{Las Pegasus} Finding New Purpose[Ashton]

[Ashton]

Dunes did seem to take note of the immense magical power around him, becoming only the slightest bit nervous... at least outwardly... inwardly he was unsure how he was going to get out of this, as much skill has he had with manipulation it was at best going to be extremely hard to manipulate this mare... and that necklace... there was something about it... it seemed familiar yet totally alien... clearly he wasn't the only one who was modifying ancient relics of great power, but he didn't yet know exactly what it was.... which only made him more nervous...

 

Dash on the other paw, didn't seem to notice the immense power, likely due to having spent so much time around Twilight and Starlight - to her this was perfectly normal... though with every passing minute the rainbow mare WAS getting more nervous because she didn't know where scootaloo was...

 

When she donned her armor Dash was more than a little surprised she quietly said, more to herself than those present "your... your part of the lunar military...?"

 

Dunes sighed, but nodded, recounting what happened once again

 

But as soon as he finished, much like Ice had predicted, Dash's hoof slammed down on the table, threatening to crack it "WHAT?!" she shouted, hearing that Scootaloo has been abducted "Harle Blackclaw was here and kidnapped Scootaloo?! Why are we all sitting around talking! There's no telling what that pirate is doing to the poor filly!"

 

"That is exactly what I've been saying!" snapped Dunes "Griffons are brutal monsters, the filly may be about to be eaten or worse by that savage-"

 

"Dont you say such things!" snapped dash "I dont have any use for Harle - I've heard what she's done, but dont you EVER say that ALL griffons are monsters! my best friend growing up was a griffon, hell, she's still a good friend of mine! One of my best students is a griffon and he's the most chill creature you'd ever meet, not to mention Scoots and her friends have a griffon pal who's almost sickeningly sweet and over-enthusiastic about helping others! Dont you DARE lump all griffons in with Harle!"

 

Dunes blinked loudly at that, having never expected to hear Dash defending griffons like that

 

Dash's eyes were will filled with fire though, but not a fire of rage, a fire of loyalty, and a willingness to do anything, no matter how dangerous, stupid, or both, that she could to get scootaloo back safely.... it was more than a little scary...

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

 

 

"First off, I would like to say that I employ several griffons both within my casino and inside my military. Griffons are very powerful creatures that are fierce and decisive but know how to be caring and nurturing. Not all griffons are Harle, and until I get all the facts, just like everypony else here, she's innocent," she said before looking to Rainbow Dash who about out a hoof through her desk. "And you'll be happy to know that I've already sent to gunships after her. They should be making their way over the jungle as we speak...."

 

"Secondly," she said turning back to Dunes. "I have quite a few issues with what you're telling me. I understand that you're looking for finding and assistance, but so far everything that you've told me only solidifies the fact that you you could have had a hoof in this. Plus we have the accusations made against you," Ice said before turning to the longma and gesturing for her to speak. Just then a vial glowed and she poured it into the dish on her desk. 

 

"We found them."

 

"Bring them too me."

 

 

