Re: Piracy on the Seven Skies (Sky Pirates IC Thread)

Senshuken Mon Nov 13, 2017 4:56 am

Apollo closed his eyes for a moment as he took a seat in the cave with everyone else, focusing on taking deep, calming breaths in order to not only help him recover his breath after their run but also to try and help himself relax a little after all that had happened. The fact that they had lost their prize to the Black Sky and Reaver himself ruffled his feathers a lot more then he cared to admit, but as those gathered started to gain enough breath to start talking, he decided to try and lift their spirits... if only a little. "Well... at least we're alive and well. Lot of ponies would pay a lot more then two thousand bits to be able to say the same thing after encountering Reaver and the Black Sky when their in a hunting mood."

AleneShazam Mon Nov 13, 2017 5:14 am

"Okay, now I've got to know." Trigger speaks up idly, as she inspects her legs for damages. "What in Tartarus were those rocks? Why would the Black Sky be that desperate to get to them?"

She turns to look at Purse Flower meaningfully. "What were you going to do with them in the first place?"

jaguargamma Fri Nov 17, 2017 6:47 pm

"Well," Frisky sighs, "best I could tell, they were obviously special. They were in a special chest customized specifically for carrying them, and it looked like it was chained up separate from everything else in there before it got dragon-smashed."

She casts a glare at Apollo. "If somepony had kept them safe and not broken them, I might've tried to see if there was some reference to them in one of my books. Speaking of which..."

Frisky's magic snatches her pirate's costume from Vulcan, then unrolls it and starts pulling matchbox-sized books out of it one by one. Each book stops in what little light is coming into the cave as Frisky inspects it, then goes back into the pocket it came from.

Senshuken Fri Nov 17, 2017 10:40 pm

Apollo glared at Frisky as he quickly answered "It was either dropping the bag of stones or a living mare and I have no regrets about the choice I made. If you feel that you could have made a different call under the circumstances, then clearly you have what it takes to be a proper pirate and not just the bad joke of one I've seen you be so far."

**Paper Shadow** Sat Nov 18, 2017 12:18 am

"I'm so glad we've got our priorities in order," Mori adds in a quiet monotone voice, his body awkwardly stuck between intangiblly clipping through the floor and walls of the cave and intangiblly clipping into the hunkered down group, "Marooned in the middle of the Everfree, Reaver breathing down our necks, and we're worried 'bout bits and loot."

jaguargamma Sat Nov 18, 2017 1:07 am

Without looking up, Frisky deadpans, "I would've distributed the weight to my companions to reduce the amount of weight I need to carry, allowing me to focus more of my strength on carrying the mare to safety and slowing my descent. Possibly kept a parachute in my saddlebag to help with..."

Frisky winces.

"Dammit! My saddlebags were still on the Huntress!"

Faege Sat Nov 18, 2017 1:34 am

"The doc is right, what's done is done. There's no point discussing the stones while we're still in potential danger." Vulcan says, pacing about as he thinks. "We need to get in contact with someone who can bail us out. Does anyone have any paper?"

AleneShazam Sat Nov 18, 2017 1:54 am

Trigger turns away from the group and pops her chest open, rummaging inside from a moment before withdrawing a scroll of parchment.

"Always prepared." She comments, as she hoofs it over to Vulcan.

Faege Sat Nov 18, 2017 2:20 am

Vulcan takes the paper with a nod of gratitude, and clicks his claws together, igniting just the tip of his claws. Holding a claw to the parchment, he begins to sear letters into the surface, his eyes narrowing in concentration.

When he's done, he pulls down his mask and takes a long swig from his tank. He frowns when the flow slows to a trickle, and after he's made sure the tank finally runs dry he tosses it aside and breathes a plume of blood red fire onto the parchment, burning it to a crisp.

Spike, Take a Letter:

Espresso Sat Nov 18, 2017 3:05 am

"Those orbs? I... don't know, I just took everything that looked valuable in my late husband's collection. He left instructions on how to transport them if they were to be moved, so I simply followed those..." Purse Flower says, when asked by Trigger. "I was going to auction them off in Ponyville, there's an artifact gallery taking place next week with silent auctions... I thought that might restore the family fortune."

