//------------------------------// // Tome 3 - Fog // Story: Guns of Pegasus // by Twisted Gears //------------------------------// ...Aaah. This feels good. Thought a certain stallion, after completing the obligatory fisiological needs, and of course, carefully getting rid of whatever was left about them. Though he was also impressed that the bucket he used was still unusually clean after being... Well. Thus, placing the bucket back in place and after cleaning himself, Tin happily trotted off, unlocked the door, and... Bam. His nose met a Wrench. Letting out a loud squeak of pure pain, Tin's head recoiled by the impact, his body soon following, falling on his back once more. His hooves, quickly moved to cover his snout that was now stained with a tone of red coming from the area that met the hard Steel of the Wrench. His hindlegs started waggling out to 'flee' from the pain, but of course, it's impossible to escape from this kind of pain. "O-Oh! Sorry, Tin!" Said a certain Mare, wriggling out of the cartoonish cloud of conflict that broke between the three Mares. The voice came from Cloud, the one who seemed to have nicked the Wrench from Rusty, and of course, accidentally smacked an innocent Pony with it. Collateral damages, as one would usually say. "Are you okay? Need some ice? Bandages? A kiss to the snout to be A-OK?" Cloud muttered, taking a careful step at the side of the waggling Tin. After a few extra seconds of struggle, Tin slowly opened his deep Amber eyes, and rose his right hoof, stained with the red of his own blood. His pupil dilatated, as he moved the hoof back to his snout. "Hurts..." He simply muttered, closing both his eyes. That is, untill the loud stomp of a hoof he well-knew interrupted his childish attitude. "You'd better get up from the ground, boy. We don't have a slot for a wimp in the Charger. Now get your flank up, and get to your position! We are setting course to the Mercantile guild. We happen to have a lovely payload of Wool... And guess what the merchants need?" Owl cheekidly said next, rubbing his hooves together in pure greed. Cloud proceeded to step aside, and then nudged Tin on the leg. "C'mon, I'll patch you up. If I covered my own eye without losing it completely, then I can patch that pretty little nose of yours!" She said, offering a little reassuring smile. Meanwhile, the other two Mares had stopped figthing since Tin squeaked in pain, and now held an interesting posture, where Rusty's hoof was about to meet Pepper's snout, the one whose left Hindleg was about to hit Rusty, in a very... Private area. Even if she had no such parts. Thus, Tin slowly nodded, and sniffed. This wasn't the first time he's smelled his own blood. He's gotten into Bar brawls before (But never left victorous), though this time, the scent of his own blood without Alcohol in the air was... Strange. Very strange. Thus, after getting up -And stumbling to not faceplant, Tin followed Cloud upstairs towards the Helm, and to the Map. Cloud pulled out a little Bandage, and as Tin sat down, his snout was covered with it in record-time. "Good as new!" Cloud so happily stated, proudly tapping her chest. "Do give me a call if you lose a limb!" She teased next, before ruffling Tin's mane, and taking flight to her post under the Ship, near the Guns. And, before Tin could say 'Thanks', Von-Owl just happened to step into the Helm, sparing a look to Tin. "Well, since you are our Carthographer, you are in charge of telling me, the cap'n, where to go. So! Plot the safest, quickest and most exciting course to the Mercantiles!" He said, waving to the unnamed Colt to lift the Anchor. With a nod, the little one ran to the edge of the ship, and pressed a button. That's it, job done. Tin, on the other hoof, located himself near the Map, and after running his eyes over the map, he imagined three different routes they could take. One, was a suicide. The other would leave them without food... And the last one, would take quite a long time. "Well... I can suggest three routes, sir. We can go straight south and face the Sky Pirates... Or we can circle above the Channel, and take a month to reach the Vastness... Or we can evade the Pirates via the the edge of Albys, with no promise of having a safe haven to restock our food. Captain?" Tin asked, his sight raising to Baron. The one, who stared dumbfoundly at Tin. "Uh- We'll take the route straight! We have a Galleon, a few Pirates ain't taking my ship down! Har har!" He so proudly stated, wriggling his eyebrows, as his hoof met the Steering wheel, and with a rather violent turn, and a few hits to the speed regulator, the Changeling Charger was taking flight off-port. "Off we go! FORTH TO ADVENTURE!" Owl so happily shouted out, as everypony ran to their posts. Everypony but Tin. Mostly because Tin was already on his post. The Colt on the main deck rose onto his hindlegs, holding a pair of yellow flags between his forehooves, the ones he used to make signals to the port authorities. After a few seconds, a floodlight from the edge of the piers shone towards them, and flashed on and off a few times, as an A-OK to leave Cathedral. Thus, with the loud roar of all three heavy Engines sounding in unisone, the Galleon's Balloons receiving a good load of hot, highly-combustible gas, and the Steering