 

~~~Nira~~~

 

 

 

Niradaña remained silent throughout Dunes' recollection of the story, although the anger could be seen within her eyes. The fact that ponies this despicable existed only served as a reminder of why ponies like her were needed. Not afraid to get her hooves a bit dirty to protect someone.  

 

"This entire thing started while I was conversing with Ms. Rainbow here. I was interested in seeing one is their shoes as while we've heard of them in Neighpon, we'd never seen anything like them. Neighpon's military had never been about flash. Instead, it was about productivity and precision. There isn't a lot of land in begin l Neighpon so everything we do has to be quick and precise." 

 

"The other reason that I approached Ms. Dash was because I noticed her filly was trying to pick the lock on her restraining device. This lead to a minor scene between the two. That was when the second Wonderbolt I think named strike... Streak... Don't remember the name i barely caught it. Left with the filly."

 

"That was when Dunes first showed up mocking Ms Dash for 'fangirling' over a novel series that he said depicted archeologists in a negative light. However if it depicts as he says, them the books are one hundred percent accurate. Hi told me that there artifact that he was after was called the Talisman of Tonatuih. He claimed that it had the power to force anyone the weilder desired to tell only the truth. A seemingly harmless artifact that could actually destabilize an entire government if in the wrong hooves. I simply asked him what his intentions were and requisitioned for him to allow me to send for my armor. He did neither, starting that there were many other patrons here. That's when he started suspiciously eyeing the Wonderbolt and the filly and the uttered the phrase, 'And I know exactly how to got one of them.'"

 

"That is when I realized that the filly, that Ms Dash can testify, I had already gone out of my way to keep out of harms way, was in danger. That's when I motioned for the griffon that had been watching us from the bar with a coin purse. I didn't know who she was at the time but it off everyone else in the room, she was the only one I had the attention of that wouldn't draw attention. I didn't want to act too early in case I was wrong. I'll admit I had no idea who she was. Had I known that she was a pirate, I wouldn't have enlisted her services. It does however give me some relief that she's a known pirate. That means she follows the code, which means your little one is safe. A known pirate, at least the ones in Neighpon Waters, never hurt children. Can't say much about their parents... Bit they won't harm a child," Nira finished.

[Ashton]

Dash's jaw was slack when the longma said she basically had hired harle

 

Dunes chuckled, looking like he might burst out laughing "I see where this miscommunication happened now" he said "yes, I indented to use the filly to get Rainbow's help - you saw the catalog of artifacts I was showing her; my plan was to get her so excited that she would convince Dash to assist me, we all know the power of an over-excited filly on their family" he explained, relaxing a tiny bit now that he had contrived an air-tight alibi and knowing that nopony would take the word of a known pirate over his own.

 

Dash snorted "That was a dirty trick, Dunes" she said, but didn't seem to have any more intense malice towards the archaeologist, mistakenly believing him completely. 

 

"As for not explaining myself, I believe I did say that the expedition was on a tight time-table and I couldn't wait for miss Niridanna to get authorization and her gear shipped in - that's why I chose to seek out Rainbow's assistance instead" commented the earth pony "as I mentioned earlier, I have other commitments to my students and university, so I dont have long to organize and execute this expedition unless I wanted to wait for events to line up once more for me to have the required time. its nothing so devious, nor anything personal against Ms niridanna, I simply am working around my busy schedule"

 

Dash wasn't so calm, though, even when Ice mentioned her forces were in pursuit -and had found harle- she looked Ice in the eye, those fires still burning "Scootaloo better not get hurt in this fight..." she said, leaving the rest of the silent threat unspoken...

 

 

----------

Meanwhile

----------

 

As the gunships approached, they would hear a series of explosions going off, what might sound like an attack, but none would come...

 

When they reached the cave, they would find the ship docked in a sparse base, clearly Harle had build this place up at least partially, they might notice there were no less than a dozen other cave entrances attached to this one, no doubt part of some network of caverns... and that the explosions had been harle and her crew sealing all these caves off as all exits except for the massive one the airship could enter through, were now filled with rubble.

 

Standing on the main desk of the ship was a lone figure - Harle herself. None of her crew was there, neither was scootaloo.

 

Harle had a dangerous look in her eye as she spoke in her trademark accent "Avast ye skallewags! Y' might 'ave found me, but y' wont get any loot or captives from this fight!" she said "m' crew has already evacuated, but th' Cap'n always goes down with 'er ship!" she leapt into the air and drew her sword "as they say in prance... engarde!" yes the look in her eyes was clear now, she had come to peace with this being the end, she had made sure her crew and guest were safely escaping, and she was ready to make a last stand to keep them safe. It was the look of a mamma bear protecting her cubs, and harle was ready to die to keep the others safe... if they tried to fight her, the fight would only end when she was dead. Desperation and dedication, even against impossible odds. A loyalty that would have made even Rainbow Dash herself proud.

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

 

"So you openly admit to extortion but starting that you were planning to use the filly to advise m acquire what you were wanting. I dare say that would also classify as a form of foalnapping as well," she started look over at Dunes.

 

When Rainbow commented that Scootallo better not get hurt in the fight Ice scoffed, clearly insulted by the insinuation that she nor her forces could handle the situation. "Ms. Dash. I never question the abilities and the efficiency of your branch. I would appreciate it is you showed me military the same respect that we show you. I wouldn't be surprised if you've already seen up a contengency plan if you weren't released from this meeting by a certain point. Know that I also have a ship in the air to intercept that, as military action in a civilian establishment will cause unneeded casualties. Your Scootallo will be just fine," she said sternly.

 

"As for you," she said turning back to the longma. "I can understand the thought process behind you actions and I know that being who you are and what you are, you are taught to prepare food a worst case scenario. However in this instance it might have been over prepared. I probably would have investigated the situation a bit more before charging in."

 

"That was actually my intent. Ms. Harle moved in much quicker than... I honestly thought she could given her proximity to the hotel and the fact that she was still sitting in the bar when I made the motion. I never even saw her pass me to get into the hotel portion of the casino, and without help from magic I would have. I was watching the floor for possible accomplices from him," Nira said pointing to Dunes.

 

"I figured as much. Will find out the truth soon enough..." She said as the crystal lit up once more. "I want a full medical report on Streak regarding this incident... He may be a Wonderbolt, but it happened in my establishment... You have fifteen minutes..." She finished turning back to the group. "The rest of our guests should be joining us soon."

 

 

~~~~~~~

 

 

When Harle posed her threat and her spiel to them, the Airmen if the IVth regiment looked to each either and shrugged their shoulders. "We are not here for a fight, to sieze assets or crew. We are here because the fleet admiral as involved the code of parley. Under the code of parley, the pirate Captain is to peacefully attend a meeting, and it just so happens the fleet admiral also owns the casino in which a disturbance took place in...

 

Also off the record... Might wanna find a different cave for you Outpost this here is an emergency exit to our base and anything in our way to get out... Well.. won't be there anymore. Hate to see you lose some good stuff by accident," the envoys spoke. They were unarmed themselves as they landed on Harle's ship.

[Ashton]

((*gasp* your alive! *throws rainbow-colored confetti*))

 

Runes raised his hooves in defense "I did nothing but invite her into my room and showed her some photos, she came willingly and in the custody of her acting guardian, had that pirate not interfered we would never be having this sort of talk"

 

Dash ignored dunes, focusing on ice "If you were retrieving intel, I'd trust you. If you were intercepting an enemy force, I'd trust you. But this isn't some military operation your dealing with, this is my little sister, right now, there are only 7 ponies, two fillies, and one dragon I 100% trust with her. I have faith in your skills, but she means more to me than life itself."  declared dash. If was clear, hopefully, that this wasn't professional, this was purely about it being Scootaloo - anything else Dash would have had full faith in Ice, but with scoots... full faith was reserved for a very close circle... 

