[Canterlot] A Royal Pain - Act 1: Put up your Dukes

[tacobob]

Fire Walker bowed her head, "Yes, your grace, and when it conveniences you the most, I would like to take just a little bit of your time, if possible later on today to discuss our itinerary for this trip, along with a few other little very minor points of discussion I wish to speak to you of. But only when you are comfortable and have the time.", she bowed her head once again as they left.

She followed the steward and the ponies to the room, "Well, it's rather nice.", she tried to cover any signs of her disappointment when she noticed there wasn't a bottle of champagne waiting for her, but that usual hotel chocolate they like to live on their pillows. "Thank you.", she gave the steward a proper tip before seeing him off. Once he was gone, the red Pegasus was free to be herself, "Well, things are looking up so far. The rooms are very nice, doncha think?", she grinned at the two, "I guess I could understand why they gave us separate rooms, being all proper and all, but it's gonna be kind of depressing to have to sleep by myself. In separate rooms..", she quickly added. She would miss chatting with the two ponies until the wee hours of night, and just the sound of Dunder's voice generally made her feel just right. She would however not miss the sounds of Muggo's snoring.

The Pegasus tried to shake the sad look from her face, "So, what do you two plan on doing?", she glanced down at her luggage, "While Prince Blueblood settles into his new room, I'm going to go through my things so I can at least make my room a little cozier, but do remember, we are on the clock, and if the Prince needs us at anytime, we are his to command."

[Dunder]

Dunder tried not to blush or take notice to Muggo's remark about his 'starn' and it's shininess catching a mare's attention. Still, he hoped to nopony's notice, he glanced around hoping to catch a sight of said mare. To his suspicion, he could't find her. Not like it would matter anyway.

As he followed out to the dock with Blueblood, Dunder glanced around. Everything was so fancy... and it was to be his last memory of Equestria for a while. Soon, they would be off and headed for the Unyasi on this flying hunk-of-junk. Unicorns should just not fly, it made the flying feel less real and less fascinating being on an airboat. He'd much rather have his wings and legs take him places, but these unicorns and earth ponies made him feel like one of them sometimes. Of course, there was always his best friend pegasus buddy forever, Fire Walker, who made him proud to be a pegasus and happy to be closer to her.

When they got on and were led to their fancy cabins, the sight of Blueblood's cabin made him want to leave. He didn't need to put up with what he knew what was coming. Fancy pony showing off their fancyness and wealth by acting to an awesome room the same way Dunder would act to a small room with only a bed and toilet.

As they were led down, he knew they were going to have separate rooms, but he was still a little disappointed his suspicions were true. He loved staying up late and talking with Fire and Muggo'. And when Muggo fell asleep, Dunder and Fire would make fun of his snoring and share stories and memories and thoughts on certain things. The best part was that Fire agreed with him, he smiled as she didn't and nodded, "Yeah... but we'll just be across the hall incase widdle Fire gets lonely." He teased and pat her mane.

"I'm just going to put my luggage in a corner and probably lay down on the bed. You can join us if you want." He said to Fire as he turned to trot into the room. He kept the door wide open, almost inviting. He grabbed his only bag and tossed it beside his bed and hopped on the bed, laying down with a smile on his face.

[Snowshoe]

Muggo' Ale looked around the opulent penthouse at the front of the ship. For a brief, fleeting moment, he thought they were all going to be in there...large by ship standards, he figured there'd be multiple rooms. Of course, that passed, and Muggo' didn't feel bad. He figured even the most basic of cabins aboard was more than he could hope for.

Trying to hold in a grin when Blueblood declared the room 'adequate' (in his mind, Muggo' would have called it gorgeous), he turned and followed the steward to their room. Not bad.

They even came with little chocolates. How cute.

Muggo' grinned and nodded. "Aye, not a bad bit nice in here, not one bit. As for me, I plan to go take a look 'round, see what I can see aboard," he said. With the mention of them being across the hall, he nodded again. "I'm sure if ya two get bored I can think o' another story or two." The earth pony stepped inside, finding his gear on his bunk. He untied the knot on the sword with his teeth and drew it with a curled fetlock. "Probably gunna have to take a stone to this...don't think she's been sharpened since before ya were born," he motioned to Dunder while he spoke, chuckling. He put the blade away, then looked at Fire Walker.

"And what about ya? Got any plans o' yer own while we're onboard?" he asked.

[Stainless Steel Fox]

Blueblood had settled himself. While he didn't have the usual staff of servants, the steward had unpacked his many pieces of luggage. He spent a short qwhile checking everything, and touching up his mane with a quick cosmetic spell, then sat down to re-read his father's journal, make some notes and work on the map he was developing from it. He got so engrossed in his work, he was quite startled when the speaking tube spoke.

'All passengers. The Cupid is ready for departure. Any-pony wishing to watch the departure should report to the main salon amidships. We will be casting off in three minutes.'

He didn't need to go to the hall like some common pony, his cabin gave him an unparallelled view of the forward aspect and he intended to enjoy it. He could see ponies moving about on the dockside and piers, casting off ropes from their moorings and holding them ready to guide the airship out. It had been parked with it's nose towards the dock, so it would have to reverse out and turn before moving off. There was a knock on the door, and a stewards voice said, "Captain's complements. He asks if your highness would wish to observe the undocking maneouvre from the bridge."

This was different. A special privilege was always to be made use of, unless you had a very good reason. However, since it would be in the nature of a visit, he must put his best hoof forward. "I will indeed. However, go alert my guard detail so they can escort me, then return to fetch me."

The thought that the control cabin might already be crowded, or that his party might have other plans never crossed his mind.

&&&

The same announcement was heard in the other's cabins, and shortly afterwards, the steward knocked on their door. "The Prince asked me to tell you that he will be watching the launch from the bridge, and that you were to get ready to accompany him. You'd better hurry, there's only a couple of minutes left!"

[tacobob]

The mare blushed slightly as Dunder ran a hoof through her braided mane,"Well, I don't intend on spending too much time stuck in our little rooms for one thing, still.", she closed her door and trotted over to the two stallion's rooms, "Prince Blueblood will need to know where we are all times so he can send for us when we need to be at this side. I'd love to think of this as a vacation.", she glanced around the room, "But this is a job and we need to take it seriously. So we'll need to keep our uniforms on as much as possible.", she frowned slightly as the older pony took out his sword, "Wish I knew about your blade. Could have had it sharpened back at the smithy's. Knowing the blacksmith, she probably would have had it properly balanced and cleaned as well. I just pray we don't have to actually use our weapons. Violence is always the very last solution for any problems we may face."

"Thankfully, the armor is light. You could almost go to sleep it in.", she wandered over to the resting Dunder and started to check the straps, "Just make sure to keep yours extra shiny or our good Prince might have an conniption if he sees you cantering about with spotty armor, and being your superior officer and all, I'd probably have to find a way to pu...", she was cut off by the sudden announcement from their message tube, "Oh. Right. The castoff! This is the fun bit, at least that's what I've heard!", she started to bounce a little as she spoke, "Everypony stands outside and watches the ship slowly drift away from the dock, and everypony else on the dock will be waving..And we'll wave..And I think there will be streamers! Wonder if the Prince will want to be there?", she glanced at the others, but was answered by the knocking and the steward, "Oh feathers! We need to get to his room quickly!", she was already starting to hoof it out of the room, "Come on boys!"

[Dunder]

Dunder curled up on his bed and got comfortable, facing away from the other ponies as he tried to relax on the amazing feeling bed. It had been a while since he had his own bed that wasn't a sleeping bag on the ground. He was just getting settled when Muggo' ripped out the blade, making the hairs on the back of the pegasus stallion's neck jump up. He sat up and looked over at Muggo' in time to see him comment about the sword's age. Dunder smiled, "Pfft! You're only a few years older than me... I think." He said and scratched his head. He actually wasn't too sure about the green stallion's age.

Dunder listened to fire comment about his armor. It was light, but he wasn't sure how clean it was going to stay. Dunder wasn't afraid to get down in the mud. Like the time the trio marched through muddy mountainside through 2 hooves high of mud for a few days. He was thinking of a response for Fire when the announcement came. He hopped off the bed with a brief moment of lightheadedness from getting up so fast. He got up beside Fire and trotted along with her, "come on! We need to move, it'd be bad to disappoint Blueblood this early." He said as he galloped off toward's Blueblood's room.

[Snowshoe]

Muggo' Ale shrugged. "I didn't even know about it until me father passed it to me. Apparently it belonged to me grandfather, from when he worked in the REA. I'm bringin' it along more for the utility o' the thin'. Can use it to cut through the brush an' the like," he pointed out. He put the gear away when the message came to them about the cast-off from the bridge. Brilliant! Muggo' had been planning on watching from the rail, but this was even better.

"B'y, I'm quite a few years yer senior. Not enough that I'm too old to raise a family o' me own, but definitely not a young stallion like ya," he pointed out. The steward came in to get them up and going to Blueblood's cabin, where they'd meet up with the Prince before heading to the bridge. "Lead the way," he said. As of now, technically, his friends were the superior officers to him. He supposed he had some use as an incognito kind of character, not wearing the shiny and clinking armour of an REA agent, but when it came to security he wasn't much.

Then again, he hoped security wasn't required.

"This is quite excitin'," he commented as they moved to meet their employer. "Never seen an airship cast off. Plenty o' ships, none that sailed the clouds though."

[Stainless Steel Fox]

Blueblood checked his mane in the dresserr mirror one last time. This appearance would set his status in the minds of the crew, and it was imperative that he looked his best. There was a knock on the door, and the steward called out. "Prince Blueblood, you highness, your guards are here."

He stepped outside, and realised his first mistake. All three of them were there, not just Firewalker and Dunder. He'd only intended to have his two uniformed guards present, not his whole party. But to say so now would make him look foalish. A skilled socialite could find ways to impose his own order on reality, even the raw facts didn't suit him. Social engineering was, after all, a gamer of perceptions.

"Ah, you brought both my guards and personal assistant." His glance at Muggo was a wordless, 'Go with it!' "That is as well, I may require a drink or something if the process is overlong."

There was a second set of stairs nested underneath the ones that lead down from the open deck to the toplevel, and they were lead down these stairs to a hatchway that was closed off. The steward knocked and said, "Prince Blueblood's party is here, sir!"

