“I am sorry, your ladyship, but there are simply no more quills in the royal directory!” a stumbling servant said, his voice slightly muffled by the fact that he was facing the floor in a bow. The lady in question, her voice filled with a weary sigh, looked down on the poor stallion, her eyes containing within them a mixture of pity and frustration.

“What about the large batch I ordered the week before?” Twilight Sparkle asked, herald of the Element of Magic, assistant to the head of the Canterlot archives and daughter of Duke Sparkle and Duchess Armor. She had recently come into the position after the previous librarian’s assistant went on to bigger and better things, and it was perhaps one of the positions she had desired more than anything in her life. Maybe that was why her teacher, Princess Celestia, had bestowed upon her the position. She had an awfully accurate idea of what many of her ponies wanted out of life, and more often than not was only too happy to help them on their way.

“Entirely used up, my lady,” the servant said. Oh, how he hated being the bearer of bad news! “I am terribly sorry!”

“It is quite all right, Nigel,” Twilight said, turning to look at the row of scrolls she had just been alphabetically resorting: some ponies just didn’t know how to put things back away right.

“Miss?” the pony called Nigel said, looking up at her in confusion. “It is... all right?”

“Yes: no need to fuss over something like this,” Twilight said. “Would you be a dear and fetch the others? I need to talk to them about something.” She knew he knew of whom she was talking about.

The servant rushed out of the room after another cursory bow, his hoofsteps fading away as the door shut behind him. Twilight Sparkle sighed as more of the scrolls magically re-arranged themselves. Nigel was a good soul, and he tried so very hard, but she felt he was almost always too high-strung about so many of the duties he was assigned to assist with. Maybe she could talk the princesses into giving him a vacation: he needed it.

Several minutes later, the sound of numerous hoofsteps reached her ears. Turning around, Twilight Sparkle found herself facing her oldest friends, fellow wielders of the Elements of Harmony, and fellow daughters of high-ranking political figures.

Rainbow Dash: Element of Loyalty, and daughter of the noble Duke Dash of Cloudsdale. Her family had a massive influence over the military of Equestria, including the Air Force and the Royal Army.

Rarity: Element of Generosity, and daughter of the Duke and Duchess of the Unicornia Province. Her parents had many businesses and mercantile interests across the country.

Applejack: Element of Honesty, and daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Ponyville. Her family maintained a large portion of the agricultural aspects of the country.

Fluttershy: Element of Kindness, and daughter of the Duke and Duchess of the Everfree Forest Province. Her family specialized in land management and maintained the national parks.

Pinkie Pie: Element of Laughter, and daughter of the Duke and Duchess of the Outlands Province. Her family owned much of the mining business within that province.

“Hey Twilight, what’s up?” Pinkie Pie asked as all the bearers of the Elements of Harmony gathered in a single room for the first time in weeks. Their personal lives, such as dealing with their parents attempts to marry them, the stress of having to attend to numerous political matters, and the occasional bits of unrest that needed settling, took up much of their time.

“You know me, Pinkie: just sorting through some dusty old scrolls,” the librarian said with a smile. "That reminds me; I should get a larger duster for some of these top shelves. Some of these cobwebs could ensnare a large bird!"

“I remember that used to be Spike’s job,” Fluttershy said with a touch of melancholy remembrance. "Cleaning cobwebs, that is; not catching birds." Everyone sighed at that: it had been many a year since Spike, Twilight’s oldest friend, had been convinced to join the crew of a schooner along the coast to make some money. For a while he had sent back letters, telling everypony back home how great it all was. Then, he had stopped sending them, and everypony had just gotten used to his absence: they had so much work to do, there was really little else to think of.

“Yes, it was,” Rarity said softly, before tactfully changing the subject, lest the gathering be brought low by sadder memories. “Has anyone heard been contacted by Celestia, recently?”