Wheel making worringly cracking noises as it was spinned sideways, the Charger was off to adventure. To complete the great quest, of delivering Wool for profit. Hurray! Three days. "It has been three days since we last saw... Anything, Captain. Are you sure that you took the correct route?" Tin asked, after having checked the Map and the onboard compass. Trice. There wasn't anything he could use to pinpoint their location. All the clouds were exactly the same, and said clouds also blocked any sight from the Stars. At least they knew they were going south. The Sun barely shone across the dense Fog that had formed the night prior. "Of course tis' the route, Tin! Why else would I navigate through it! I have an Eagle eye, you kno-" Von-Owl was about to harshly reply, untill the voice of the Colt ringed through his ears. "TREE AHEAD! TUUURN!" Shouted the squeaky voice of the little one, as he bounced from the fore deck, to the Engine room. Blinking at this sudden realization, Von-Owl couldn't do much but to spin the Wheel the most his hooves let him, and attempt to hit the 'Shut down engines' command within his reach. But none of these things were enough to stop a huge ship, mid-air, as altough the Engines stopped, Aerodynamics and physics simply made the ship gently slide to a side, and have its entire left port harshly meet the sturdy Oak. Oak? In the middle of nowhere? Ooooh. After the impact, wich gladly didn't killed anypony, Tin proceeded to bounce towards the impacted area, as his eyes stared at the Tree they just mutilated. "Sir, I... Do believe we're in a forest-" "Of course we are in one, cap'n obvious!" Snapped out the pretty irritiated Owl. He didn't liked ramming his ship! It damaged the paintjob! "...And that means we are above land." Continued Tin, walking back to the Map, as Rusty rushed out of the Engine room, and stared down at the large splinters of Wood on Metal. She grumbled loudly, and turned around, and said certain obscenities at Owl, questioning his capabilities to keep the Ship intact before walking over to check up on the shielding generator. "And if we are above Land, it means we can find out where we are! All islands are marked one way or another, afteral." Tin added, matter-of-factly. If Owl had fingers, he'd have flipped one to Rusty in return, but he had none. So, a simple tongue-stick would do. But Tin had a point there. "Oh. Hey, maybe you're right! For once. I mean! Yes, good idea! BLOODWING!" The Cap'n shouted at the top of his lungs, and in a matter of three and a half seconds, Bloodwing was already hovering above the Captain. "Yessire?" The oddly calm Mare said, offering him a little, childish salute. "I need ye' at ground-level. Bring Tin with ya, we must know where we just... Made another splinter on my ship. Tata!" Commanded Owl, gesturing to Tin. After a nod, and a grin, Bloodwing quickly swooped down for Tin -The one who panicked and tried to escape-, and picked him up. She was getting pretty skilled at that. "D-Don't drop me! Who knows how high we are above ground!" Tin squealed, now clinging to Bloodwing like if it was the last few moments of his life. With a grin, she flew off-board, and slowly approached the... Ground. If there was, as she only had the tall, tall Tree to guide her while going down. "Reeee-Laaax! I'm not going to drop you, silly thing! I wouldn't ever drop something as cute as yoooou~!" She teased, gently chuckling. That's what happens after three days straight without being able to do much, while having to sleep uncomfortably close to somepony else. Thus, after Tin went oddly silent, and having his cheeks fluster three tones redder due to what he's been seeing, but was unable to touch, she just chuckled again. After a few seconds of careful flight, Tin's hindlegs met grass. "Okay, we are at ground level, Bloodwing. Mind... Releasing me? I believe that we already have enough... Contact at night." He said, looking up, his nose suddenly meeting one of her white, slightly curly hairs. He couldn't hold but to subtedly sniff. It smelled like... Cinnamon. Oddly enough, considering where they slept, and all the Rust they had to face. "Awww, I was having fun tossin' ya around!" Bloodwing jested, her lips turning onto a little grin, as she spread both her forehooves, releasing Tin from her evil grapple. Soon she landed besides him, and spared a look towards him, and the dense Fog surrounding them. "It's a bit cold and humid here. Where do you think we are?" She asked now, sliding her right hoof to toy with a nearby rock. A rock, that just happend to splur out Wings, and flew away, to much surprise of the mare. Damn rock-Bugs and their disguise. "Rockbugs... Dense Fog, Oak... I believe we are located... At least, two-Hundred Aerial miles West from Troydon. Wich means we're.. possibly just a day or two away from our-" And as he was about to raise his hoof to gesture an imaginary map in the air, his mouth met a hoof. Bloodwing's hoof. "Shhhh! Do you hear that?" She asked, her tactician vein tingling. Her ears perked at the fog surrounding them, the Mare faling silent, as Tin was forced onto silence too. Slowly, Bloodwing released his mouth and soon rubbed that hoof onto his jacket. "It sounded like... A Flare gun going off." She whispered next, violently nudging Tin. "We must return the Charger! Now!" But just before she could take hold of Tin once again, the Charger was enveloped with the light of two Beacons. Little orbs that stop mid-air, and burst into a glorious green light that dyes metallic materials through magic to be seen across fog or dense clouds. Like the one currently enveloping the Charger. The question of 'who would use these?', quickly crossed through Tin's mind... Untill the realization struck him. The very next second, the roaring of engines could be heard. Two triplets of engines to be more exact. Two Airships, coming from front and back of the Galleon. Only a very trained Engineer could tell what kind of Airship has that specific kind of Engines that made that kind of sound. And Tin knew them. He's been onboard the only Airship that used such kind... And he was now scared. Scared of what would happen to the Galleon. The Ship in question, was usually mentioned as the Frontline Assaulter, due to its capability of resisting a lot of damage up front... And deal trice the ammount upon its enemies. The Pyramidion, a Ship, designed solely for the purpose of breaking havoc in the frontlines, charging head-first in large numbers. Literally. It had a ramming head mouted on the front, designed to pierce, both armor and balloons with deadly strenght, and some even installed explosives on it for an extra punch. But that wasn't what had Tin worried. It was the fact that two Pyramidions were against one sole Galleon, the one that was stuck on a tree. That meant an easy feast for the pirates. One Pyramidion, in the hooves of a good Captain, could wipe up to three Ships by itself. Two, with coordination and against a sole ship could end very badly. A coordination, that was apparent, just by the sight of the Beacons telling where the Charger was. "B-Bloodwing! Pyramidions!" Tin suddenly exclaimed, looking up onto the fog, only to see the shadow of a triangle-shaped airship beam into sight. And from that shadow, the sound of a gatling gun gently starting was heard... Followed by the chain gunshots of rapid Greased rounds. Bullets specifically designed and bathed in oil to make shooting and reloading drastically faster, at the cost of them being less accurate (And have a slight risk of settin themselves ablaze). a constant barrage of bullets fell onto the Charger's shielding, the combined effort of the two guns making short work of the armor. The Charger soon started to pump more gas onto the Balloons -It was too close to the surface to propperly fight. Having to leave two of its crewmembers on the ground was already bad -But worse was not being able to fight back. The Galleon slowly turned -Its heavy Flak cannons starting to take aim against the other airships. Even Bloodwing could tell that this wasn't going to end well. With a squeal of worry, Bloodwing attempted to take flight -Only to be stopped by Tin. "No, don't!" He shouted, as both his hooves took hold of her tail, "You'll get hurt!" "B-But we have to help! Our Captain! Our ship!" She said, looking down to Tin, resisting the need to kick his snout, and to take flight and board the flying Galleon... But it was already too late. Within a matter of seconds, the Galleon's magnetic armor broke, letting out a loud 'Zap', thus letting the Pyramidions know when to switch to their second weapon. The gentle, yet notice-able sound of Mortar shells, being clicked out from the barrel of a gun was heard -Followed by the whizzing of its drop. As Bloodwing's sight rose, barely being able to see due to the fog, the loud blast of a Mortar shell hitting the Hull of the Charger rang through the air, alongside the sight of the ship lighting up in fire. Incediary Mortar rounds. Only Pirates with the sole desire of destruction used such. And what kind of Pirates only wish destruction, rather than pillage? The Sky Pirates of Graybeard "The great" of corse. They are known not for seeking treasure and loot, but for their darefull, highly-coordinated attacks just to bring down larger targets. Why they do such, is unknown for the world. But one thing is sure. That the Charger was burning. Shell after shell, the explosions and fire quickly spread across the entire deck. And soon... The Charger fell. The Fire made it to the Balloons, main them explode and release the highly inflammable gas inside, forming a massive blast of glorious fire and death; the metal around the balloon falling down like a rock. Thankfully, it had moved away from Tin and Bloodwing, as the several tonnes of Steel, Scraps... And Wool, slammed hard onto the grassy land, with yet another explosion due to the several Flak rounds stored within the guns, and the supply room. Horrorized by such a sight across the fog, Bloodwing stopped flapping her wings and fell down onto the grass, just how the Charger did. Her eyes, watering quickly upon the loss of her job, her friends, and possibly even her home, the Mare quickly bursted into tears of sadness, pain... And frustration. Finally releasing Bloodwing's tail, Tin backed off a bit, and stumbled back, horrorized by such a sight. He knew that the Pyramidions were strong ships. But this... Was too extreme. Even for him. He had no words for what just happened, as he simply sat there, even letting the Rockbug land on his muzzle. This... Was a very big loss.