The hatch opened and they were led into the control cabin. It was directly under Blueblood's cabin, and two stories high, though actually slightly smaller in floor plan, due to the curve of the gondola prow. Like Blueblood's cabin, the entire forward sweep of the prow was glass panels held together by rivetted metal frames. The lower floor was solid, some light wood, though it had several down looking port-holes, a couple with weird optical instruments over them, all eye-pieces and lenses and brass turnwheels and tubes pointing down. They had stepped out onto a walkway that ran the width of the back wall, and had steps parallel to it running down to the lower floor. To either side, the walkway continued in a horseshoe shape around the front curve of the cabin, widening at the front.

There were at leat a dozen ponies scattered around the cabin, unicorns and earth ponies except for one pegasus. Some wore uniform jackets and billed caps, others stripy blue and white jerseys and white berrets with a blue pom-pom on. The lower level had various banks of instruments, levers and dials scattered around, and a set of engine telegraphs. The stations were mostly manned by ratings in their sriped jerseys, overseen by two officers, one a green earth-stallion at a down-looking instrument, the other a grey unicorn mare at a periscope that poked through the bottom of the hull. Various levers and controls surrounded her.

They were led round to the wider front part of the walkway where the Captain was overseeing preparations for departure. Here was the steering wheel and a compass, and several telescopes and speaking tubes. Cunning mirror arrangements reflected views along either side of the gondola so they were clearly visible to the bridge crew. There were two other officers as well as the Captain, a blue peagasus mare with a wheel cutie-mark, at the wheel, the other a white unicorn stallion who was scarily similar to Blueblood, blond mane and compass rose cutie mark looking intently out through a right hand side telescope at somehing on the cliffs to one side, and holding a pen ready to a clipboard with his telekinesis.

With the four of them and the Captain, it was crowded behind the officers, but they could just about fit. The mirrors showed the activity along either side and the windows showed wheat was happening on the dock ledge in front fo them. Ponies were unhitching mooring lines, and towards the back those ponies were exxclusively pegasi.

Captain Shipshape greeted the Prince, and said, "You're just in time your highness. May I introduce our helmspony, First Officer So Low, and our navigator Third Officer Check Off. I'm afraid I wonl't be able to give much of a commentary, as I will be running things... speaking of which.... Are we clear for departure?"

The similarity between Blueblood and Check Off vanished when he replied in a Staliongrad accent, "Canterlot Tower is giving us all clear. Veather pegasi are holding crosswind at 1.2 north northeast."

The captain moved to a speaking tube. "Mister Steampuff, are the engines ready?"

One of the ratings on the lower deck consulted his dials. His voice echoed back up. "Aye, Captain. Thaumic boilers 1 and 2 are at 120 pony-power and holding."

At another tube. "Mister Loadstone, envelope condition?"

A rating at a console full of levers and dials below replied. "All main bags at nominal pressure, trim bags at 12 pounds per hoof width."

"Miss Trim, signal the tug teams to bring us out, slowly."

"Aye aye!" The grey unicorn on the deck below started pulling levers, and semaphore arms down along the sides of the gondola moved. The ponies holding the bow cables started walking down piers either side of the hull, while the pegasi at the rear simply walked off the end, switching to flying so smoothly it was almost unnoticeable.The airship slowly backed out of the dock, and as the rear set of wingsails cleared the end, the captain spoke again.

"Miss Trim, tell the teams to steer clear, Miss So Low, be ready to adjust for any sudden gusts. Mr Steampuff, bring up the rear wingsails, dead slow aft."

"Dead slow aft, aye, aye." The pony below moved a paired set of levers on one engine telegraph, which rang as they were moved back a notch, then rang again as the tell-tale showing the telegraph positions in the engine room swung to match.

The ariship moved more swiftly now, and the front wingsails cleared the pier, then the bow of the giondola. All the ponies holding the forward lines had released them as they reached the end of the piers, except for a few pegasi who had flown out still holding them, and were now running down the upper edge of the gondola, securing the lines with the help of ratings on the open deck.

"Bring up the forward wingsails, dead slow aft, Mr Steampuff." Engine telegraphs clanged, and the forward wingsails started sculling backwards.

"Miss So Low, how is she handling?"

"Right as a raincloud, captain." The peagsus replied brighty.

"Miss Traim, wave the tug teams to bring in the lines. Miss So Low, as soon as they're clear, bring us around parallel with the mountain on our port beam."

The lines were brought in, avoiding fouling the aft wingsails, and the air-ship came slowly around, reversing back along the line of the mountains. On the right they could see the air port, and further forward Canterlot proper.

"Mr Check off, you have a course?"

The unicorn had been consulting his clipboard. "Aye Captain, I am making it 197 degrees true, 201 compensating for local vind conditions. Ve vill rise to 1200 pony-lengths till ve are past Fet Loch, then drop to 800."

The Captain nodded. "Mr Steampuff, all stop. Mr Loadstone, bring the trim bags to 18 phw, and bring us back to eqilbrium when Mr Hawkeye has 1200 on the ground-scope."

He turned to the helmspony. "Miss So Low, you have the course?"

"Aye Captain. 201 compensating at 1200 pony-lengths."

"Then make it so. You have the comm."

"Aye aye. I have the comn." The pegasus mare nodded smartly, and started speaking into the tubes. The starboard wingsails came to full ahead, and the air-ship started to turn and move forward. It was a smooth interaction of pony and powered parts as they came to the proper heading and she brought up the port wingsails to full ahead too. The Cupid drove ahead, Canterlot and it's mountain range passing by to starboard.

Captain Shuipshape finally turned to Blueblood again. "As you can see I have a first rate crew. I hope you'll have a chance to meet some of them at my table tonight."

Blueblood gave a slightly patronising smile.

"Yes, very capable. I have flown an air-ship a couple of times myself." He didn't mention that those two times it had been a small private yacht owned by Fancy Pants, and he'd had someone hovering by him the whole time. Bother that pegasus helmspony anyway! So he'd almost run into one of the spires of Canterlot palace, the sun had been in his eyes!

[tacobob]

Fire Walker appeared once she was announced. "Ready for duty, your grace!", the mare truly did look the part of a royal guard with her shiny golden armor and her well braided mane, which lined up ever so properly with her helm. She stood still and waited for the Duke's orders. While she waited, she started to wonder if bringing Muggo' along was such a good idea.The Duke needed his guard to walk him through, and while loveable and ever so useful, the earth pony could not be considered as 'guard', but the steward did not ask for just Bluebood's protective escorts, but had simply alerted the attention of the three as a group, still, she knew she was probably going to get a little flak from it. She wanted to smile when the Prince managed to come up with a task for the older pony ala 'personal assistant', but she kept a straight face, after all, she was a proper royal guard. They simply exist to keep the peace, or at the present, she and Dunder were there to keep Blueblood safe during the trip.

While the 'great great great great great great great great great great great (and probably even more greats) nephew on Celestia's and Luna's mother's side' (about 52 times removed)* probably had little too fear, especially in the safe airship, tensions were still rather high after the changeling attack on Canterlot, and even the most minor of nobility were being watched by important members of the Royal Equestrian Army. Still, she wished she had a unicorn from her own platoon for this job, but at least they kept a few of the spell-casters on board, most likely keeping an eye out for any sneaky shape-shifting ne'er do wells.

As they slowly made their way into the control cabin, the Pegasus followed the Prince from behind, staying at the proper distance, which was not too close as to become familiar, and not that far for protection reasons. While she wanted to glance at all the cool and shiny (CANDY LIKE) buttons and levers and even push a few of them, that would probably cause the ship to explode or crash into the tower, which probably wouldn't be such a good idea. So she stood still, like a statue, as the prince was given a short tour of the room, and only moved when he did. As she stood still, she realized her second mistake of the day. While she mentioned proper R.E.A behavior rather briefly with the two stallions, she probably could have afforded the time to go through exact and proper procedures for this particular princely pony, but alas, she had been distracted by the fancy bedroom with its fancy bed and ever fancy Dunder in his fancy armor. Still, things have their way of working out, after all, what could be the worst thing that could happen?

* Lauren Faust's own words.

[Dunder]

Dunder noticed that Muggo' was following what were supposed to only be guards. He wouldn't oppose. Muggo' was just as much of a guard as either of them, he just didn't have fancy armor or a rank. In fact, if Blueblood opposed Muggo's presence, Dunder would definitely speak on the earth stallion's behalf. He had as much right to be there as Fire or Dunder.

Dunder was relieved to hear that Blublood at least seemed to want Muggo' there. He could tell that there was more to it, but he also knew the unicorn stallion wouldn't speak on it anymore. Now Muggo' was their employer's assistant... good enough. After all, Muggo' didn't seem to mind. On that matter, the pegasus didn't say anything either. He wanted to be like Fire. Mostly because she was an actual guard and knew what she was doing, but also because he wanted to not make himself look like an idiot.

Dunder trotted on the other side of Blueblood at Fire's pace to keep uniform and look professional. AS they made their way to the control cabin, he began to wonder how long it would take them to get to the Unyasi. He didn't want to stay on this fancy hunk-of-junk flying machine for too long with all these ponies who can't fly. And nopony knew what would happen to them, Celestia forbid get attacked in the air. He tried to remain looking the proper determined guard look for Fire mostly.

[Snowshoe]

Personal assistant. Muggo' Ale couldn't help but grin at that. Yeah, he could do with that title for now...and he would probably rib Blueblood about it when he thought he could get away with it (without offending him, of course).

He took in the scene ahead of him, a mess of ponies and contraptions that he had no clue of even half their functions. Given enough time Muggo' could probably figure it all out, but for now he was content to watch the crew move about. They ran like a well-oiled machine, calling out to each other and getting the ship ready to fly. He felt the gentle movement as they started to clear the pier, and heard what probably rated as one of his favourite sounds, and a familiar one at that: the familiar ratcheting, then "ding", of a ship's engine telegraph. He'd heard a few, going to hang out on the docks every now and again when he was younger, and even convincing a family friend to let him stay on the bridge of a ship while said friend piloted them out of the harbour.

And just like that, they were away, Canterlot slowly slipping away. The Cupid was remarkably stable, and one of the smoothest rides Muggo' Ale had ever experienced. He wore a permanent grin the entire time, partly from his heritage. His grandfather had been a mariner from Hoofington before moving to Fillydelphia and opening the bar, and that Hoofington mariner's blood still ran through Muggo's veins. As such, he felt rather comfortable aboard the ship.

"Beautiful," he said simply, rather quietly so as to not bother the crew (he wasn't quite sure why exactly he did it, he just instinctively spoke quietly at that moment). It had been, and so far, everything about this ship was exceeding his expectations even with her impressive reputation. "She's quite the ship, that's for sure," he added with a self-affirming nod. He quieted down after that though, knowing that he was on the lowest rung of this here ladder. Blueblood was obviously at the top, followed by the Captain, the crew, and his companions. Unimportant, in a word.

Just the way he liked it, actually. He liked to be the centre of attention if he was entertaining at the bar or telling a story or something of that sort, but in this place, accompanied by a Prince (or Duke, if he recalled everything correctly, it was hard for him to remember), and the other important fancy pants folks around the ship, a ship he couldn't afford passage on even if he had a year of impossibly good sales at the bar. He looked at his other companions, then at Blueblood and the Captain, waiting for a cue.

[Dem references ]

[Stainless Steel Fox]

With the excitement, or thankfully lack thereof, of the launching over, Blueblood decided to take his leave. "Thank you Captain, it was most instructive. I should be getting back to my rooms, I have work to do."

They retruned to the upper deck without incident, and Blueblood turned to the others. "I will be in my cabin until lunch. Leiutenant, make whatever arrangements are necessary for lunch and dinner. I should not need any of you before lunch, so you are free to go do... whatever it is you do."

He had notes to make and a map to plan out, and a Daring Doo novel (Griffon's Goblet to be precise) to read if his work became onerous.

They'd passed a notice board with various entertaiments listed on it. A string quartet would be playing in the dining hall, while there was a volleyball tournament planned for the main court on the top deck.

(OOC: I leave it to tacobob to decide whether it's SOP to have someone guarding Blueblood at lunchtime and dinner. Things won't kick off until then anyway.)

[tacobob]

Fire bowed her head, "We will take our leave your grace.", she left the Duke's room and made her way towards the notice board, making sure to take note of the serving times for both lunch and dinner, along with the menu, "Once we this job is finished, all three of us are going on a diet. This is the Canterlot Food & Wine Festival all over again.", she sighed, "After that event, my mother wouldn't leave me alone. Kept asking me if I was 'with foal'.", she shuddered as she gave her two companions time time to read.

"So, what do you two mugs wanna do? They're not serving lunch for several hours and there's all kinds of fun things to do on board. Volleyball?", she knew she had a better chance of getting Dunder and Muggo' to wear a tutu and teaching them how to do Ballet than getting the two of them to sit still during an string quartet and at least with this activity, she could burn off a few of those extra calories that have been stacking up thanks to all the fancy meals they were having.

OOC: Yes, Fire will make sure both she and Dunder will be guarding Blueblood during his meals.

[Stainless Steel Fox]

(OOC: Moving things along, as Dunder seems even more recitent than usual. Also, if someone's guarding Blueblood during his meals, won't that mean they'll be unable to eat their meal? Best make sure you arrange with the steward to have food served to you before or after the meal, though with the slightest bit of finesse, you can probably get you meal choices from the Captain's table menu rather than the regular passenger menu which your tickets entitle you to.)

The hours passed swiftly as the air-ship swam southwards towards Baltimare. Blueblood remained in his cabin, working on his father's journal and transcribing notes to one of his own. He barely noticed the spectacular view of Garden Gait as they overflew it and the southern spur of the Solstice mountains off to port. When the steward knocked on his door to alert him to luncheon, he gave a start, his magic scratching the quill he'd been using across the page. He erased the blotch with a deft twitch of his horn, and replied, "Yes, yes! I understand."

He checked himself in the bathroom mirror before he left, not wanting to have the slightest detail out of place. His current suit would do for luncheon, but he would have to have a steward lay out a proper evening dress for dinner. A rapid self inspection complete, and a few minor magical touch-ups, he was ready to face his public. He left the rooms and walked down the corridor towards the middleof the ship and the two story high dining hall in the centre.

(OOC: Sorry this is so short, but I have to get things in place before I can kick things off.)

[Dunder]

[sorry... swamped from school... and personal business. I promise to try my hardest to post faster...]

Dunder followed Fire's lead, bowing and all the formal polite gestured. He had to keep reminding himself that they respected the rank, not the pony. As Blueblood certainly wasn't worth Dunder's respect as of now.

He followed the red mare over to the board. He didn't know what he was doing or much of where he was and he at least thought that Fire had either something to say, something to do, and an overall better idea of what to do than himself. And he was right. The idea of volleyball sounded pretty good right then. Not like there was much else to do.

"Sure! We can play some volleyball, if they allow us ruffian middle class ponies...well, mostly middle class." He said and glanced at Fire, then at Muggo'. "And I'd offer too cook up some beans, rice, and corn but I'm paranoid we'll run out." He said. They never ran out of food before on an adventure, but they did run out of Equestrian food fairly quickly.

After preparations, they went outside to play some Volleyball. And Dunder wasn't too bad, not the best, though.

[Snowshoe]

The launching process had been quite the sight for Muggo' Ale, who was still a little giddy while Blueblood left. He turned around to face his companions when he did, and nodded to what Fire Walker said. Out they went.

"I am not that large! This is the prime example of an earth pony physique," Muggo' teased. He would make it a conscious point not to eat too much on the trip over, not that it mattered, they had a long walk ahead of them once they hit the zebra lands. Which reminded him...he wondered how Prince Blueblood would take walking through the dusty savanna for hours on end.

"Aye, volleyball sounds great. I don't mind me some music, but I doubt they'll be playin' Feller from Canter or anythin' I know," he pointed out. His preferred type of concert involved the kind of music where people could sing along, and get up and dance. He looked at Dunder and chuckled. "We get our meals here, b'y. No need to cook the rations yet," he pointed out.