"If that was what you wanted to do, you might've been better off with a larger escort," Vapor comments idly.

"Well, the escort is all that I could afford to hire at the time... I didn't think I'd be targeted so specifically."

Vapor shrugs, and puts her ear to a wall of the cave, looking like she's listening intently. "And now none of us can afford jack-shit. If this weren't happening to me I'd find it hilarious."

The smoke from the burnt parchment makes a beeline for the opening of the cavern, disappearing into the air.

AleneShazam Sat Nov 18, 2017 3:19 am

Remembering something, Trigger once again reaches into her chest compartment, and pulls out a small metal disc. She flies up to the cave entrance, and tosses it by the entrance, before beating a hasty retreat back.

"It's a sensor," Trigger explains. "If anypony comes by, I'll know."

Arcane alarm:

Senshuken Sat Nov 18, 2017 3:27 am

Dice roll:

Apollo... looked somewhat in thought as he looked back on all that had happened and tried to piece together something like a picture from this whole mess. After a few seconds, he started to voice his thoughts aloud in order to try and better place them in order (and possible get some insight from the others if they cared to do such a thing). "We're hired to take the Hail Mary and deliver it with its cargo intact... While I wouldn't put it past Reaver to screw over a subordinate or business partner, he doesn't seem the sort that would bother with hiring a freelance ship to weakness a convey's defenses when he has a big, buck off dragon that could annihilate entire navies by itself so we've got at least two parties who wanted the cargo of the Hail Mary..."

"Granted, they might not have known exactly what was on board; If they knew that the ship was a former major trade family's last desperate attempt to restore their dwindling fortunes, it's fair to assume that Purse Flower would pull out all the stops on one major gamble and that the ship would have carried greater rewards then the escort would have suggested. The Black Sky goon squad might have also been chasing us because we were running rather then because of what we were carrying... they are more beast like then pony after all. Hmm... To many unknowns..."

jaguargamma Sat Nov 18, 2017 5:03 pm

Apollo feels soemthing brush against his side. When he looks toward the source, he comes face-to-face with a visibly older Frisky Risk wearing beaten-up saddlebags, a well-worn tricorn hat, and a distinctive pirate's cloak...the authentic stuff, not the Nightmare Night costume her younger self has been sporting.

"Boo."

She lifts the saddlebags off her back with her magic, and deposits them next to the first Frisky. The latter glances at the saddlebags, and thanks her older self with a smile.

"Word to the wise, birdie," the older mare says. "A pirate mage that damn near kills herself to save her crewmates, then leads them to safety while still half-crippled from it is not a 'bad joke of a pirate'. And it's probably not smart of you to put her down like that when the entire crew of pirates she nearly died to save is standing within earshot."

A chirp from the device on her left foreleg draws her attention.

"Exit cue. If you're going to apologize and make things right, the best time to do it is right now. Black Sky's hunting for you, so there's no guarantee you'll get another chance."

And in a flash, she's gone.

The remaining Frisky retrieves a magnifying glass from her effects and inspects it for damage, seeming to ignore her older version's departure. "If I can get more light, please? I'll see if there's something on those artifacts in my books."

Actions:

Faege Mon Nov 20, 2017 5:47 am

"The dogs pursuing us mentioned stones. I think there's plenty of evidence pointing towards Reaver being after the stones..." Vulcan wrinkles his brow, absentmindedly clicking his claws together to create a flickering flame in his palm that he holds in Frisky's direction as he turns to Purse Flower. "Your husband never mentioned anything about those stone orbs? Nothing at all? If you're lying to us..." His voice trails off, but the threat is apparent.

Persuasion:

Espresso Mon Nov 27, 2017 8:16 pm

Apollo blinks, and the strange, almost-Frisky-but-not-quite-Frisky is gone, like some kind of ghost of his conscious telling him to not be a dick.

Weird.

Meanwhile, Purse Flower shrinks back from Vulcan, backing away nervously. "I'm speaking the truth, honest! Anchorage didn't tell me much about his work, but he, er..." She frowns for a moment before offering hopefully, "Oh! I do recall that he mentioned recovering the stones from some kind of expedition into the Everfree forest... and, er, an inquisition from Canterlot came to look at them at our estate. Does that help?"

"Did the snobs say anything about them stones?"

"Well, it... it seemed like they came with moving equipment, but they didn't take the stones away. My husband spoke to them at length, and they left after a while." Purse Flower says, before looking to Vulcan. "That's all I know, I promise."

As she flips through her records, Frisky eventually comes to the possibility that the stones might've been these old artifacts of myth called Elements of Harmony. The records are sparse, and mired by rumor and folklore, but the gist of it is that an evil alicorn existed in the past, and the Celestial Princess used these Elements of Harmony to banish her to the moon. Then the elements fade into obscurity for a thousand years, never again mentioned in any other tales or stories. Folk tales are rarely mentioned in the current age of technology and industry, so it's hard to tell the extent to which the tales are true.

jaguargamma Mon Nov 27, 2017 9:42 pm

In the light of Vulcan's flame, one can see that the opaque pink "skin" masking Frisky's internal workings from view has started to regenerate, albeit slowly. Most of her body is still transparent, though, with the light from Vulcan's torch and the dim glow of the pegasus crystal inside her illuminating the marks, scars, and other foreign objects in her body.

"Inquisition from Canterlot," Frisky deadpans, giving her appearance no mind. "Means there might be somepony in Ponyville waiting to buy the stones from you and transport them to Canterlot for archiving. Too bad none of us are sneaky-sneaks, or we could sneak in and have a word with him, ask him about this Elements of Harmony legend I'm reading about."

AleneShazam Mon Nov 27, 2017 9:54 pm

"But the inquisition went to the estate with moving equipment," Trigger points out. "Surely if they wanted it, they'd have taken the stones away years ago. That has to mean that the investigators didn't find anything worthwhile with the stones."

She glances as Purse Flower."This was when your husband was still alive, yes? That'd give Canterlot plenty of time to procure the stones."

Senshuken Tue Nov 28, 2017 4:21 am

Despite the fact that his beak was held open a little and his head darted back and forth between the two Frisky's... and seeing if anyone else was seeing two Frisky's... before just closing his mouth and playing mum when one of them disappeared. He didn't need to look like a crazy griffion after all...

"Okay, I guess I missed that part. Was just a theory..." Apollo admitted, feeling a little put off by the fact that he had missed that detail. However, listening as the conversation turn he couldn't help but perk up a little. "Did you have a seller in mind for those stones alright Miss Purse? Or were they just going to auction?

Faege Tue Nov 28, 2017 9:05 pm

"That's all you know, huh..." Vulcan sniffs, satisfied with her answer. "Very well. I contacted an old acquaintance in the Gold Sky. I promised the little remainder of my hoard in exchange for protection from the fallout of failing this mission, and they should be sending a ship to retrieve us as soon as the skies are clear."

He leans back, pulling his mask off to reveal the charred and scarred flesh around his mouth. He closes his eyes, waiting patiently for help to arrive.

**Paper Shadow** Tue Nov 28, 2017 11:29 pm

"I was wondering what your plan to get us outta here was," comments Mori. He waves a ghostly hoof near his gut. "Don't s'pose they've got food?"

jaguargamma Wed Nov 29, 2017 2:33 am

"Well, whoever this Anchorage guy is, he must've figured he had something really big. Big enough to get an inquisition from Canterlot involved. If these stones are these Elements of Harmony thingies, that'd make them the Holy Grail of magical artifacts. Well, besides the Holy Grail. Kind of a rip, that one; all it did was make a guy shrivel up and turn to dust while everypony argued over coconuts and swallows..."

Frisky blinks and shakes her head.

"ANYWAY! These inquisitions are made up of Equestria's top historians, mythologists, and arcanologists. If those stones were the actual and legit Elements of Harmony, they wouldn't have left them there. But the Black Sky wouldn't have cared enough to come after them if they weren't legitimate, so why would the inquisition just leave them? The stones aren't too fragile for transport, since they were traveling just fine before the bird dropped them. You're not acting like a prissy mare with a stick up her ass, so I doubt your hubby-hub was the big-and-rich type that they'd just let keep the Elements of Harmony on his fireplace mantle as an heirloom."