“Now that you mention, I was the other day,” Rainbow Dash said, fluttering around the room slightly. “I got a letter that simply said ‘this Saturday, my throne room, at noon’: anypony else?” Coincidentally, it was Saturday that very day, and the meeting was designated to take place in only a few hours. It had been a good thing they had already gathered in the city of Canterlot, lest some or all of them arrive late to the designated meeting.

“We were,” Fluttershy and Applejack said in unison. “It said the same thing,” Fluttershy added, holding up a small letter identical to Twilight's.

“I got mine three hours before Twilight did,” Pinkie Pie said, earning confused stares from everypony else. “What? My tail was a twitchin’, and then my tongue went numb. That means I got a letter before somepony.”

“Ah, yes: your Pinkie Sense,” Twilight said with a roll of her eyes. “Well, it seems the princess wants to speak with us this Saturday, but... why?”

“Maybe we’re being giv’n our first performance reviews?” Applejack suggested with a shrug of her shoulders. Every now and then they’d receive praise for handling some small problem in a province, but most of the time they only used the power of their Elements for some greater purpose, like collapsing a volcano away from a city in peril or something like that.

“Somehow I doubt that, Applejack,” Rarity said with a toss of her mane. Seriously she never stopped doing that whenever she talked. “We’ve all been doing marvelous jobs, I would wager. Perhaps she has come to give us more tasks to complete?”

“I’m not sure, Rarity: the princess is usually so much more... detailed in her letters,” Twilight said. “I mean, when has she ever written in broken sentences or even failed to leave a signature? That’s nothing like her at all.” Indeed it was not: Celestia was a princess of not only Equestria, but of all aspects of writing and conversation. The only way that any of the six had known the letter were even from Celestia was the fact that it had arrived by royal mail, as Spike’s handy fire-delivery system was no longer available.

“Well, it is drawing a bit closer to our scheduled time, don’t you think?” Rarity asked, pointing one dainty, glove-covered hand up at the library’s largest clock. Once again, Rarity exaggerated: it was barely past eleven o’clock. Eleven fifteen, to be precise.

“You girls wait outside the door: I’m almost finished with these scrolls,” Twilight said, turning back to her task at hand.

“Twilight, we’re yer friends: helping you will help us pass the time,” Applejack said, the others following suit as they picked up several scrolls.

The purple unicorn smiled: it was good to have friends like these. Still, even with all of their help, it took the librarian’s assistant another twenty minutes to finish putting everything away and locking up the library. As soon as she finished turning the key into the lock’s tumblers, she turned to her friends.

“Well, we’d best get going,” she said, looking at another clock on a wall: eleven thirty-five, and it would take at least twenty minutes to reach Celestia’s throne room.

Twenty-five minutes later, the six mares hurried into the throne room, having been stopped by the guards outside. Of course, there had been the technicalities with visiting the princess, including a magical scan for weapons and such, but Rarity had almost slapped a newer guard right in the face when he started hitting on Fluttershy. Jeez, just because they were forced to wear corsets under their dresses to “keep their figures” did not mean they were some back-alley prostitutes.

“Rarity, you didn’t need to jinx his tail into tying itself into a granny knot,” Twilight said as they stopped, pausing to catch their breaths.

“He was being a scoundrel, Twilight, and nothing like those you gush over in your romance novels,” Rarity said with a smirk. “Besides, with the way you pass over every suitor, it’s no wonder none come calling anymore.” It was the joke every other mare knew about: Twilight, and to a lesser extent, the rest of them, had a fascination with novels about adventure and dashing romances. Of course, being the more “booksmart” of the group, Twilight was far more invested in the stories, and often had dreams about herself in the heroine’s/damsels hooves: so much so that she flat out refused dances with idiotic royalty, since many didn’t meet her standards.

“I do not gush over romance novels!” the purple unicorn replied, her face going beet red. “They... they’re only for light reading before bed. Besides, I have had plenty of suitors who would give their left hoof to be by my side.” They all had had suitors such as these, but each had their reasons to not want to be tied down then and there in their lives.

“Twilight, I ain’t always one fer technicalities, but shouldn’t ya try and not talk like that in front of... her?” