Chapter 5: Intruders on Board! Part 3
Dragon of the Depths
A bit earlier
The group had moved the several decks now and had seen pirates of every sentient species on the planet. Carefully moving to avoid being seen, they had eventually found themselves on the sixth deck of an open pit that when down eleven levels from the top down. At the top were cranes move cargo up and down and plenty of lights, at the bottom of the pit was a ship that looked like it was either being taken apart or rebuilt. Angel turned to Steam.
"What are they doing down there?"
"It looks like they're fixing that ship up."
"Isn't that ship a Panish Flag Galleon?" Vapor asked.
"I think it is, they're probably fixing and modifying it."
"Why would they do that?" Smolder asked, "I thought pirates would just sink them after they looted them."
"Not necessarily," Ocellus spoke, "pirates often took the ship as well, it was half the loot. They would either sell it or use it themselves."
"Did a little studying on that didn't you Ocellus?" Sandbar asked, with Ocellus blushing in response.
"Yeah I did."
Monkey Wrench then spoke up.
"If they're fixing and modifying it within this ship, how do they deploy it?"
"Well, I might be wrong but, Look closely at the stand the galleon is on, it looks like it lowers deeper into this giant." Steam said pointing with a hoof.
Sure enough, the stand had thick chains connected to it and eight fixed cranes on the second deck from the opening. If any of them guessed correctly, the galleon when finished would be lowered further down and launched from hidden hatches in the sides of the giant with it's masts down and lifted into place when the launched ship was free of the giant.
"Guys..." State Sentiments quietly, but suddenly, said. "This ship, this... Titan. Has anycreature ever built something like this before?"
"My father did once tell me that at one time there were plans for ships like this, remember the bulk cargo ships Equestria uses? There were plans to make warship that size but it never got off the ground."
"Why would that be?" Gallus asked. "I admit Griffins don't really have a navy but this ship seems to have all the capabilities of a port and shipyard."
"He is right," Sandbar said. "Having a mobile port and shipyard would give the nation that had one a huge advantage in a war."
"From what I know it turned out to be too expensive, and there never was a need for a ship this size."
"Sooo.... The first ones to actually build a ship like that, were pirates. Is anycreature else having trouble getting their heads around this." Smolder said.
The rest of the group agreed, whoever lead these pirates had plenty of resources at their beck and call.
Chipcutter was looking at the ship when a thought came to him.
"What happens to the crews of the ships they take?" He asked.
"Well, first they are given the choice to join the pirates, those that don't are held for ransom, if no ransom could be payed the captives were either left on an island or..." Steam passed for a minute, then slowly drew a hoof over his neck. The others eyes widened with fear and shock.
"You mean... if they find us, we'll either end up as pirates," Summer began.
"Held for ransom," Mulberry added.
"Or... " Golden couldn't finish.
Steam nodded slowly. "I've also heard stories of pirates... torture their captives."
"Such as...?" Silversteam asked sounding like she didn't to know.
"... keel hauling, dipped in boiling oil, and feed to sharks to name a few." Steam said reluctantly.
Now the group was terrified, the young six were hugging each other shaking, Angel and Vapor looked their hooves together, the foals were frozen, and the students were huddled together. When they moved again, they passed by a number of pirates who were to busy with their own things to notice them, eventually they entered what looked like a very large tavern, with pirates all over the place. The group hid behind a stack of empty crates and barrels and watched the pirates playing games, drinking, or just talk and having a good time. A band was playing a song adding to the cheerful atmosphere.
Four pirates, a Pegasus mare, a Dracony Wyrm (Unicorn Dracony), a Male Griffin, and a female red-nose Caribou playing a card game. The Pegasus laid a card down.
"Let's change it to green."
"WHY GREEN!!??" The Dracony shouted before banging her fist against the table. "The one bucking color!"
"SUPPER! Supper time! Got the first round up and more to come so get a move on!" a Unicorn mare came through a door on the far wall carrying ten plates of food. The pirates waited as the mare pulled out a list.
"Okay, the watermelon pizza with extra mangoes?" A Thestral Stallion waved a hoof.
"Over here."
"The fried fish with tartar sauce?" A male griffin answered.
"That would be me."
"The..." She was cut off as a loud bang went off. Everyone in the room jumped in fright as they looked to were the bang came from. On the floor was a cannon belonging to one of the Deck Crackers, who looked rather sheepish.
"Sorry me bad, me bad."
"Oh for, you know we're to disarm the firearms when they're not in use."
"Scared the crap out of us ya big lug!"
"Let's just get the mess cleaned up before Fire Gem comes down here,"
"Agreed, I don't know about the rest of you but I'd rather not get chewed out again after that powder incident."
"Wait, what's that noise?"
They listened for a second, only to hear... coughing? Looking in the direction the cannon had fired, they saw the now destroyed stack of crates and barrels smoking and... the coughing coming from there. Before the pirates eyes, a number of Ponies, foals included, and some other creatures, appeared when the smoke cleared.
After the coughing group got their lungs cleared and took stock of the situation, they had just been discovered. The two sides stared at each other for about five minutes, one very nervous and the other very surprised.
"Oh hey, this isn't where we're suppose to meet our friends." Vapor said with a nervous smile.
"We're sorry. We must have taken a wrong turn." Sandbar said rubbing his hooves together sheepishly.
"So we'll be leaving if you don't mind. Bye!" Mulberry said, with that the group turned and bolted out the door with the pirates after them. After a while they passed through a door to a hatchway, Rumble spotted a level next to the door, ran to it, and pushed it, closing the door.
Most dived down through the hatch but when Yona tried she got stuck, trapping herself, Silversteam, November, Rumble and Smolder.
"Yona!"
"Yona sorry!"
Smolder grabbed one of her horns and started pulling. Below Sandbar and Sugar Maple started pulling her legs.
"No, no, not PULL," November was saying to Smolder, the Dragon stopped. "PUSH!" The two of them and Silversteam started jumping up and down on Yona trying to push her through. Rumble let go of the level and started to run to them.
"We gotta get out of here right n..." The door opened with the pirates waiting on the other side, one of the Thestrals had his hoof on another level they'd missed before.
"Oh no."
Rumble shot back to the lever on their side shutting the door again.
"Come on you g..."
Door opens again.
Rumble hit the level, shutting the door again. The pirate Thestral pressed the level on their side, only for the door to stay closed. Surprised, he pushed it again, still stayed closed. He held the level down and still the door stayed closed.
The pirates looked at each other in confusion.
"What the heck?"
"Why do these things always break at the worst times."
On the other side, Rumble, joined by November, was holding the level down.
"Come on buddy, come on buddy come on buddy." He was saying.
"We're tying over here!" Smolder shouted.
"Yona sorry, yaks big."
Smolder and Silversteam jumped up and landed hard on Yona, finally pushing her through to the deck below were the others were waiting. She landed the a heavy thump that knocked the others back. Sitting up and looking around, she noticed one missing.
"Where's friend Sandbar?"
"Ah Yona," Gallus began,"Let me define... COLTSITTING!!"
Yona jumped up and picked up Sandbar, who was flat as a pancake with his mane and tail swaying a little. She grabbed his tail and nose and pulled both, stretching the young Stallion until his body snapped back into shape. He gave the yak a glare.
"Yona sorry." She said sheepishly.
November with Rumble in his magic aura came down.
"COME ON GUYS!! THEIR RIGHT ON OUR TAILS!!!"
They zoomed off as the pirates dropped down. The other Unicorns picked up the foals in their magic as the ran. Ducking and dodging the group continued to run the the ship's halls till they entered a large room, the pirates right on their tails. Monkey Wrench and Sandbar shut the door and Ocellus and Silversteam latched it shut. As the pirates pounded on the door the group looked around the room they were in; it was a large and long room with support pillars, crates, barrels, and the most eye catching thing; a massive cannon. Big enough that one could fit at least nine cannon side by side in a circle in the barrel and as long as at least four Ships of the Line.
"Okay that's has to be the biggest cannon I have ever seen." Steam said in awe.
"STEAM!!"
The thumping on the door got heavier. "Let us in! OPEN THE DOOR!!"
"Oh right."
"YAK SMASH!!!"
The door was knocked off it's hinges as a pirate Yak crashed through sending some of pirates flying a few feet. As they recovered they saw the group run up stairs, they followed, only for the Diamond Dog at the front to stop because he didn't see them, leading everyone behind him to crash in quite the dog pile (no pun intended).