 

The latest report on Streak was that he was still out cold, quite odd for a simple concussion, but not unheard of.

 

-----

 

Needing a moment to process the important part, Harle reacted to the latter first with a faint growl "how buckin' big is you git's base!?" she exclaimed "This 'ere's miles from yer bloody casino..." her claw went to her face (thankfully the one without the sword)

 

She looked at them with fierce eyes, sheathing her sword "fine, nuthin' fer me ta lose, ah die here or ah die there, but ye wont be bindin' me, ol' Harle wont be put down lak a dog with 'er wings tied, understand?" it was clear she still didn't fully trust them (of course given the long list of crimes she was wanted for it would be hard to trust anyone not to want to turn her in -dead or alive- for the bounty) but she cared only about giving her crew time to escape "an ah wouldn't bother goin after m' crew if ah were you lot, y' wont get 100 feet b'fore ya get another blockage, an even if y' did manage... well... we didn't want no heavy artillery left behind..."

[IceStorm]

~~~The jungle near Las Pegasus~~~

 

 

 

"Big enough to hide you and yours for months and you'd still never see all of it. On top of recent events that have transpired, Ms. Storm has been looking for you for a while, and not because you have a bounty. She had many questions and a possible proposal of you're interested," one of the guards said inviting the griffon in the ship. "And sweet Celestia were never put a guest into binds. It's unprofessional and never leads to beneficial negotiations. There is however one last thing we need. We need the filly. Ms. Storm will not negotiate anything until she is safely returned, though both hey and the foreigner have the impression that you'd never harm a filly, so they've given you the benefit of the doubt." She finished the airship turning and making its way back to the casino. In the command room of the ship, they sent a simple message to Ice. "The packages have been received returning home."

 

 

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

 

"Then I suggest that you make that eight Ms. Dash. I understand that she's your sister, but my units specialize in these types of missions. This is what we do. I know that this is family involved and the personal toll can take on a pony, but you're the element of loyalty right? So how about showing me and my forces a little bit of faith here," Ice said to Rainbow Dash sternly

 

No sooner did she finish she got the transmission that their targets had been acquired. "Bring them to me," she said turning back to the archeologist. "Don't, play coy with me. We are in this situation because you decided to use deceit and treachery to get funding and or assistance with your dig. You have already admitted this fact. Had you left well enough alone in the first place, we wouldn't be in this room now. You are the Lynch pin that started all of this, so don't play innocent with me. Plus I'm still wondering how one punch too out somepony with the physique of a Wonderbolt. I'm not entirely convinced that there not more at play here than what you are letting on," Ice seethed, the air temperature dropping as her anger intensified.

[Ashton]

Harley frowned "unless th' proposition includes a hangar for m' ship -and ah accept- then it would be nice if y' would give m' some vague idea jus' how bloody far ah have t' go t' setup a safe garrege f' m' ship..." she commented, not really expecting them to tell her anything of the sort, but feeling the need to vent over her hangar being accidentally setup in one of their back doors.

 

"Th' foal is with m' crew, they'll be makin' their way back to th' city. Th' little gel'd only be safer under sunb- ah mean under celestia h'self" defended Harle, "its a might long walk though pro'ly take 'em a few hours t' get there, but y' have m' word she will be returned safe 'n sound t' her guardian"

 

when they communicated with Ice, if they listened closely they'd hear harle mutter in awe, sans accent "damn that's fancy, I gotta get me one of those..."  

 

----------

 

Dash didn't comment, she'd said her piece. Though it was clear she was anxious about scootaloo's safty...

 

Dunes chuckled "Please, your part of the government, you know how politics works, I'd never get anything done if I kept completely on the up-and-up about everything. Was it underhoofed? yes, but its far more benign than what any politician does on a daily basis. Lady luck simply chose somepony else to smile upon today... apparently the pirate..."

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

 

 

It seemed that Rainbow Dash final got the point that Ice wasn't messing around when she said the situation was handled. Nira had also remained silent throughout most of the interrogation. The only time she spoke up herself was when she was spoken to. Dunes on the other hoof... "You're right. I am a part of the government. The part of the government that doesn't play the same games that everypony else does. If something needs to be done, it, gets, done. No politics, no what ifs, done.

 

And there is nothing benign about using a filly as leverage for a negotiating tool. Even if that is the truth and is what happened, what if your had succeeded? What if you had gotten her to convince Rainbow to join you? Do you not think that would have destroyed the psyche of the poor filly if Rainbow was hurt or worse on your dig? These expeditions are never safe. Could you live with the fact that you got somepony else hurt in you selfish endeavors, and knowing you mentally destroyed another!? That's probably a dumb question at this point..." she spoke infuriated as the ding is the elevator went off. And the guards escorted their newest visitor in.

[Ashton]

Even dash seemed a little skeptical of Ice's comment about never playing politics, but she kept her muzzle shut.

 

Dunes burst out laughing, taking a moment to compose himself "I'm sorry, but do you have no idea who this mare is?!" he asked "Much as I hate to further inflate her ego, Rainbow has faced every threat known to ponykind and even a few we'd never seen from blizzards, to changeling armies, to demons, to physical GODS and never sustained serious injury, I daresay she is almost invincible and at the least has a charmed life where nothing can go wrong. With her on my expedition I'd not have to worry about any sort of danger, nor would I ever have to worry about her"

 

Dash just blinked, a little slack-jawed "wow dunes, I... never thought I'd hear YOU saying things like that about me"

 

