Blueberry, Ebony and Captain are in the captain’s quarters. Ebony wraps a bandage around Captain’s chest. Blueberry shifts his weight on the table he’s sitting on, a bandage is wrapped around his head and one of his forelegs. Sunny stands with several bandages wrapped around her as well. “Why did you patch them up first?” Captain mumbles. Ebony tugs roughly on a bandage earning a yelp from the stallion. “Firstly, it’s your fault how badly hurt you are. Secondly, I highly doubt they have nearly as high endurance as you. Thirdly, you had me scared and I will make you suffer for that.” Blueberry clears his throat. “Um… thanks for saving me. I guess I really owe you now.” “Nah, think nothing of it. I always wanted to fight a dragon anyways.” Ebony tugs on his bandages again. “No, you helped my friend save me and now you’re bringing us back to port. I owe you and I plan on paying you back. Just tell me if ever you need help.” Ebony looks out the porthole. “We’re in the harbour, maybe you two should get on deck.” “Right, thanks again,” Sunny says. With a quick nod she helps Blueberry out the door. Captain looks over at Ebony. “You were scared?” “I was afraid you wouldn’t come back. It’s not that I like you or anything, but this world is better off with you in it.” “At least there’s one less dragon--” His sentence is cut off by a scream as Ebony pull on his bandages again.