Frisky's eyes lose focus again for a second as she put a hoof to her chin.

"That...actually explains why so many mares around Canterlot palace walk funny. I mean, Canterlot's upper-crust elite have had some strange fashion fads before..."

She winces and shakes her head again.

"DAMMIT, THE POINT IS...I don't think those were inquisitors that visited your hubby. Too many things wrong with how they handled it. And then we showed up on a contract to gank you at the exact moment Black Sky moves in to kill us all and steal the Elements for themselves. I'm getting the bad feeling that everypony in this cave got played today."

Actions:

Espresso Wed Nov 29, 2017 2:51 am

"I was just going to put them up to auction... A family friend, specializing in antique auctions, has offered to help sell these off," Purse Flower explains.

Time passes. The sounds of aircraft in the sky slowly fades, and there's a long while where nothing happens. Mori pops back into corporeal form.

About an hour and a half after the last vestiges of activity falls silent, there's noise again - a pegasus engine's whirring. Eventually a shadow comes to a stop atop of the cave, and there's activity in the undergrowth.

"Vulcan? Are you there?" A red-scaled, green-eyed, reptilian face suddenly appears at the mouth of the cave. The dragon looks around, finally settling on the dragon sitting near the back. "Ah, brother! I've come in your time of need. Not looking so hot, are you?" He barks in laughter at his own joke, before gesturing at everyone in the cave. "The ship is ready to depart at any time."

As everyone files out, they see not just the red dragon - who bears a striking resemblance to Vulcan - but also a small crew of pirates in Gold Sky equipment, as well as a curious figure: a unicorn, but with large bat wings which she keeps folded at her sides.

A small sky ship sits in a nearby clearing, waiting for those who can't fly to board.

Grey Horizons, you watch as a strange assortment of a griffon with a jetpack, a black drake carrying a pony-sized tankard and wearing a mask, an alicorn, an earth pony mare with guns for legs, a pale blue pegasus, and a mare in a ripped and torn dress emerge from the cave.

Goldstone14 Wed Nov 29, 2017 3:05 am

Grey Horizon chuckles, looking at the odd assortment with a small smile. She walks over to the group, cocking her head to the side, her dark black mane flopping down as she did.

"I'm Grey Horizon, and before you ask, the wings aren't natural. My boss has a... funny sense of humor. Anyway. I'm here at the request of a mutual benefactor, I was sent to... Help you all. Where are the stones you had? My benefactor caught wind of you finding something rather... special."

Scanning the group, she notices that none of them seem to be carrying around a container for them and audibly sighs.

"Don't tell me. You panicked and threw them at the Black Sky to get them off your back, didn't you? Of course. Perfect... Threw the damn relics at a mad murderous group... We need to be going, very quickly. Ship, all of you, quickly, before they come back and gut you trying to find what they really want."

Grey turns and quickly moves back to the ship they had arrived on, grumbling something under her breath, something about 'ponies and their rash decisions.'

AleneShazam Wed Nov 29, 2017 3:16 am

"Well, it's been..." Trigger crosses her eyes. "Almost two hours now, and they haven't done shit, so I don't think they'll be coming back any time soon."

She pauses. "Wait, does that mean they're fake? So my guess was right, they were worthless. Explains why the Canterlot inquisition didn't pick them up..."

She mumbles her her breath for a moment before nodding at Grey Horizon. "The name's Trigger. I blow things up. I'll see you around."

Her legs then fire off, and she flies up to the main ship up in the sky.

Faege Wed Nov 29, 2017 3:22 am

Ignoring the strange bat-corn, Vulcan instead heaves a heavy sigh and strides up to the dragon. "Hello, Hephaestus..." He grumbles, reluctantly giving him a nod. "You have my gratitude for coming so quickly..."

After saying that, he turns away from Hephaestus and heads to the boarding ship, ignoring anything else that comes from the self-absorbed git.

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