Dunes chortled "come now, rainbow, you should know that it's quite possible to respect somepony you dont like"

 

Dash looked like she wanted to say something further but was highly conflicted... honestly she wanted to explain to dunes that she wasn't some invincible goddess, but she also like the ego-boost that what he said gave her.......

 

Harle though was not so amiable when she entered "oh, now ah see why y' left m' unbound and let m' keep my weapons, y' need an expert hunter t' take care of a rat problem...." her eyes narrowed at dunes

 

"Oh bother..." commented dunes under his breath, knowing now that he wasn't going to get out of this one using his silver tongue alone...

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

 

"That is exactly my point. This mare has faced am unusually high amount of extremely dangerous situations unscathed, and sooner or later, that luck is going to run out and she's going to end up in a mission that she's not going to come home from. I have personally seen what happens to those whose luck have run out. Less anyone here forget what happened in the Chrystal empire five years ago," she finished.

 

"I myself don't doubt Rainbow's skills. There's a reason she's one of Equestria's elite. But even the elite can fall, and can you imagine the effect it would have on Equestria as a whole if she fell on a mission you blackmailed her into doing? You'd be lucky if my forces got to you first. Celestia forbid Twilight or her family find you first," she said. Her spheres once again unsocketed from her amulet and began orbiting quickly. The aether could be felt radiating off of them at this point making the room down right cold. 

 

At this point her guards entered with Harle. She held her hoof up to cease all other comments. "I appreciate you joining us. Ms Harle will be afforded the courtesy to speak her piece without interruption. I understand the history everypony here had with her, but that doesn't mean she doesn't get to tell her side of what happened and just because she's a pirate also doesn't mean she's instantly guilty. Please Ms Harle, tell us what happened, but first, tell us where Scootallo is and I want a guaranteed that she's safe," she started. She had ways of finding out herself but she didn't want to make her think a decision has already been made in heat abscence.

[Ashton]

Dunes opened his mouth to comment, but closed it again silently when Ice raised her hoof.

 

The griffon's eyes only landed on ice and rainbow for moments at a time, she was instead watching Dunes, having already seen what he was capable of, and very weary around him...

 

After a moment of contemplation and amusing that, at least for now, Dunes wasn't going to try anything, harle spoke "th' little gel is with m' crew, they're makin' their way back 'ere as we speak. ah'm sure m' word is worthless t' some of ya, but ta any who trust it, I can give m' solumn vow that sh'll be r'turned safe."

 

Dash muttered something about the value of the word of a notorious criminal, but made sure she kept it mostly quiet

 

Harle frowned but sighed. She knew it was not a good time to keep up the act "Ok, fine" she said, dropping the accent "you've all seen my record, but its as fake as my accent" she said, causing both dash and dune to do a double-take when the famous accent vanished "I used to be a normal, boring chick to a shipwright and a city council member, I got involved with a colt who's noble parents thought I wasn't good enough for their son, so they started slandering my name and it's only gotten worse as I got older. The only crimes I've ever committed were a few brawls, a little public drunkeness, and one count of accidental arson while drunk in a pub - which I might add I made more than adequate restitution with the bar owner"

 

"forgive my disbelief, but I must say, what criminal would ever willingly admit to any crime, you'd be signing your own warrant" commented dunes

 

Dash said nothing but nodded decisively.

 

Harle sighed at the reaction but did snap back "of course, you would know" she said to Dunes before looking at Dash and Ice "I'm sure he's wove a web of a tale with his forked tongue that made him into the hero today. I cant say I'm not an easy target - I really shouldn't have gotten involved but I couldn't let him harm a filly"

 

"I merely was showing her-"

 

"You can cut the horsetrots, you snake in pony clothing" said Harle. "you all want to hear the truth, I'll tell you what happened. Maybe he planned to do something benign but it certainly had changed when I got there. He used his pocket-watch to hypnotize the wonderbolt and the filly and tie the foal up. Doubt any of you noticed but his window was close enough that he could have used his whip to swing out of it and safely to the ground and escape."

 

Dunes rolled his eyes "Really? Your inventing scenarios to serve your own ends. The very fact that you didn't return the filly tells me you either already disposed of her or your scared she would side against you and prove my innocence"

 

Dash's eyes narrowed now as she gritted her teeth. She didn't speak, knowing what would come out would be loud and barely intelligible, but it was clear right now she was siding with Dunes thanks to harle's reputation.

 

Harle sighed, her claw going toward her sword, but passing it by in favor of a crystal decanter with her flag on it filled with a light brown liquid, she opened it and gulped down a swig of the whiskey, taking comfort in the burning sensation, then returning to to inside her coat. This was going to end poorly, she was afraid... but at least she'd have a grand send-off, knowing as boastful as Rainbow Dash was, the mare would turn whatever pitiful brawl that occurred into an epic battle for the ages...

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

 

Ice Storm listened to Harle begin to speak, and when she did, she noticed three things. The first thing she noticed was the griffon leave her scent behind. She wasn't entirely sure about everything else she said about her record, but she noticed that the story she told matched the one that the longma had told. Don't to the fact of even not wanting to get involved. She highly doubted that the to would have collaborated this.

 

When she said that she used a device to hypnotize the Wonderbolt and the filly she was skeptical. She knew he was an archeologist and that there were likely other artifacts like hers of great power. Shoot, he himself was looking for one. However he played the abscence of the filly to his advantage. "If the filly is safe, them you wouldn't mind telling me what route they took to have them picked up? The surrounding area isn't exactly safe in of itself you know," she said to Harle.

 