They went to volleyball, which was fun. Muggo' Ale hadn't played in well over five years or so, but he wasn't bad. He was much better at a game of hoofball than this, but he still enjoyed himself immensely. It came time for lunch shortly after, and he looked over to his companions.

"So, what's the plan now? I take it one o' ya two have got to keep our fancy b'y company?" he asked casually, running a towel through his mane and resting it across his neck and shoulders.

"I take it that won't be me place. Higher class cabin an' all. An' I get the feelin' Blueblood probably wouldn't want a civilian with him, so I'll catch the two of ya later?"

[tacobob]

Volleyball had been an excellent idea. The three were able to blow off a bit of steam, the mare looked rather stunning in a one piece bathing suit, and their mighty little group was able to massacre the few teams they played against. "Honestly Muggo', I never knew you could leap so high. Are you sure you're not part Pegasus?", the impressed pony asked with a wink. As they made their way back to their rooms for a quick shower and suit up, she added, "Dunders and I obviously won't be able to have lunch or dinner with the prince during our duties, so could you please arrange simple meal drop offs with the steward? We could have lunch before the first watch, and dinner after the second? I'll order lunch this time, but after that, we should have a scheduled meal so everything is perfect. Nothing fancy, and nothing alcoholic. I'm going to be a good pony this trip.", she gave off one of her squeaky grins, "Once we finish this job and get back home, I am so taking you boys to 'Ponyland' in Canterlot. Very blue collar. Drinks are very reasonable and they always have a decent band playing there."

Once they got to their rooms, the mare headed straight into her simple bathroom where a hot shower really did hit the spot. After a proper bit of grooming, she threw on a bathrobe and ordered lunch. A daffodil sandwich, chips and water, lightly flavored with a lemon would get her through the watch. Normally, it would only have required just one pony to escort and watch over the prince during his meals, but she decided it would be wise to teach her stallion friend the basics of watch duty and lunchtime would be the idea time to do so.

After lunch, she double-checked her armor, making sure it was as shiny as it could get and that the straps were in proper order. Nopony would want to stand guard for an hour wearing uncomfortable armor. At the suitable time, she threw off her robe and geared up. Once she was fully dressed, she wandered over to the boy's room and knocked, "You ready Dunders? Class is in session!"

[Stainless Steel Fox]

Blueblood was pleased to note that his close protection detail was waiting for him as he exited the cabin. Not that he really needed it on the air-ship, but their presence was a clear indicator of his status, and that Lieutenant Firewalker was organised. With just an approving nod (little gestures like that helped maintain their morale) he set off towards the dining room. Both corridors leading from the bow exited onto a balcony that overlooked the hall. Twin stairs descended backwards and curved round to join together before fanning out as a single stair underneath it. A triangular podium extended from the wall where they joined, with a statue of Princess Cadence upon it.

A liveried steward ushered the prince to the Captain's table, though the Captain was not in evidence. The Second Officer, a white earth-pony stallion with a startlingly dark mane and amber eyes, who introduced himself as Lore Scroll, made apologies on his behalf, and stated that he was currently on duty, but would be hosting dinner. Blueblood wasn't displeased, as this made him the centre of attention.

There were some lesser unicorn nobles from Canterlot, the Asstors, a wealthy merchant donkey and his wife from Manehatten and the well known pegasus mystery author, Jessica Fledger. A few basic conversational gambits had the table hanging on his every word as the lunch was served. A salad of sun-kissed vegetables, some imported from as far away as Itaily was followed by tappanyaki fried vegatables with a fondue that was kept soft by a small burrner under the tureen. It was delicious, if not quite to Le grand standards, very close.

Meanwhile, forward in the control cabin, the periscope lookout was observing something that made him call up to the bridge via speaking tube.

"Captain, sir, there's a cloud coming up on us from the port quarter, at an angle to the prevailing wind."

Captain Shipshape levitated his binoculars and examined it through the bridge window. "It's nothing to worry about, probably a late delivery to Fetloch. Still, it is large and we don't want to get tangled up in it. Send semaphore to the weather pegasi to steer clear of us."

"That's the thing, I can't see any of the pegasi team pushing it."

"Ridiculous, they can't be flying blind..."

The cloud was almost upon them when it started to disapate and from it emerged an airship very unlike the Cupid. Only half as long, it was lean and rakish, with a beak-like prow and wings that supported a pair of secondary hulls. Each hull had it's own gas-bag, connected together by cables, and the secondary hulls also had steam engines and stern facing multiple propellers on common shafts in front of tall rudders.

"Sir, a griffon warbird just declouded!" Able air-pony Obvious (who would almost certainly never make Captain) stated.

"I can see that!" Shipshape frowned. "What's an Aquelian... wait those flags aren't official!"

Brave, brightly coloured banners flew from the rigging that held the gas-bags, and as it approached, the beak opened and globs of gluey stuff was vomited forth to strike the aft port wing-sails gumming them up. The griffons that lined the deck took to the air, swarming towards the striken air-liner.

"Hard to starboard!" Captain Shipshape yelled, and then into the speaking tube., "All hands! We are being attacked by a rogue griffon warbird. Gwet the passengers to the main lounge and prepare to repel boarders!"