As the pulled themselves out, one of the Pegasus pirates shouted, "THERE THEY ARE!!"
The group had started moving down another hallway when that shout rang out, so they picked up the pace. After running for what felt like hours they entered a room under the main deck and locked the door behind them. The room they were now in was some sort of storage room for older equipment, with swords, firearms, and red barrels of gunpowder on shelves.
"Quick grab a gun!" Steam shouted.
State grabbed an old blunderbuss as Wrench grabbed a power barrel.
"Okay got one."
"Alright now we gotta load it." Wrench started pouring powder into the barrel, making some dust fly and Smolder, who was standing close, felt her nose inch. She jumped back, turned around, and let out a large puff of flame as she sneezed.
"DON"T MAKE ME SNEEZE AROUND GUNPOWDER YOU GUYS!!" She yelled.
The other ignored her as they were looking around for something.
"Okay were do they keep the bullets?!"
All of them rushed about the room, not noticing that Wrench was leaving a trail of powder behind him. Gallus jumped onto some shelves, his eyes brightened.
"Guys I found the bullets!" He yelled grabbing the bag, not being as careful as he should have been as his claws tore a hole open.
"You did? Where?" Vellum said.
"They're right here! They were..." Gallus pulled the bag off the shelf, and every single bullet fell out and rolled all over the place. The group could only watch in horror.
"Oops...." Was all the Griffin could say.
All of them frantically looked for them but they were gone. State shouted angrily.
"This gun is useless! You lost all the bullets Gallus!"
"Well Wrench is losing the power!"
A loud thump on the door caused everyone to jump and Wrench unknowingly through the barrel away, powder hitting Smolder in the face. The inch returned stronger then ever.
"We know your in there!" A voice shouted outside. "Come out before we come in."
The group screamed and ran, Smolder let out a huge sneeze which lit the powder trail. She screamed and followed after the group, who had stopped hearing the sounded. They saw the blazing powder trail behind them, screamed, and ran around the room with the spark behind them. The pirates busted the door open and entered, only to stop seeing the group running and screaming with a large spark chasing after them.
They were not sure how to react. Finally, the Dracony female had had enough, she drew in a breath.
"SSTTTOOOOPPPPP!!!!!!"
The group did, that was when they noticed the barrel with the flame entering it, Sandbar looked up.
"Oh crapbaskets."
KA-BOOM
The room was filled with with flame as the top burst open and the group and the pirates with them were sent flying into the air and landed on the main deck covered in soot and smoking hair. They quickly got up, grabbed the foals, and bolted as every pirate on deck chased after them with the original pirates. They run towards the stern, only to put on the breaks as a large figure landed in front of them.
The figure, a tall Kirin stood at his full height, thumped the bottom of his halberd against the deck, and stared at them. Behind them the pirates cut off any hope of escape.
The Kirin looked over them, then at the pirates behind them, then back. He drew in a breath as a Changeling Queen with a young Kirin/Changeling hybird on her back, a Pegasus Mare, a male Griffin, a male Dracony Wyvern, three Thestral Stallions, a male Quadruped Dragon, a male Longma, a massive male Minotaur, and a Zebra Mare come up behind him.
"Alright," The Kirin started. "My head Officers and I were talking about our next course when we hear an explosion, we come out to find you chasing... them."
He gestured to the group.
"A group of Ponies with a few other creatures who aren't members of the crew. So, will someone please tell me what the hay is going on here!!!"
He shouted at the top of his lungs, wings flaring. the pirates and the group flinched back, none answered, not sure how to. Finally, one spoke.
"We're not sure ourselves sir. We were just about to have dinner when one of the Deck Crackers dropped their still loaded cannon which destroyed a stack of crates and barrels, we heard coughing, and when the smoke cleared, there they were. They saw us and bolted, leading to a chase around the ship. Which ended with them trying to load one of the old blunderbusses, and a lit trail of power, which lit a barrel, which was that explosion."
The Kirin's eyes narrowed slightly, then he looked at the group.
"And pray tell, how did you get aboard our ship? Your tail's on fire lass." He said pointing at Vapor.
"Wha-?" She snapped her head around and saw that the lower half of her tail was on fire! Vapor let a loud shriek and began stamping her hooves on her tail trying to put it out. Thankfully several splashes of water from the buckets of the close by pirates had put it out, though Vapor ended up soaked.
Not that she was complaining, she preferred being soaked to her tail being the next Equestria Games torch.
"Thank you." She squeaked.
The Changeling Queen's horn lit up and Vapor found her self dried off, after this Angel Wings spoke up.
"Well to answer you question, Princess Twilight ordered me and her," she pointed at Vapor, "to take this group below and hide so we hid in a large crate. When we came out we found we were no longer on our ship." She said with a sheepish grin.
The Kirin raised an eyebrow while the Dracony shouted, "Alright who forgot to check the loot?!"
The crew looked each other, none of them had any idea who had brought that specific crate. Fire Gem facepalmed.
"So... What do we do with them?" Gold Fire asked
The group were huddled together, then Applebloom said, "Please don't keel haul us."
"Or feed us to sharks." Diamond said in fear.
"Or dip us in boiling oil." Tender Taps added shaking.
All the pirates recoiled in shock.
"Wow wow wow, where did you hear such things!?" Shadow Fire asked.
"We may be pirates but we're not those kind of pirates!" Atlas said.
"And we would Never harm gems such as yourselves." Razor finished.
That got the group's attention.
"Gems such as ourselves? What?" Angel asked. Razor leaned forward.
"Not all treasure is jewels and gold lass, sometimes it's a trinket that you got from a friend," He reached up with his left wing hand and tapped the silver piece of eight.
"Sometimes it's a gift from your mate," He tapped the scarf around his neck.
"Sometimes it's an item from your first adventure," He tapped the trinket made of the three gems and the brasher doubloon.
"And sometimes it's the life you brought into this world." With a smile he took his hat off and set it on the head of the hybrid, who's head wasn't quite big enough for it. With a laugh Atlas give Razor his hat back.
The group watched this unsure of how to react, then Ocellus said.
"Mate? Your married?"
"And have a foal?" Vapor asked.
"Aye, have been happily for six years." Atlas lifted her hoof and showed them her ring.
"Oh, well, congratulations." Ocellus said with a smile.
Atlas give her a tip of her hat.
"And my son," Razor extended his wing over and Silver climbed over to his back.
"this is my son Silver Moth, and my name's Razor Tail. I'm also known as Archduke Razor Tail but most of the time just Razor Tail."
"Name's Atlas Moth, I'm Silver's mother."
The rest introduced themselves.
"Steel Mass, I don't think any of us have seen a Minotaur as big as you, you look like you could bring an Ursa down." Smolder said.
"I've never actually faced an Ursa, I have faced a Hydra, now that was fun."
"And you names would be?" Razor asked. Each of the group introduced themselves.
"Nice to meet you all, and about the raid, we did pay for the stuff we took and the damage."
"So... What happens to us now?" Summer asked.
Razor thought for a second.
"For now let's put you in the Main Meeting Room, and get you guys cleaned up, soot can be somewhat difficult to clean off after awhile."
He turned to a silver phoenix sitting on his shoulder.
"Silberbar, keep an eye on them, let us know if anything comes up." The phoenix saluted with his wing and flew over to Angel Wings and landed on her head.
"Isn't that a silver phoenix? Those are believed to be extinct." Ocellus said.
"Not quite lass, their around just... very hard to find. We rescued this one long ago. And Silver, would you escort them as well? Oh and, bring them something to eat."
"Sure Dad."
After the group was escorted to the meeting room, The crew went back to whatever they had been doing while a repair team went to fix the damages. Atlas turned to Razor.
"What are we going to do with them Honey? You know that their friends on that ship are going to come looking for them."
"I know, but trust me, its far safer for them to be with us then out on their own in these waters. The Sea of Legends isn't merciful to those who do not know her."
"So what are you going to do?" Snow asked.
"I'm going to make them an offer; either we drop them off at Imperator's Grave were they'll be on their own, or they sign up for the crew temporary, for this voyage."
"Are sure the latter option is a good idea?" Zenith asked.
"No, I'm not, but if their out on their own, it's not just the sea itself that threatens them. You all know as well as I do the dangers that roam these waters."
"Then it doesn't sound like they really have a choice." Steel said.
"I know, and that's why I hate it. If they chose to be left at Imperator's Grave then I'll honor that choice, but I worry for their safety when they do leave it. If they landed in the hooves of the Caribou..."
He trailed off, leaving the sentence unfinished, he didn't need to.
"There also the fact that their friends, if I know Equestrian Ponies, will come looking for them."
The head Officers understood that, if they found their missing friends not with the Outcasts...
"I'll talk to them after supper, I give them their choices, and honor what they pick."
With that, Razor turned and walked away. He was in conflict however, he would honor whatever choice they picked but, he could only hope they made the right one, for their own sake.
He pulled out the picture of his mother and stared at it.
'I hope I'm doing the right thing Mom, I deeply hope.'
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Dragon of the Depths
Main Meeting Room
After being escorted to the Main Meeting Room, the youngsters sat at the very large table in the center of the room. The Main Meeting Room was used for meetings between Razor, the Head Officers, and all the other Officers on broad, mostly for important updates to areas or sorting out issues that popped up. The room was almost exactly like the Head Officer meeting/dining room, just much larger and longer, with a table that could easily sit a hundred.
The youngsters sat in silence, thinking about what they had found themselves in. First, they had been taken from their cruise by mistake. Second, they were among pirates who so far had been kind to them (there was a lingering worry that would change). And third, they were in a large room waiting for the pirate's leader to talk to them about their fate.
On the plus side, the room was definitely a whole lot better then the cells they had seen earlier, and Silver Moth had been quite friendly, the Mares couldn't help but dawww a bit at how cute he was. Silver had also brought them some food, which they were thankful for as they had not eaten anything since lunch.
After they ate they just sat in silence, mulling over their situation. Most of them just rested their heads on their forelimbs while others jut fidgeted with with whatever they had, like Angel was with her bracelets and Vapor with her tail (which wasn't burned as badly as she had thought).
After an hour wait, Razor brought them into his office. They sat around the table, Razor got comfortable as the youngsters sat down with some wariness.
"Okay, I know your all nervous and thinking we're going to do something bad to you all, we're not. As my wife said before, we're pirates but not those sort of pirates."
"Then what are you going to do with us?" Popsicle asked.
"Well I got two choices for you but I want you hear both of them fully before making a decision, okay?" He said in a firm, yet gentle, voice.
The youngsters looked at each other for a few minutes then turned back to Razor.
"Okay." Was the response.
"You first choice is we take you to Imperator's Grave, its the main port in the Sea of legends, I even recommended that you ship head there for repairs."
"So why can't they just pick us up there?" Angel asked.
"Because found were we are now it would be a five day trip while they would only have a three day trip, if they even headed there to begin with. Now on Imperator's Grave, finding a way home might not be a problem as Sailors of all sorts from all around the world visit it. But, if we drop you off there, you guys would be on your own, and getting a ship home would require some luck as the ships tend to travel all over the place."
"Meaning they could be gone if we went there and even if we got a ship home it could take a long time." Mulberry said.
"Yes, you could try getting your own ship but, I'm guessing none of you really have sailing experience."
Steamsail raised a hoof, "I do but not very much." Razor nodded.
"Okay, I'm also guessing you don't really have any form of payment for your own ship."
They all shook their heads.
"Thought so, even if you dropped my name there get a ship would be difficult. Unless you got one of the junk ships but those are, "some assembly required" to put it very mildly. There's also the dangers in these waters."
"What sort of dangers?" Scootaloo asked.
"Lass, the Sea of Legends is merciless to those who do not know her. I have seen ships pulled to the depths by creatures larger then even this very ship, pirate gangs that would do unspeakable things to treasures like you, storms that can cover entire regions for days on end, and Caribou Slaver groups that attack any ship they can. While the Outcasts of the Abyss have dedicated Anti-Slaver fleets always hunting them down, I would fear the possibility..."
He didn't finish, he didn't need to.
Right away the youngsters, the females especially, began to shake in their seats, horrible thoughts traveling through their minds as the Ponies hugged their tails.
"And that's only just a tiny drop in the barrel." Razor added sadly.
After a few minutes the youngsters looked at each other again, then back.
"What's the second choice?" Soaring Virtue asked.
Razor reached for a scroll on the table and passed it to State, who unrolled it. His eyes widened.
