Daring Do and the Treasure of Kings

Excerpt from A Brief History of Early Equestrian Aeronautics:

The quickest way between two points is a straight line, or as they say, “as the pegasus flies.”  Until the steam age, modes of transportation were limited to hoof and flying, though the later was only applicable to pegasai.  Trains later allowed faster travel over land while balloons allowed slightly faster travel for wingless ponies through the sky.  But tracks were limited by physical features of the land, while travel by balloon was more expensive and only marginally faster than normal flight.

It wasn’t until the return of Princess Luna and the reappearance of the Crystal Empire that airship technology became a possibility.  Princess Luna championed aggressively for the expansion of Equestria’s airship program, which had lain dormant since her banishment over 1000 years previously.  A discovery was made in the Crystal Empire of special crystals that, when properly harnessed, provided immense power, and as a side effect, continuous lift.  Initial tests on chariots provided promising results, and soon seaworthy ships were fitted with the ability to levitate, their sails being retained to harness the wind to provide propulsion.

This advance in technology came with its own set of issues.  With the technology widely available across Equestria, and with flight crystals in abundance, the early days of the Equestrian airships were marked with sparks of violence…

The brig West Wind sailed silently through the huge sea of clouds, its cargo of Istallian gold secured deep within its cargo hold.  A westward breeze filled the airship’s sails as she passed through the huge valley of cumulus on her port and starboard.  It was a night where Princess Luna had graciously blessed the sky above them with thousands of sparkling stars and the bright white light of her moon.  Below her keel, thick white clouds obscured the rolling waters of the Atlanticolt Ocean.  However, a night such as this did not bring calm to everypony.

On the weather deck of the West Wind the watch crew anxiously looked to the clouds as they went about their duties.  Superstition ran high in airmen as it had in sailors before them, and though it was just a feeling, they all shared the same sense of foreboding.

On the quarterdeck stood two officers; a pegasus and unicorn.  The former was First Officer Callahoof, a white pegasus with a silver mane dressed in the deep blue officer’s uniform of the Equestrian Royal Navy.  His cutie mark was a compass.  The light blue unicorn with the fire red mane and clipped beard next to him was Captain LeBronc, also in the same uniform, save with gold epilates of his command on his shoulders.  On his flank was a ship’s wheel.  They both wore the standard naval cutlass and flintlock on their sides, more out of ceremony than need; the skies had been mercifully clear of bandits this voyage.

Between the two of them, the night had passed uneventfully, their attentiveness keeping the ship on a steady course.  They had served together before and knew how each responded to feelings of the supernatural, and though the first officer wasn’t one for old mare’s tales, something did make the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.  “I don’t like this one bit Captain,” he said turning to his friend and superior.  “And it ain’t just me neither sir.  The clouds spook the crew.  I can’t explain what it is but I just have this…tingle.”

The captain remained neutral.  He wasn’t the type to scare easily, but something in his first officer’s tone of voice made him carefully consider what he had to say; not to mention the years of service they had together as sailors in the ERN.  Still he knew; fear was contagious, and if he ignored it, it could spread like a flame on oil.

“It’s the way the weather is sir.  It’s just too calm and quiet.”

LeBronc dropped a foreleg around his first mate, “Callahoof since when did you become scared of a little cloud cover?  We weathered some of Equestria’s harshest storms together when we did that tea run to Indoponia.  Since when did you decide that calm skies justified that sort of talk?”  Callahoof let out a long sigh in response.

“Guess you’re right Cap’.  It’s just the old superstitious nag in me getting the better of my senses.”

“I feel uneasy myself.  But don’t let it get in the way of your duty.”  Callahoof nodded dutifully.

Up in the crows nest, a black pegasus with a spyglass cutie mark turned his piece back and forth across the horizon.  It wasn’t until he had spotted the thunderhead that Lieutenant Canter understood why the clouds were so thick.  Canter could have kicked himself for not seeing it sooner, but it was no good crying over spilt cider.  It was probably from spending the last few hours in the nest with the cold wind howling past him that made him lazy and inattentive.