"As for you," she said turning to Dunes, and then looking and pointing to to of her guards. "Search him. Anything he's carrying goes on my desk. I'd ask you if you had it myself but I already know the answer that you're going to give me to keep any roose you have going up. I am a bit skeptical of the claim, but considering you're currently hunting for an artifact of great power makes entirely plausible that you have one now. This gives potential validity to the claim on top of the fact that it confirms the story of the Royal guard of Neighpon that's currently with us. That, and from my surveillance had already come to the "rescue" of the filly once. I do not believe that there is any collaboration between these to prior to the events that transpired."

[Ashton]

Dunes crossed his hooves, reaching inside his coat "Well, it seems time for me to go, Its been a pleasure, I'm sure we will meet again, I promise!" he quickly pulled out a glowing blue horseshoe magnet and there was a bright flash and a deep resonating boom as he vanished

 

Harley slammed her fist down onto the chair "Sonova- HE was the one who sole my Faraday Magnets!"

 

Dash was a bit dumbstruck but managed to blurt out "Your what?!"

 

Harle sighed "Faraday magnets... they're an emergency recall system, you leave one behind, take the other with you, and you can teleport back to the first one. I paid a fortune for them and they went missing after I ran into that snake on a job months ago... I thought they'd gotten lost..."

 

Dash nodded dumbly, not sure what to say

 

Harle shook her head "Well, I guess that at least proves he's underhoofed and was hiding something. As for the kid, I couldn't tell you which rout they took, we planned out a dozen evacuation routs and I  purposefully didn't find out which one they were going to take since I was expecting those gunships to be after us and I didn't want to risk them getting caught" she explained "The shortest rout will have them here probably in..." she thought a minute "another half hour or so, provided they had minimal resistance... if they ran into trouble might be longer... the long rout they wont get here till tomorrow... sometime in the afternoon..."

 

"You really expect me to trust you like that?!" exclaimed dash, finally losing her cool "By then anything could have happened to Scootaloo! Just because Dunes was even slimier than I thought her was, doesnt mean your any better!"

 

Harle opened her mouth to comment, when there was an explosion outside and blue smoke filled the streets while somepony announced that they were here to save their captain and to turn her over

 

Harle's claw went to her face "of course they could have rushed out here as fast as they could and gotten here sooner..." she growled "I told them to run and forget about me! We all agreed that with five gunships this was going to be a last-stand and I'd be headed for the gallows... Why did they not listen!?"

 

Dash smirked "You really are an idiot" she said "You tell your friends that its over like that and you might have well been screaming 'come save me!' because if they have a drop of loyalty in their blood they wont leave you to die. Cant say anything about your illustrious career, but you got a loyal crew, and I gotta admit, I respect that" she smiled a little

 

what would no doubt interest Ice when her scryers saw it, though, was among the pirates about to storm her casino was the familiar orange filly, wearing a white cloak against the desert sun, with the hood pulled back, showing a bandanna tied around her head with Harle's flag on the front, and scootaloo holding a sword in her mouth just as eager to save harle as the rest of the pirates...

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

 

It really didn't surprise Ice that after everyone she had heard that Dunes has something planned for an escape. She hadn't been given much of a reason to trust him at this point and honestly, had he just cooperated with her, she would have told him not to do it again and that her casino wasn't a recruitment station... Even though... It was every bit of that... That was neither here nor there. As soon as he teleported out, she started barking orders. 

 

"I want all the information that we can pull on this Dunes from all sources. Send a courier to the university her worked at, I believe he said Phoenix University, and let them know what transpired here. If he used a filly as leverage to get what he wants he'll use college grades to force hooves as well. I want Dunes found and all artifacts obtained. Lieutenant, send a dispatch to Luna immediately. Show may not be a princess anymore but I'm sure she would still want to be aware of any threats we find," she said turning back to Harle and Rainbow. 

 

"We can argue over trustworthiness later. We have more pressing matters at the moment. We know the..." Ice started as the explosion of smoke happened, and she spotted the filly in question, returned holding a dagger or sword in her mouth waiting to storm the casino with the pirates. Ice Storm sighed and facehoofed. "Well... That made that part easy... Since they're here we might as well go pay them a visit and reunite your with your sister."

 

"As far as you go Harle, before I let you go, we need to talk compensation," she said to the griffon hoping that she hasn't over estimated her ability to understand code speak. Surely she had to know there was more meaning behind the words than what was implied but she didn't want to go into full detail with Rainbow present. "Now, things might get a little cold," she said before attempting to teleport herself and the others in front of the band of pirates. Should they teleport with her a three mounds of snow would be left where they were. 

[Ashton]

Dash, having not spent much time in cold climates and wearing a thin and airy flightsuit shivered violently, muttering something about 'whyd they go by-way of the north pole!'

 

Harle, being a griffon and wearing a rather warm captains coat, had no such problem and just smirked at Dash's reaction

 

When the trio appeared, The pirates all fell silent, unsure what to make of their captain showing up out of thin air with the other ponies, one of whom they all recognized and the other who was clearly some kind of military. No doubt some of them were even expecting harle to make the same speech about it being the end of the road... instead she smiled surprisingly warm and sat "What're you idjits gawking at?"

 