"This is a contract!" He looked closer, "...for signing up?"
"Indeed lad, the second choice is all of you joining the crew temporarily, which will bind you to the Dragon. But in exchange, you have my word that We'll take you back home once this voyage is done, you'll be under my protection, you'll receive a full share of treasure like the rest of the crew, and you well be treated with respect like the rest of the crew. there's also the fact that if you friends come looking for you, and I have have very good reason to believe they will, it would be easier on us all if you were here."
"He isn't lying," Ocellus said. "Everything he said was true."
"How would you know that?" Smolder asked.
"Ahh... Changeling."
"Ohhhh... right."
The youngsters looked over the contract, everything Razor had said about it was listed and would indeed bind them, but it would do the same to Razor, in fact he had already signed it.
State looked up.
"Could we talk about this among ourselves first?"
"Take as much time as you need. You don't even have to answer tonight, you can tell me you answer in the morning if you have it by then."
Razor leaned forward.
"And something I want to stress to you, this is YOUR choice. Whatever you pick of the two I will honor it, I only ask that you really think about it and chose wisely. Not for my sake, but yours. Also, we're meeting with a supply ship tomorrow that is headed back to Imperator's Grave. So you have until then."
With that, he called Silver in and asked him to take the youngsters to some rooms for the night. Once they left Razor walked up to the pipe organ and began to play, the sound traveling through the ship.
________________________________________________________________________________
Later
Atlas entered Razor's office only to see no sign of him, looking around she noticed the doors on either side of the pipe organ were open. Stepping out onto the balcony she saw Razor lying on the hammock set up against the wall looking out over the water.
"Hey Atlas." He sounded a bit down.
"Honey, what's wrong?"
"Am I a manipulative jerk?"
Atlas recoiled as if struck.
"What?"
He turned his head slightly to look at her.
"I did give our guests their choices but I might have manipulated them to sign up."
He looked back out over the water.
"So, am I a manipulative jerk?"
Atlas didn't even know how to respond, she walked up to him and gently laid a foreleg over his back.
"Razor, sometimes a leader had to be manipulative to protect those he cares about. I could feel your concern for the youngsters, even Changeling on board could, the one with them too."
She sat down next to him.
"So while yes you may be manipulative, but it's for the right reasons."
"Is it?" He lifted his head up. "I give them their choices, I just hope what they pick will be the right one. You also know of my greater plans."
Atlas rubbed his neck.
"I know, and what happens if they choice to go to Imperator's Grave?"
"They'll broad the supply ship, and I'll contact our agents there. They'll make sure they get home safely."
"And their friends?"
"One of our undercover merchants will tell them and lead them home as well."
Atlas pulled her husband into to a hug.
"It'll work out Razor, it will."
They stayed like that for a while, then headed off to bed to enjoy some cuddle time together.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Canterlot
Princess Celestia's Personal Chambers
Celestia sat on her bed fuming as she examined the scroll in her magic, a few days ago she had received word of a port town had burn stacked and burned to the ground. Nothing remained but ash and wreckage, the townsfolk had escaped and told of a giant of a ship had sailed close under the cover of both the night and a thick fog.
The fort had been hit by some sort of enchanted rockets that encased the fort in a magic field the the soldiers couldn't leave, with the soldiers trapped the attackers, later reveled to be pirates, stacked the town unchallenged. They had taken everything, gems, gold, wood, metal, everything of value.
But wasn't what had Celestia steamed.
The pirates had also taken the foals in the town's orphanage.
From what she knew, the foals had gone with them willingly. She had wondered why till she had dug deeper. What she had found had enraged her, the orphanage had been mistreating the foals, and the deeper she had dug, the more enraged she became.
As it turned out, the entire town had been a pit of nothing but everything against Equestria stood for. Now all the townsfolk were facing criminal charges.
She had later found out that while the townsfolk had escaped, there had been one lost. In a cave far from the town an Earth Pony had been found dead from a shot to the head, he had been tied up and executed, a cut from a blade was also found on his neck. Not deep enough to kill, but enough to lightly bleed.
Celestia had know of this Pony; A Noble who had dealt in things that even the worst ones in Canterlot wouldn't dare touch with a 30 foot pole, including selling Ponies to Equestria's sworn enemy: the Caribou. This alone was a death penalty, so in a way whoever had killed him had done Celestia a favor.
