Steam Tyrant

by duvagr007

Chapter 3: Uprising

Chapter 3

Cornelius loved flying. The whir of the propellers in the back of the ship, the sound of steam escaping the engine. He loved all of it, and the best part was that he had himself to thank for it. He sighed in bliss, knowing that he could be under attack at any moment by Blueblood's forces. He couldn't help it. 'The Falcon' was truly a sight to behold whilst she was in the air, the ship had two large balloons that kept it in the air, and a large central hull, that housed it's crew of six. Pipsqueak was at the helm, flying them towards Canterlot, which may or may not be hostile. They could be flying towards their death for all he knew. But it didn't matter, he knew he had to save Celestia and Luna, wherever they were. He was busy subconsciously working on a plan of attack/rescue, when Pip's voice came over the ships intercom, also built by Cornelius.

"Cornelius, you might want to come take a look at this." He sighed, wondering what it could be this time. He walked towards the frontal half-sphere that made up the pilots area. His hooves clanked against the metal floor as he walked, the only sound in the hallway other than rushing steam. He opened the door to the pilots room and looked out the window.

"What is it now Pipsque- no. That isn't possible, how is, that thing shouldn't even be able to fly!" Cornelius stared at the massive ship that was before him. It was easily five times the size of his own ship, and it sported a massive cannon on the front. A cannon that looked as though it could swallow 'The Falcon' whole. It had hangers on either side, which looked as though they held more of Blueblood's ships. The larger one was a dark gray, and had the words 'Iron Curtain' painted on the side in white letters. It looked as though it was loaded down with ponies, all of them gray. Cornelius grabbed a nearby spyglass to make sure. He looked through and saw that they weren't in fact gray, but were merely wearing gray uniforms. Some had gray hats with pins in them, but most wore nothing atop their heads. Cornelius figured this was some way of showing rank. As he was scanning the deck of the 'Iron Curtain', he noticed one with a hat point in his direction. Great, they've spotted us. This should go well. The one who had pointed out their ship told a unicorn something. The unicorn flashed away, and a few moments later, their ship began to turn towards his own. He turned to Pip, who was standing mortified.

"We need to get out of here, now. Head east, away from Canterlot, that thing may be huge, but it's slow and cumbersome, we can outrun it. I need to go down to Sweetie and tell her to radio to General Maelstrom about that thing. Good luck and Clestia speed Pip." He teleported down to communications, nearly scaring Sweetie Bell half to death. She turned and faced him.

"You know there's a door there right? You could have just, I dunno, walked in here."

"I need you to get the general on the radio A.S.A.P., we have a big problem on our hooves."

"Um, okay?" She turned back to the radio and spoke into it. "General Maelstrom, this is 'Falcon', do you copy?"

"This is Maelstrom, I copy, whats your situation?" Sweetie handed the radio over to Cornelius so he could spek to the general personally.

"Maelstrom, this is Cornelius, I have some bad news, and some really bad news. Which one you wanna hear first?"

"I hate bad news, but go ahead, softer news first."

"Alright, the bad news is that Blueblood is as corrupt as I thought, and he has a massive fleet of his own."

"That's pretty bad news, do I wanna know what could be worse?"

"You may not want to, but you need to. You've seen the size of my ship correct?"

"Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Blueblood's flagship has a cannon twice as big as my ship. The actual ship is five times the size of 'The Falcon'." He waited a few moments, but there was silence on the other end. "General?"

"This is Gearbox, I'm so sorry but, it appears that the General has fainted. Shall I take a message?

"No, it's fine, just build a big ship to go against 'The Iron Curtain'. Can you do that?"

"How big does it need to be?

"Roughly three-hundred yards in length, six engines, and two-hundred fifty-six canons on the sides. Also, have a two-ton frontal canon. Can you manage it?"

"I, uh... well I may... no. No we can't."

"Then we're going to need as many ships as you can crank out. Otherwise, we're all dead."

"I'll see what I can do." There was a cracking sound as the radio was disconnected. Cornelius sighed and went to his quarters. He lay on his bed, thinking about how he wound up into this mess. Sure he decided to actually go on this little expedition, but he never really expected to encounter such heavy resistance. He figured one or two ships at best, not a full fleet with a flagship the size of Ponyville. He was just about to wonder how they were ever going to find the princesses when the ship shook violently, accompanied by a loud 'boom'. He sat bolt upright in his bed as Pip's voice came over the intercom.

"Cornelius, Zach, we're taking fire! Get to the guns and keep them off of us!" At any other time, Cornelius would have been pissed at Pip for ordering him around, but instead, he headed to the rear mounted gun, knowing Zach would be at the fore. He climbed into the seat, strapping himself in, and took the controls in hoof, and scanning the skies for a target. He noticed a small airship trailing them. It was slowly gaining, it's smaller size allowing for higher speed. He lined the ship up in his sights and opened fire, a stream of bullets flowing from his gun. He could see them making contact with the hull of the enemy, trailing all along the side. Suddenly, an explosion and a satisfying 'boom' echoed from the enemy's ship. It caught fire and was sent plummeting to the earth below. Cornelius knew he had just killed ponies, but he knew it was for the good of Equestria. He heard another explosion and turned to see that Zach had taken one as well. He turned back and saw another ship turning around. They had obviously figured out that it was pointless to attack. Their weapons were harmless against 'The Falcon'.

Cornelius got out of the gun and returned to the pilot's area. He took a quick assessment of their surroundings, attempting to decide where to go. To the west, there was a desert that stretched for miles, to the east, rolling hills the eventually led to mountains. Behind them was the city of Canterlot, and the small dot of Ponyville could be seen in front of them. With two options eleminated, they could go into the desert or head up into the mountains. He concluded that the mountains in the east were the best option. The odds of the princesses being in the desert were slim to none.

"Pip, head east into the mountains, tell me if you see any of Blueblood's ships, no matter how small. I'll be in engineering, getting a status update from Bloom."

"Aye sir."

"And stop calling me 'sir'. This isn't a military operation." He turned and left the room, and started towards the back of the ship. The vast majority of all the ships mechanical components were there, so that's where Apple Bloom had decided to set up shop. When he opened the door, smoke poured out, and the soft glow of a fire could be seen through the thick haze. That's not good. He ran in and immediately began looking for Apple Bloom. His fears were worsened when a hole big enough for a pony to fit through could be seen in the back. Oh no! No, she can't be... gone. I told AJ I would take care of her. I told myself I would take care of her. How did this even happen, their weapons weren't that strong. Where they? He berated himself for a few more minutes, and would have continued had he not heard a sound behind him. He turned his head and saw Apple Bloom standing there, a puzzled look on her face. Without thinking he jumped up and ran to give her a hug.

"Apple Bloom! Thank goodness you're okay. I saw the hole in the ship and I thought..." He stopped, realizing he probably sounded like an imbecile.

"Yeah, Ah'm fine. Cornelius, are ya'll... are ya'll cryin'?"

"Uh... no. No, a-absolutely not."

"You are cryin'! Haha! What fer? Did it just crush ya t' see yer ship with a pony sized hole in it? Did ya crack under the pressure of an attack? Oh! I know! It was cuz you thought we was all gonna die wasn't it! Haha! You sure are a lot softer than Ah thought Corny. Of all the ponies on this here ship, you was the last one Ah expected to be cryin'. Jus' wait n'till the other hear bout this! Haha!" He couldn't believe it, the only mare he had ever had feelings for. Though he never shared those feelings with anypony, nor had he dwelt on them often, he still knew they were there. And now she was laughing at him. She had no idea why he was crying, and she was laughing at him. He had thought she was more sensitive than that. Well if she could be rude, then so could... No, I can't do that, then I'll never have a chance with her. I have to be level headed about this. So what do I say? I could think up an excuse, or i could tell her the truth. Making an excuse would make me a liar, and I don't lie. However, telling the truth could have mixed results. She could share my feelings, she could think I was crazy and ignore me, she could think I was serious and ignore me, or, she could punch me and send me flying out the very same hole i thought she had fallen through. Meh, if she punches me then whats the point anyway, I'll know she hates me, and I would most likely kill myself anyways so, best to have her do it for me. Alright, truth it is.

"Actually Apple Bloom, I was crying because i thought you had fallen out the ship, to your death."

"And, Ah knew what Ah was gettin into when Ah signed up fer this here mission. Me diein' shouldn't be that much of an upset."

"Maybe not for the others, but for Bloom, it's different. I was crying because I... I..."

"You what?"

"Here goes. I love you and the thought of you plummeting out the ship to your death scared me more than anything so I started crying there you happy now?"

"Hang on, Ah musta heard ya wrong. Did you jus' say that you love me?"

"Yes."

"Oh, um... well Ah, um... Ah don't think that that would exactly work... cuz, uh... mah sister would, um, uh..."

"Oh quit your mumbling already." And he leaned in and silenced hr with a kiss. She tried to pull back at first, but as the kiss continued, she began to relax, and she started to return the kiss. Neither one of them wanted to break apart, but they eventually did. They each had a red blush on their faces, and Cornelius rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, that was... interesting. Although, the others might take to it a little..."

"Immaturely?"

"Yea, Ah don't think mah sister is gonna like it all that much either."

"Oh, I don't even want to think about it. Maybe we should just keep it secret for the time being?"

"That there is a right good idea Corny."

"Please stop calling me that Bloom."

"Fine, so... what exactly did ya come down here fer? Ah mean, at first."

"Oh, right! To get a status report on the engines and such."

"Well, other than the gapin' hole in the side, not much is wrong. Jus' a bit o' maintenance work."

"Well, I'll let you get to it then."

"Bye."

"Bye." He walked out the room, shutting the door behind him. He silently cheered, and punched the air. He now had a marefriend. Albeit a secret one. His celebration was cut short by Pipsqueak's voice coming over the intercom.

"Cornelius, I think we've found them."

Comments

[Zelda Spectrum]

...Wow, didn't see that coming. Can't wait for more!

[Rayvinne]

Unexpected events are... unexpected.