There was a cheer from the crowd

 

Scootaloo ran forward.

 

Dash smiled and opened her wings for a hug.... and after several seconds blinked and looked around, more than a little shocked to see scoots hugging harle!

 

"Scoots!" hissed Dash "thats..."

 

Scootaloo grinned "I know! She's cool isn't she! Harle has her own airship and her crew and lots of cool stuff"

 

"Yes, but-"

 

"And she gave me this cloak to keep me cool in the sun, and this awesome bandanna, and this sword! She taught me how to use it too in case we ran into bandits or sandworms!"

 

"but..."

 

"And... She didn't tie me up like a dog like you did."

 

Dash's heart sank when she heard that... had she really just lost her 'little sister' to a pirate?!

 

Scootaloo wasn't finished though "How about I Spend the rest of the day with harle? that way you can finish doing all your autographs and waving and story-telling and stuff for that mean, no-good, overbearing, heartless casino owner"

 

The sweat was pouring from dash's brow as scootaloo starting talking about the 'casino owner' dash mutted "...scootaloo.... ixnay..."

 

Harle finally spoke, seeing the situation "Look, kid, I'm a busy griff, I dont mind sticking around a little while, but your gonna need to go back to your sister"

 

Scootaloo whimpered "But... Dash will just put me on a leash again and not let me go see the games, or get snacks or even use the restroom!"

 

Now Harle's gaze fell on Dash "oh... really...." the gaze of both an apex predator and an infamous pirate...

 

Dash gulped and laughed awkwardly... she knew she was in a bind now...

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

 

Ice listened intently to the filly as she spoke. If they're was one thing she knew about fillies and colts was they had a tendency one to exaggerate a bit but the also had no filter. If something was truly amiss this would tell her. However seeing the filly instantly run up to Harle instead of Rainbow told her everything that she needed to know. It appeared that the Neighponese guard was actually spot on the money with her assessment.

 

She made a mental note to contact her as some point and see if a possible alliance could be in order. Having allies, and one with a communicator like hers on the other side of the planet would go a long way for response time and fortifications here. Of course that was something that she would need to get permission to do first. 

 

Regardless she listened to the back and forth between Scootallo and Rainbow Dash and arched her eyebrow. Autographs? Storytelling? Heartless mean ol casino owner? Every word made Ice's glare at Rainbow even more squinty eyed. With the final words she face hoofed.

 

"Rainbow believe me, I am the first to recommend security and a constant eye on a filly in an environment such as this... Casinos aren't a place for children, but Ponies do come here for vacations and they have a right to have fun to. That's why there's an arcade for them at the back of the casino past a security check point. It's ten bits per child to get in, but everything inside is free. Today after everything that's gone on, Scootallo can enter for free..." She said before turning back to Harle. "Now, if you and your crew could follow me back to my office we have business to discuss." 

[Ashton]

Dash just smiled awkwardly "oh, right, yeah... back of the casino...." clearly she had no idea the foal-friendly arcade was even there, speaking volumes about her  observation skills... and her priorities...

 

Harle laughed a little "unless you have a second office that's a lot bigger, I think my crew's better off just hanging out here, I'll just take my copilot-slash-engineer with us" she said, nodding to a slightly older unicorn in the back

 

Dash turned to scootaloo at this point "Ok, kid, thank harle and give her back her gear"

 

Scootaloo looked down at her hooves "Awww.... do I have to?"

 

Harle smiled "Forget it, we have plenty, she can keep it all"

 

Scootaloo grinned

 

"Oh, I'm sure you need every sword you can get on a pirate ship" said dash "I insist"

 

Harle just smirked "We got plenty of 'em" she said "and you see that bandanna? She's proudly waving my flag, so as far as I'm concerned she's an honorary member of my crew, and I make sure my crew have everything they need"

 

Scootaloo's eyes were absolutely sparkling now

 

Dash's hoof went to her face, wondering if this griffon was just this dense or was purposefully being a plothole and letting scootaloo keep a dangerous weapon... probably the latter, considering harle was a pirate...

 

"Singlestone! lets go, as for the rest of you, two free drinks on me, anything you want!"

 

 

the rest of the crew cheered and headed for the bar

 

"cant you stay just a little while more?" pleaded scootaloo

 

Harle laughed and smiled "I got obligations, kid, but I'll be sure to come say goodbye before I leave, ok?"

 

Scootaloo sighed but smiled "...ok..."

 

"Good, I'll see you later" she then turned to Ice, completely ignoring Dash "yeah, we need to talk... at the least about the size of your bloody base!" clearly there was still a tiny hint of that accent in harle, and also clearly she was still a little sore about her hanger turning out to be in one of Ice's backdoors....

Edited December 10, 2019 by Ashton
added link to singlestone's app

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

 

Ice Storm waited for the group to finish their 'goodbyes' if you could call them that. She left Rainbow and Scootallo to work on repairing some damaged trust it appeared as she nodded to Harle when she said it would just be her and her Co-pilot coming to the discussion. That was probably for the best anyway. An entire crew coming into the office would draw attention. More than what's already been drawn but she'd could still talk her way out of that. A miscommunication between somepony in her casino and the pirate would be easy to fix.

 

 

She held a hoof up as they started to walk through the casino and cut off Harle as she started to mention the base. "Not down here. The first rule is we never bring the 'b-word' into the casino," she said before the elevator opened and she stepped inside. When the door closed she started to speak more. "All the questions will be answered to the best of my ability. Of course I know every detail that goes on here, casino operations non withstanding. I can't say I was expecting any of this on my front door so to say. But naturally there will be some questions that I cannot answer without certain requirements behind meet beforehoof," she said before walking back into her office.

 