But the scroll she held was not that, but a letter she had got from Twilight some time ago, The cruise she had set up for her and the others had been blown off course and had ended up in the infamous Sea of Legends, were it was attacked by pirates. While they hadn't killed anypony and had payed for what they took and the damages, they had taken some of the passengers, including the students from some of Equestria's allies.
As expected, they had not been to happy to hear that, thankfully they hadn't threat war this time, but had demanded they come with her after these pirates. A request Celestia agreed to.
Tomorrow she would be personally taking an Equestrian Juggernaut with a fleet of two hundred fifty into the Sea of Legends to go after these pirates, and Celestia knew just who these pirates were.
According to eyewitness accounts the flag the pirates had flown was a flag that was red with a black quadruped Dragon in flight above a maelstrom with a small chest clutched in it's claws.
The Outcasts of the Abyss, lead by the Kirin Pirate Lord Archduke Razor Tail.
Celestia had known of this pirate since he had defeated the Royals that had ruled the Sea of Legends, a feat to be respected, according to her few sources there Razor was different from other pirate lords as he had far grander plans for the Sea of Legends, the rumors she had heard was he the drive, the ambition, and the resources to unite the various pirate gangs, smuggler rings, privateer fleets, Merchant armadas, and other sailors of any kind under his banner. If he succeeded in this, the Outcasts would become a world power, one that would be very powerful and difficult to bring down.
For now Razor seemed to be in no rush to do so, and that's what worried Celestia. Now one hoof, a nation built of those types would normally not last very long, mostly do to infighting. However from what she had heard, Razor had done a number of them favors that earned the Outcasts their loyalty.
"And Chancellor Neighsay believes that other races threaten Ponies when one is building an empire of pirates and other sailors." She said to herself with a roll of her eyes.
Another thing was, while Razor didn't contact them to often, he was still a Kirin, which meant he could talk to the Kirin Clans and possibly get their support. And Celestia knew Kirins were formidable fighters.
On the other hoof, having Razor as an ally and friend would mean a very powerful navy on Equestria's side should a war break out, and allow Equestrians to explore the Sea of Legends. As well as possibly secure the Kirins as an ally, and stabilize the Sea of Legends factions.
Celestia at the moment didn't think the second option was possible, at least not now. The fact that Razor had kidnapped Equestrian citizens and foreign youngsters mean that she had to find him and bring him down. She had heard stories about his ship but she didn't believe them, after all, a ship like that would be to costly. She had also been informed he was now looking for a location known as the 'Lost Tombs'.
"I don't know what your searching for there Razor Tail, but you overstepped your bounds this time. I was content to leave you to your business in the Sea of Legends but with the attack on Equestrian land and vessel and your kidnapping of the youngsters you have crossed the line. I'm truly sorry, but you reign must end." She said regretfully.
Ooohhhh boy 
... Celestia's coming with an armada and she gunning for the Razor, this could get ugly.
I hope I portrayed Celestia right, I wasn't trying to make her a tyant or anything like that, just a leader who cares about her people and wants to take down a, to her, theat to them. She doesn't want to but... she sees a threat.
Now we know differently, but Celestia doesn't.
And now we know Razor had greater plans for the Sea of Legends. Wonder were this will go.
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That is my Favourite line as of now. It looks like Celestia is going to the Sea of Legends and i think Razor Tail is going to have a hard time with her. Also if i was given the chance to join these pirates, i would do so in a snap.
Edit: i also love that you put in a song from a pirate music band, that is awesome.
Of all the card games they could have been playing, you just HAD to pick Uno. I'm not complaining, I legitimately laughed when I read that, I'm just a little confused.
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It's going to be quite the face-off though it won't be for awhile yet, and Razor might have a hard time but he does have a few tricks up his armored sleeves. But we'll have to wait and see.
Glad you liked the song, I was originally going to use this tune but decided to save it for later.
And if you joined the Outcasts and at some point commanded a ship of your own, what would it be and how would you customise it?
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Uno is the card game I'm most familiar with, other games, and not just card games, will make an appearance in future chapters.