Thunderheads were not usually a threat for ships if they could get around them, but a ship caught in the throes of a lightning storm could be torn to splinters.  He swept the glass across the storm, looking for a way around.  Seeing none, the pegasus stretched his freezing wings, pumping some blood back into his feathers, and lept from his perch to fly down to the weather deck.  His four hooves made a dull thud as he moved past the crew, who were beginning to change watches.  “Permission to approach the Captain,” he said saluting smartly as the ship's bell echoed across the deck.

“As you were.”

Canter relaxed and gestured ahead of them.  “Sir, there’s a large storm front ahead.  No way around it, I suggest we proceed with caution sir.  I don't think it's severe enough to hurt us much, but if we take it slow we should be just fine.”

The captain's horn glowed blue, as he raised his own spyglass and peered at the dark ominous clouds ahead.  There was a crackle of light followed by a low rolling boom of thunder.  “Aye, steady as she goes, let's not take any chances,” he said, closing the device with a snap.  The ensign at the helm nodded, shifting the wheel ever so slightly to adjust the port and starboard support sails.  The pegasus lookout returned to his post as the first officer rang the ship’s bell.  “All hooves on deck!” he bellowed.

As the insistent clanging filtered down to the lower decks, ponies rolled out of their hammocks in the crew spaces and raced to their posts.  Officer's below, jumped up and quickly set to kicking awake anypony not already awake on their own.  Orders were shouted and acknowledged with a rattle of hooves on wooden planks as off-duty crews raced to their action stations.  Specialized pegasai trained for handling the sails readied themselves topside, while below, the gun crews secured their cannons so none would slip during the inevitable buffering from the storm.  The main galley was cleared and sheets laid on the tables for the ship surgeon, though none hoped it would come to that.

Another flash of lightening crackled across the sky as the brig sailed closer.  Glancing up at the rolling thunder, the captain left the main deck and descended into the hold. Busy colts galloped back and forth, but took a moment to salute and acknowledge the captain as he reviewed the lower decks.  LeBronc continued on to the main hold and checked the padlock on the gold; he nodded as it failed to budge.  He had made sure when they left Istallia that the lock was magic tamper proof and he was glad to see that it had not been disturbed.  His second stop was the crystal generator just under his quarters.  The two engineering unicorns carefully watched the generator dials by the bright light of the floating crystal.  They both assured that captain that everything was normal and there was no loss in lift.

LeBronc made a final stop in his quarters.  Moonlight filtered through the stern windows of his cabin and illuminated the wealth of charts and books on his desk.  On one wall was a portrait of himself, his wife, and his beautiful daughter.  The opposite wall held pegs for his storm coat and dress uniform when it wasn’t needed.  He went to his desk and checked their heading.  If all went well and they pushed through the storm with little trouble, they should reach Canterlot with no loss in speed.  As he trotted out, he paused, then went back to an arms locker on the floor next to his coats.  The lock glowed blue as he unlocked it and and levitated out a small, pocket flintlock.  He turned it over in the air in front of him, loading powder into the pan and dropping and packing the rest into the barrel.  Hoping the tingle his crew felt was just nerves, he tucked it into one of his deep coat pockets.

Deck officers called out their ready status as LeBronc moved back through the ship double-checking that his crew was prepared.  Making his way back to the quarterdeck, he found his officers in their uniforms waiting for him prepared.  Some acknowledged him with a smile or a joke, while others were staring intently through spyglasses at the rolling clouds.

“Brace!” Canter called down from the crow’s nest as the ship entered the storm.  Almost immediately a torrential rain began to pour and the wind picked up considerably. LeBronc and Callahoof braced themselves on the railing as the ship was buffered back and forth.  Forks of lightening illuminated the deck in a hard white flash, followed by loud peals of thunder.  The rigger pegasai flew up into the rigging, careful not to get blown off course and began to reel in some of the excess sail to help keep the ship from being blown over.