Only then did she get a good look at the second in command. He was an older stallion and looked to be quite knowledgeable himself. She couldn't really see his cutie mark from the pan coat but she had to presume that he was a scientist of sorts. Hopefully he was better behaved than the last scientist she dealt with today. "Before we get started with our dealings and proclamations, I all required to make your aware that nothing, and I mean nothing, that we discuss leaves this room. If this is acceptable them we can move on," she said pulling a few manila envelopes out of her desk.

[Ashton]

Harle snorted "like anyone would believe me if I said anything..." she muttered, knowing that probably nopony would ever believe the size of Ice's base... hell harle herself was a bit skeptical and in retrospect now was wondering if the guards had just been pulling her tail... they seemed serious enough -and those gunships had to be hidden somewhere- but it did seem rather preposterous now that she thought about it more...

 

Unlike the previous guests, Singlestone was scrutinizing everything with a scientific eye, no doubt in five minutes he would have deduced the basics of all the operations, in 30 minutes he would have deduced the rest, and in an hour he probably would be able to make suggestions for improvements...

 

At the mention of not speaking of anything outside, the unicorn nodded "nondisclosure agreements are quite common in my field" he commented "I can see the reasons for the secrecy"

 

Harle sighed as they reached the rom "yeah, yeah, show me the contract where if I speak about it you steal my soul, I've been through this part before..." she pulled out a knife and held it towards her claws, clearly expecting ice to ask her to sign some arcane document in blood... which was a bit worrysome in and of itself...

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

Ice Storm raised an eyebrow to Harle's reaction and statement about soul stealing magic. She'd used arcane contracts before but those were to secure loyalty between some very powerful creatures. Mainly from herself to Luna and for Tempest to her. Tempest's was also a show of power to show that she could easily withstand anything the mare threw at her.

 

"I'm the leader of a classified military organization a not a death tyrant. What use do I have for souls? The only thing I expect is loyalty to me and the nation of Equestria," she started before setting the files before the both of them. In them would have documentation of their recent activities from her trailing forces. "I've been watching you for a while. Long before the incident that brought us together today. I was looking for an easy way to get in contact with you without arousing suspicion," she continued

 

"What I want is simple. I want you to join my ranks. You'll keep your ship, your jobs your classifications, heck even you pirate status of your choose to keep it. The only thing I want in return is for when the situation calls for it, to fly my colors and and if you notice anything suspicious to notify me immediately. Should you accepted, you and every ship within your control will gain one of these communication devices so that you can either contact me or your other crew mates. If you can do this for me, I have some very powerful connections. Connections that could go a long way to clearing your name. I can even have all crimes that you just confessed to stricken from the record as if they never happened," she smiled walking to the other elevator in the room. The one that was heavily guarded. "If these conditions are acceptable them please come with me. I'll be happy to show you just how big my base actually is."

[Ashton]

At the first comment harle shrugged "Ive heard tales of dark magics that use souls as a source of power, it wouldn't surprise me if sunb- I mean if Celestia's Forces had such magic at her disposal"

 

After the speech Harle gave ice a long, hard, look "Sorry, but I've spent my life dealing with powerful ponies who abuse their power, Its going to take some proof from you that your not one of them before I sign on to your crew. Clearing my name only does me so much good if I'm immediately forced to do worse things than I was ever accused of"

 

Singlestone though was far more analytical "Captain, the necklace she wears is an intense power amplifier, and we're surrounded by powerful mages, all of whom seem to be experts in far-seeing, if she was planning to coerce us, there is already nothing we can do."

 

Harle leaned close to singlestone "how powerful of an amplifier are we talking?"

 

Singlestone sighed "At least alicorn tier... possibly Eldrich tier..."

 

"...eldrich..." muttered Harle grimly, she had heard stories of eldrich being and their reality-warping powers. She knew the princesses employed one such creature already, it would make sense that there were more...

 

"While I will go along with whatever decision you make, captain, I suggest we take the offer... we're already caught in the web..."

 

"...could we...?"

 

he shook his head

 

Harle sighed, just like before she was just another pawn on a chessboard "FIne." she said, looking to Ice "on one condition... I will pledge my servitude, but my crew are free to leave at any time. If things get messy I dont want their souls stained... whatever happens, I will take the blame and the risk"

 

Singlestone shook his head, a little sad and a little amused. He had not heard her words, but it seemed Dash's earlier comment was right - harle had no idea how loyal her crew was and the fact that every one of them would fallow her through the gates of hell...

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

 

Ice Storm was somewhat expecting the kind of answer that she had gotten, but at the same time, she was also expecting Harle to jump at the option to have her name cleared. However, when she worded it the way that she did, Ice understood where she was coming from. She also noted that the griffin and the pony seemed to be conversing with each other in a whispering tone. She could see the scientist looking at her amulet during the conversation she she could only presume what it was about. "Actually, I would never force you to do anything that wasn't for the benefit of Equestria. I'm really not even asking you to change what it is that you do now," Ice responded as they stepped onto the elevator and it began descending.

 