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A heavily armed and armoured galleon from Skull and Bones and full trained crew in both gunnery and combat to their fullest potency. and my flag would be the same flag used by the skeleton crew from Mega Bloks Pyrates sets and my ship's name will be "The Dawn of Piracy."
Hello Silver,
And now I see where the conflict will come in. To assuage your worries, I feel that everyone is in character and working fine. Razor Tail's offer for the kids to join his crew until they get dropped off is great; it keeps the kids from wandering into danger, it minimizes the risk of Twilight and the others going after Razor and thinking he did something bad to the kids, since they'll be there to reassure her, and on top of that, the Young Six and CMC aren't exactly pushovers, so it'd be interesting to see them as part of the crew.
Razor questioning himself over whether he manipulated them was also a really nice look into his character.
Plus, Twilight makes sense in that she'd go to Celestia on this, and despite your worries, I think Celestia is acting more than reasonable here. She knows there's more going on with Razor Tail than a simple pirate band, and she's technically going after him with two plans in mind. I could totally see her ready to attack or negotiate depending on how soon she's able to find the kids. Of course, that will depend on what happens when the groups finally meet, as I'm guessing Razor won't be too keen to roll over just because Celestia points a bunch of cannons at him.
I feel that Shiva was inspired a lot by Celestia; a major factor in Shiva becoming a more peaceful character was when she got cornered by Celestia while escaping Canterlot's dungeons, and the alicorn tried to talk to Shiva rather than simply blasting her or hurting her. Of course, it didn't fully work, as Shiva had a pretty big regiment of guards after her and they scared Shiva into fleeing, but Celestia's kindness did still stick with Shiva, and influenced her to not be so quick to judge all ponies. So having Celestia be ready to fight to defend her ponies, but also willing to give Razor the benefit of the doubt would be a great balance for the character, in my humble opinion.
Anyway, thanks again for sharing. I've got some other things I need to tend to, like 'Survival of the Wolves' and my job, but I look forward to being able to read the next chapter tomorrow.
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And Razor knows how dangerous the Sea of Legends can be, that and he's seen things done to other's like the kids that he can't unsee. Now while the Sea is much safer than it was before the Outcasts rose to power, there is still the risk and the storms. Now I'm not sure at which point we'll see the Young Six and CMC in action but at the moment I'm thinking some point in the second arc.
I wanted to show him having doubts about the situation and I think I did fairly well there,
She knows that if Razor is successful in his grander plan the Outcasts could effectively control the seas, and the faction would be very difficult to take down as the vast majority of their assets are mobile and can hide in the vast oceans. And you are right that Razor won't be too keen to roll over just because Celestia points a bunch of cannons at him, if anything she'd be the one facing the cannons with the size of the Dragon of the Depths. That and Western Kirin and Kirin in general don't see surrender as an option, not after it massively bucked them over a long time ago, before the Hearts Warming.
So that's where Shiva gets her own kindness, that's nice to know.
But that wouldn't be case here sadly, both Celestia and Luna had a really bad experience with Pirates back when they were Fillies; The two had been taken by pirates who were, to put it mildly, extremely mean and while the two weren't... "used", they still when through a horrifying time before they escaped. Now we know the Outcasts are nothing like that but Celestia doesn't so...
Also, what did you think of Celestia's little quip towards Neighsay?
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Yes, dramatic irony; when we know something that would be very useful for the characters to know, but sadly, we must watch them stumble about in the dark. Tragic, but necessary for the story to progress.
I thought it was alright; the roll of her eyes showed that she definitely considered his paranoia a bit too much. Though... isn't he technically right? A non-pony is essentially creating an empire right now, and while we know it won't be a threat, she doesn't. Personally, I think having her say something like, "I hate when that paranoid stallion is right," complete with the roll of her eyes would get the message across much better.
Just my two cents.
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Actually, Kirin (in this 'verse at least) are Pony/Dragon Hybrids, one of a three (? I'll need to check my notes) so in a strange sort of sense they'll both right.
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True. Though considering how Neighsay is, I'm wondering if he'd try to discount the Kirins pony half as something like 'not being pony enough.'
Though you are right in that they are both technically right. So many rights and yet they're all heading towards making a very bad wrong. There's something ironic about that.
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Would be in his character, and Indeed there is.
See you in the next one King.
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Looking forward to it.