Lifting a hoof to shield his eyes from the rain, LeBronc staggered to the bow of the brig, occasionally bracing himself with his forehooves.  His magic pulled the spyglass from his coat; wiping the lens first, he lifted it to his eye and scanned ahead.  Visibility was severely limited thanks to the storm raging around them.  Another flash lit up the sky, this time from their starboard.  But something was different about it.  It almost seamed like he could see the outline another ship…

Sudden realization dawned on him as quick as a bolt of lightening.  “ALL HOOVES DOWN!! HEADS DOWN!!”  LeBronc galloped to the nearest pony and pushed his head down below the railing.  Across the ship, ponies dropped to their bellies at his command, just in the nick of time.  Over the howl of the wind he heard a mighty roar as cannon raked the side of the West Wind.  He glanced up and saw a cannonball tear across the quarterdeck and take the ensign and most of the bridge crew off the side.  Callahoof and the gunnery officer managed to leap onto the main deck, only just avoiding the same fate.  All around him, wood paneling exploded as shot ripped into his ship.

“BATTLE STATIONS,” the gunnery officer yelled above the storm, “ALL HOOVES BATTLE STATIONS!!”  Royal marines joined the crowd of ponies on the top deck and primed muskets, while their pegasai sharpshooters flew to the platforms mounted to the masts.  Injured ponies were helped to the medical station, others helped get the guns untied and run out in preparation for battle.  The dead were taken below.

“Mr. Callahoof, damage report!” the captain yelled, taking the wheel, now slick with blood and rain.

“Sir, Shipmaster Neighlson and Second Officer Shade are gone, casualties on all decks!  A few of the starboard guns are gone too!”  LeBronc gritted his teeth and spun the wheel tight, taking the ship closer to their enemy.  As the brig passed through a cloud, the crew found themselves in an air pocket, the moon above them again.  But everypony’s attention was focused on another airship not too far to their starboard.  The corvette was painted black; its lines a deep crimson and its canvas a ghostly white.  High above it’s mainmast, the Jolly Roger flapped in the wind.

Pirates. LeBronc and Callahoof thought simultaneously.  Looking to his first mate, LeBronc nodded.  Callahoof drew his sword and leveled it at the enemy, “FIRE!!”

Below decks, the gun captains of the Wind bellowed the same order.  One after another, the undamaged guns fired, loud booms slitting the quiet night.  LeBronc looked on as his crew battered away at the pirates.  There were impacts as the heavy cannonballs tore across the exposed top deck and struck the hard wooden hull of the pirate ship.  Deep down he knew that fight was hopeless; there was no way a simple freight brig could take on a fully crewed corvette; they had almost double the men and gun that he had.  He hauled on the wheel to put them into a better position Still, he thought, might as well take as many of the bastards with me as I can.  “Riggers! Give us as much canvas as you can!  Let's send these pirates back to Tartaus!”  The remaining rigging pegasai took to the masts with a roar, and helped unfurl other sails, giving the brig a boost in speed.  LeBronc turned the wheel hard, presenting the Wind’s undamaged port side guns to the pirates as he closed distance.

Callahoof slapped a gunner on the back and yelled, “FIRE!!”  Every gun on the port side opened up, blasting the corvette's port side with fire.  Several tore across the vulnerable stern and scattered the pirate crew on the quarter deck.  One particular shot speed through the sky and impacted the mainmast with a loud crack.  Looking through the smoke, Callahoof could see they had made a bit of damage to the pirate’s main sail and realized that they could take it down if they could just get a few more shots in.  Before he could capitalize on it though, the pirates retaliated.

Coughs of smoke and flame erupted from the side of the pirate airship, causing a second cry of hooves down.  This time grape shot swept the deck, taking down many more colts manning the deck guns.  LeBronc saw a young officer trying to help push a cannon back into position take a ball straight in his stomach.  He collapsed braying and twisting on the deck.

High above, Canter felt some shot punch through the thin wood of his position.  He carefully lifted himself up above the lip of the nest and looked down at the stallions on the deck; some were screaming, some were shouting orders, and some others laying very still.  He lifted the glass again and saw an officer on the pirate ship motion to turn.  Realizing what was happening, Canter yelled down to his captain and gestured toward the enemy.

When LeBronc’s eyes went back to the enemy ship, he saw that the pirates had slowed and were moving into position to ram.  He had no time to react before they were on top of him.  “Brace!” Callahoof yelled as the iron spike of the pirate's ram impacted the side of the Wind with a bone shattering crash.  LeBronc was thrown from his hooves and slammed into the deck, hard, everything going black before his eyes.