"I mean, I suppose that would be acceptable in that regards, although I don't see how they wouldn't want to get paid to basically sail all over Equestria, do what ever you already do, and watch for anything that looks out of place, or if any unsettling rumors perk up. With where you would be within the ranks of my system, there would be very little risk for you and a lot of reward. You supply me with extra border security when I need it, and I supply you with a hangar, bits, and a clean record. I would say that given your reputation that you've wrongfully gained I'm taking the bigger risk here," she said as the elevator opened up. If any of yours wish for an extended leave at all and don't have a place of their own that they can relax at, this is the housing district of the base. Plenty of eateries from all walks of life here so I'm sure we could find something that they would enjoy. All of it is freshly prepared. No rations here," she concluded dropping some bits on the counter of one of them and pulling three drinks over for them. "We'll need these. We've got a twenty minute walk to get to the next, and most important part of the base," Ice Storm concluded pushing open a set of double doors and started to lead them down the slightly less than natural caverns.

[Ashton]

Harle nodded "the way you put it, yeah, but they're a ragtag bunch of skallywags, some of them might take issue with working for sunb- for celestia...." she muttered to herself about needing to break that habit now...

 

"Dont be misunderstanding the captain" said Singlestone "We would all like to see her name -our name- cleared, and it would be nice not to worry when our next meal ticket will arrive"

 

Harle nodded "I run a tight ship but I dont force my crew into anything they're uncomfortable with"

 

"Except Last Hour" smiled Singlestone

 

"Bah, they love it, they just dont want to admit it" smirked Harle

 

Harle stopped cold at the mention of the walk "20 minutes? I say again 'How bloody big is this place?!" she sighed and took another swig from her decanter before taking the offer of a non-alcoholic drink for the remainder of the journey.

 

The long walk was mostly in silence from there, though singlestone did slow his walk a few times to examine the re-purposed caves, no doubt he would be submitting a report on their structural integrity to Ice some time in the future...

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

 

Ice just kinda smirked at the reaction that Harle had to the walk asking once again just how big the base is. As they came up on a set of double steel reinforced doors Ice smiled and answered. "We pretty much take up the entire southern third of the underground part of the painted pinto desert. I think... They might have excavated more at this point. We've had to reinforce the top of the base with steel to prevent possible collapses. As to why we're that big, well..." she said opening the doors with her magic. As soon as she did and stepped through the doors the officer in the area announced commander on deck. Ice waved her hoof and returned them to their duties.

 

Of course whether they noticed that little transgression over the very large piece of eye candy in the center of the massive underground ravine. The Shadow of Ice was nearing completion. To the point to where most of her internals were completely operational. In fact if they looked closely they could see that the ship was hovering under it's pretty power. This was good for Ice to see. It meant the prototype core was working.

 

"This, once she's fully airborne, will be base headquarters. Her name is the Shadow of Ice, and she will become a symbol of dread for the enemies of Equestria. Of course, she is an airborne dreadnaught. She consists of two top mounted turrets with three 400mm, 360° of turning radius and 45° of incline. She's got four more of those cannons bottom mounted with full range of firing motion and numerous secondary defense weapons on her side from other aerial fighters."

 

"Her hull consists of plated steel three inches thick with a thin lining of whitescars magic absorbing wood with we've turned into a way of harnessing fuel for the ship. She herself has hanger bays to let smaller fighters out and will not go anywhere without a fleet of six aeronautical destroyers by her side. Her biggest strength is also her biggest weakness, and you'll never find her over an Equestrian City," she finished. Further down they could see other much smaller ships being built using the aether core technology instead of balloons, and plenty of hangars, shops, barracks, entertainment areas, even education districts for fillies and colts. 

[Ashton]

Harle did not seem impressed when the doors were first opened, then when she saw the entirety of the ship her jaw went slack and her rump hit the floor as she gawked at the leviathan before her, barely even comprehending what she was seeing.

 

Singlestone though was looking at it with a more critical eye and shook his head, going over the logistics in his mind of just what it would take to run that ship, and his conclusion was quite the opposite of Harle's though he did not speak up, realizing now the full extent of their new commander's megalomania... ...though he was watching with interest the ships being built below, no doubt quite curious about the mechanisms being used to hold them aloft without propellers or balloons. Once could clearly see the proverbial gears in his head turning as he envisioned other uses for the magitech... 

 

When harle's shock wore off she managed to pull herself together, though not without another rather large gulp from her decanter. Still a little woozy, she stood once more "I never took Sunb- Celestia to be one for world conquest, but it seems I underestimated her" she said "She'll soon have the entire world in her hoof" there was a tiny edge of fear in the griffon's voice, having seen just the small amount of chaos her own ship brought when it came into sight... knowing that this was orders of magnitude more dangerous, without even taking into account its weapons.

 

...she also knew now that singelstone was right, they had no hopes of defying Ice or celestia... if they had, then it would only be a matter of time before they simply ceased to exist one morning... For her own survival, she knew she made the right decision, but deeper down in her gut, she was questioning if she was joining a band of heroes or a gang of villains... Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. She feared for the future of equestria... and for all of Terra....