So Low did her best to evade it, but the lean griffon air-ship was just too manoeuvrable and a second glob took out the forward port wing-sails. Harpoons fired from the secondary hulls, piercing and holding onto the hull of the Cupid, while one smashed through one of the large two-story windows that flanked the dining hall, smashing a pane totally and scattering shards of glass over the nearest ponies. It was quickly followed by a group of at least a dozen griffons who flew in through the gap, cutlasses held in their beaks and started to advance into the hall.

"Mmm mm mmm..." The lead griffon spat out his cutlass and glared as another one who looked abashed. "So, 'Carrying our swords in our beaks will look cooler?' "

He turned to face the assembled ponies. "This air-ship and everything on it is now the property of the Red Talons. Surrender and you won't be hurt... too much." He finished with a nasty sneer.

[tacobob]

As they entered the fancy dining hall, Fire Walker silently thanked her lucky stars that she had a decent and somewhat filling lunch before she had started her proper duties. While she did not dare look at the food as she slowly made her way through, it had all smelt so wonderful, and it would have been rather unbecoming for her stomach to start growling while on duty. Once they made their way to the captain's table, the Pegasus found a spot that would place her behind Blueblood without her being in the way of the servers and gave her a good view of the room at the same time.

After making sure Dunder was covering her blind spots, the mare stood patiently at her post, only letting her eyes leave the Duke to keep an eye out for any troublemakers and areas they could make a quick exit in case of emergencies, which were all proper procedures for her job. As she kept her post, she couldn't help but admire how smashing Dunder looked in his uniform, or was it crashing? Crashing? She quickly heard the ruckus as it quickly overwhelmed the pleasant music that had been playing in the background. The first thing she saw was falling glass, and while there was a very good chance the shards would not hit the unicorn, she would not take that chance. As quick as her usually covered cutie-mark, the mare quickly made her way to the Duke, and positioned her armored body in front of the stallion. If the glass fell, the shards would either hit the table, or her enchanted steel.

Once that was taken care of, she noticed the griffons, "You've got to be kidding.", she muttered under her breath. 'Air Pirates? In this day and age? While she wanted to play the 'hero' and give these feathered scallywags a good beating, she knew her job was to get the prince to safety. "Dunders, to his side.". She quickly scanned the room once more as she tried to find the quickest and safest way out.

(Basically Fire wants to leave this place and get Blueblood to safety. She will not engage the griffons directly, but if she has no choice, she will fight the 'pirates' that dare get in her way. In battle, if it happens, she will release the punch (parry) dagger from her left horse shoe/gauntlet. In combat, she uses this special weapon to disarm and either a powerful punch with her right front leg, or a kick from one of her back legs (depending where her foe is when she disarms him or her) should send her target back. If there are more than one targets in her way, she will try to send her first target flailing into the next one. She was also pretty happy she took Dunder along with her. She had spent most of her life with people who were gifted in the art of swordplay and very few were as skilled as her fuzzy brown companion.)

[Dunder]

Dunder was feeling better now that they had done fairly well in volleyball. He had improved since the last time he remembered, but he still felt inferior to Muggo's strength and Fire's agility, at least in the sport. As well as how good Fire looked in that one peice bathing suit... hnnnnngh.

He was a little dismayed that Muggo' was prepared to leave the two, but they were the guards. Anyway, Muggo' was going to get them food and food made everything better.

The stallion trotted off to his own room...well, room shared with Muggo', but he was alone then. He set up an order for two daffodil sandwiches and a side of fries and ketchup with a soft drink. The thought of eating was getting him hungry. He distracted himself with the armor. He got it on, easier than last time now that wearing it cleared up same confusion of what went where and why. The pegasus quickly got everything ready, his armor was polished, his swords were oiled that morning... Sleep looked pretty good. This time with no large green stallion using him as a cuddlepillow. Dunder crawled onto the bed and got comfortable, slowly drifting off when the knocking broke his trance. "I'm coming!" He called and scrambled out of bed. He got to the door and opened it, closing it quickly behind him to not show the mess he made getting out of bed.

He followed her to the dining room, following her instructions. She was his superior officer, but he also respected the mare. Very few mares he could claim could beat him in the martial arts, and he was glad that the only one he knew was one of his greatest friends. He followed her orders, taking her blind spots and making sure to stay vigilant... especially a little vigilant of the mare in her armor. Something about the colour made her look especially beautiful.

Suddenly, the oggling had to be put to a pause. The ship shook and changed courses rapidly, obviously in distress. Following Fire's lead he took a position next to her, guarding the duke with his body. Even though the stallion didn't have Dunder's respect, he didn't deserve to get hurt... that bad. Anyway, the white stallion signed their paychecks.

[Snowshoe]

Muggo' Ale had descended to the second class dining hall to get a quick bite for lunch, while Fire and Dunder were off doing their guardly duty with Blueblood. He finished eating rather quickly and decided to take a walk on deck, and watch the clouds and the land roll past below them.

After all, how hard could guard duty be? It wasn't like anything was going to happen, right?

Muggo' had just reached the railing when a harpoon flew across the deck right past his head, latching onto the railing. He noticed that before noticing the huge griffon airship alongside them, moored tightly with the cables.

"What." It was all Muggo' Ale was able to say as a group of griffon boarders landed on the deck. The ponies that were trotting about screamed in terror, and there was some announcement made over the loudspeaker. He wasn't paying attention to that, instead to the cutlasses in the griffons' hands.