Callahoof managed to remain on his hooves, but was soon knocked over by a screeching griffon with a sword clutched in her talons.  Her dirty paws had him pinned to the deck as she raised the heavy cutlass above her head and brought it down.  He barely had time to block the blow that would have spit his head down the middle, her attack driving the breath out of him.  Using his wings for help, he rolled out from under her with a grunt and lept quickly to his back hooves.  Screeching again, the griffon flew at him, but this time he was ready.  She was close enough for Callahoof to see her dilated yellow pupils before he reacted.  With ease, he sidestepped, narrowly avoiding a blow from her sword, and sliced upward, cutting through something major in the griffon's wing.  With a scream of pain, the griffon tumbled into the side of the ship, smashing her head with a sickening crunch, before her body cartwheeled over the side.  With the immediate threat taken care of, he looked around at the pirates swarming over the sides of the enemy ship.

A white pegasus with blue tattoos launched into the air from the pirate ship, dropping grenados into the holds of the Wind; the cries of injured and dying crewmen making Callahoof’s blood boil.  Above, the sharpshooters picked off pirates on the deck of the ship, but could not hope to stem the tide now streaming on board.  A few marines and crew had grabbed the belaying pins from the lines and were wielding them as clubs against their foes in brutal, bloody duels.  A screaming diamond dog charged at Callahoof, his pick ax raised high for a killing blow.  Callahoof drew his service flintlock and shot him in the chest.

High above the first officer, Canter dove from the crows nest, a knife clutched in his teeth and landed on the white grenadier pirate, driving them both to the deck.  He plunged the knife into the other pegasus’s back and twisted, knowing the fatality of his strike.  Charging ahead, Canter saw a few pirates advancing on a helpless LeBronc.  He rushed them like a cannonball, throwing one overboard and wounding an earth pony in the shoulder.  Canter lifted his dagger to block a blow from a red unicorn’s sword and felt the blade shatter in his teeth that rattled the teeth in his head like marbles.  The unicorn's blade continued on, Canter feeling cold steel tear through his right eye.  He collapsed screaming in pain before another pirate smashing him over the head with the butt of his cutlass.

It wasn’t long before the remaining crew was either taken prisoner or killed.  LeBronc had regained enough consciousness during his scuffle to draw his pistol and blow a hulking pegasai off of Canter.  His horn flashed an electric blue as he threw another pirate overboard with a levitation spell before a dozen bodies tackled him.  LeBronc was separated almost immediately from the surviving crew and had his fore hooves tied behind him.  Two burly earth ponies dragged him to the captains quarters, forcing him into a straight backed wooden chair, then turned and left.

LeBronc spent a long time sitting by himself.  As he looked around he saw that the cabin was not so different from his own.  A desk sat in front of the stern windows strewn with maps, coins, a compass, and other small odds and ends.  On the wall was a rack of lethal looking sabers and pistols.  But maybe the most surprising thing LeBronc saw was a full upright piano pushed up against the opposite wall from the weapons.  It was very clean, much cleaner than he would have suspected for such an instrument aboard a ship such as this.

The creaking of the cabin door behind him broke his concentration.  A gray unicorn with a clipped salt and pepper beard slowly walked around him and sat down at the desk.  Atop his head was a black three-cornered hat, a skimpy white feather protruding from it.  His clothes were blackened, burnt, and stained, but LeBronc could see that they might have been a royal blue at one time long ago.  The only ornate piece he wore was a gold watch, hung from his coat pocket.  Even his sword and flintlock looked as if had been taken from a blacksmith’s refuse pile.  Looking into his eyes, LeBronc saw two red orbs staring back at him.

“So…” the gray unicorn started, “your name captain?”

“LeBronc, Bran. Captain. ERN number 04167308.”

“Ah.  So that’s how we’re going to do it.  Well it is a pleasure to meet you LeBronc, Bran.  Captain.  ERN number 04167308, I am Captain Maelstrom.”  LeBronc's eyes bored in the pirate's, never betraying a hint of emotion save that of his rage.  Maelstrom closed his eyes and chuckled.  "Of course you'd say that.  That's how you're trained anyhow."

"What do you want?"

Maelstrom looked away thoughtfully.  "What do I want? Hmm...I want a large hay fries and a milkshake."  LeBronc looked genuinely surprised before he realized that Maelstrom was toying with him.  The pirate smirked, "Obviously I want the gold abord your ship."

"I don't know about any gold."

"Really? Well that's odd, because I have a paper right here," he shuffled around on his desk before magically producing a scroll with the royal seals of both Istallia and Equestria, "that says a small merchant ship commanded by a Captain LeBronc will be transporting a hold full of gold through this very airspace today."  LeBronc kept his composure, but inside he seethed with fury and wonder at how the pirate had attained the secret shipping orders.  Maelstrom stood and trotted to LeBronc's side.  "Come with me to the deck."

The two stallions exited the cabin and returned to the main deck.  Lashed to the mainmast was what was left of his crew: a bloody Callahoof, beaten into submission, the gunnery officer, stained with powder and scartched, but otherwise intact, and finally Lieutenant Canter, his head wrapped in a blood soaked bandage.  As LeBronc took in the sight of his crew by the light of the now rising sun, an earth pony lifted the gunnery officer to his hooves and stood him up on the rail of the pirate ship.

"Now captain," Maelstrom began, "I am going to ask you nicely where the key to the lock is.  From the note it's clear that force, physical and magical, will not open that door, and only the right key will open it."  Maelstrom gave him a sad smile.  "Listen, I promise you if you tell me where it is, your crew will be released unharmed."  His smile vanished.  "But if you don't, I'm afraid I will have to use force.  You have until three to tell me where the key is."

The pirate captain's horn glowed red.  "One."

"Don't tell him sir," the officer gasped.  LeBronc felt his heart pounding in his chest.

"Two."  LeBronc swallowed, he could not stall in his duty, no matter what the consequences.

"Three."  There was a flash of red light as the gunnery officer was blasted off the railing and fell away below them.  LeBronc let a ragged breath escape from his lips, his only consolation being that the attack had killed him instantly.

"Such a pity," Maelstrom sighed, leaning over the side, "...next!"  Canter was grabbed roughly and taken to the railing.

"No! Stop!"  Maelstrom turned and looked at him.  "The key is behind the portrait of my family in my cabin.  When you put it in the lock, it's a quarter turn right, push, half turn left." LeBronc said defeated.  The pirate whistled and a diamond dog leaped across the deck and back to the freighter.  A short time later he returned, a gold ingot cradled in his arms.

"He was telling the truth cap'n! There's gold enough to fill the great halls of Canterlot Palace!"  Maelstrom's mouth was open in awe as he levitated the heavy gold brick in from of him, the gold catching the first rays of the rising sun.

"Well done Captain LeBronc.  This is very much worth the effort I took for it."

"You got what you wanted, now release my crew!" LeBronc growled.  Maelstrom turned to him, looking at him as if he had only just noticed the bound unicorn for the first time.

"Yes I did promise that didn't I?  Very well, First Officer Nightshade, release his crew."  LeBronc saw a shaggy black unicorn with a scar across his mouth levitate Callahoof and Canter in the air and undo their bindings.  LeBronc breathed a sigh of relief until he saw his crew dangled past the edge of the ship where the magic sphere collapsed and his first officer and lieutenant were dropped overboard.

"NO!!" He screamed, rushing to the side, his men's screams echoing in the early morning sky.  "Dammit Maelstrom you said you'd release my crew unharmed!"

"And that is exactly what I did my dear captain.  They are free and unharmed.  It is up to fate to decide if they survive."  Maelstrom said with a shrug.  Stars burst in front of LeBronc's eyes as Nightshade brought the butt end of his pistol down on the stallion's head.  LeBronc's last sight before the blackness overtook him was Maelstrom turning and trotting to the quarterdeck, his voice ringing in his ears, "Next stop King's Island!"

The attack on the *West Wind was not unusual by itself, but it was the first time pirates had struck a merchant vessel with such valuable cargo.  Though no official records exist of what happened to the crew of the West Wind and the pirates that had attacked her, most scholars believe she went down with all hooves, the gold stolen.  It is likely that the truth will never be known.*

A tan hoof shut the text book closed.  The pegasus smiled as she leaned back in her desk chair and picked up a battered brown journal deep in thought.  "I always loved a good mystery," said Dr. Daring Do.