"Ya gotta be...Celestia t'underin', air pirates?" he said, shaking his head and standing tall. "Alright, b'y, don't make me douse ya right cross the snout!" he warned the closest griffon, who was staring him down.

The griffon took a few steps forward and twirled his blade rather impressively, grinning at Muggo' Ale when he was done. Muggo', for his part, just rotated on his forehooves and bucked the griffon in the chest, knocking him back and to the deck. "Flashy," he commented, before taking off toward the entrance to the lower decks. He wanted to arm himself with his sword, but that was in his cabin, which was a long ways out.

And judging by the sounds behind him there was at least one griffon in hot pursuit. "Oh, dear. Cereberus to pay an' no pitch hot..." he grumbled to himself. Way to be caught flat-hoofed in a situation. He was supposed to be Blueblood's official-unofficial guard on this journey, or at least travelling companion to his friends, and here he was, about to be caught by griffons. He quickly galloped down the hall, destination his cabin. He got there right on time, quickly getting the door open right as the griffon caught up. Muggo' slammed the door in the griffon's face, and the cutlass embedded itself through the top part. "Ya missed!" he taunted, quickly locking it and looking for his pack. He'd gained maybe...a minute, at best.

[Stainless Steel Fox]

Blueblood was enjoying his dinner when the Captain's announcement came, quickly followed by the crash. He watched in shock as the griffon boarding party invaded the hall. He used his napkin to wipe his mouth, and stood up from the table. Part of him was freaking out, but he would sooner die than let any-pony see it. He'd had enough trouble sorting out the fall-out from that Grand Galloping Gala where he'd used his companion as an anti-cake shield. Besides, a dozen heavily armed griffons were nowhere near as scary as that unicorn mare.

"Lieutenant Firewalker? We appear to have unexpected visitors." There was crashing and thumping from the roof and the deck above. "And more upstairs. I believe this is your area of expertise?"

The griffons started forward, herding the ponies in the dining room with blows from the flats of their swords. The leader notced the two Royal Guards and called out. "Beaka, Clawed, Gyrus, find out who those polo ponies are hiding!"

Three of the griffons peeled off and flew over the heads of the other ponies towards the captains table, arrowing down to take the Firewalker and Dunder from the air.

Meanwhile, or a moment earlier, Muggo Ale's inventory search was being disturbed by a great bashing and thumping on the door. It was holding for the moment, but it wasn't exactly heavy, being on an airship and it was starting to splinter.

(OOC: Apropos of nothing in particular, there is a straight run down the coridor from the cabin to the balcony overlooking the dining hall. Just thought I'd mention that.)

[tacobob]

"I see your grace. Please stay strong.", she muttered under her breath as she quickly sized up her three foes. She never did catch onto the whole myth of the pirate. In books and plays the were generally portrayed as romantic rogues who traveled the seas or skies looking for adventure and a few ships or towns to ransack. To her, these griffons were just thieves who owned a boat and they needed to be taken down a peg or two. As the three got closer, she stood in front of Blueblood and released her parrying punch dagger from its armored horse-shoe that it was hidden. She made sure to give the stallion room if he felt the need to join in combat with a helpful spell or two. She also made sure to give Dunder room to fight.

"Polo ponies? Really?", she growled as she met the griffons in battle. Since there were only three of them to fight, she tried her best to quickly take down the first one that got near her, all through proper R.E.A procedures. After quickly rearing up on her hind legs, she let her parrying dagger or 'sword breaker' quickly catch her target's weapon, rendering it useless for a moment, and a quick and very painful blow to the center of the griffon's head (just above the beak) would be applied to take out her opponent quickly with her other dagger-less hoof, then giving her time to take down her next target...Unless Dunder was able to beat her to it, something that would not surprise her, having faced the dashing stallion in training before and knowing how quick he could be with his blades.

(OOC So let's see who gets to the 'extra' griffon the quickest...Fire or Dunder! I'm still posting her actions and SSF gets to say if she did any good with 'em! For her attacks, she's doing what I stated before. Parrying/sword breaker to either disarm or stop her opponent's weapon and then her other hoof, which does not have its punch dagger drawn will slam into her foe for hopefully a quick KO.)

[Stainless Steel Fox]

The griffon plunged in, but his sword was deflected off course by Firewalker's skillfully weilded punch dagger. He started to follow up with a claw swipe, but his own momentum drove him onto the fiercely driven hoof to the head. He stopped daed in the air, his weight pushing Firewalker back a few hooves, and slumped to the floor, twitching.

The lead griffon shrieked in annoyance, causing the ponies nearest to him to cringe. He signaled to tow more of the griffons. "You two, get over there! I want those guys dead!"

[Snowshoe]

Muggo' Ale quickly recovered his bag amongst the clutter in the room and worked quickly to untie the knots around the hilt of the blade, keeping it in its sheath. It took a bit longer than he'd wanted but eventually it was free, and he drew the blade. Holding it tightly between his teeth he rounded on the door, watching it splinter. He had almost no time left to prepare, but he did get a quick plan in mind, turning around right as the door cracked apart from the griffon's attacks.

Muggo' Ale then bucked, kicking the writing desk chair across the room, and hopefully, into the griffon, enough to cause him to stumble into the hall and give him room to escape, because if he was cornered in the room alone, he would probably be defeated quite easily.

"Surprise, b'y!" he shouted as the chair soared across the room.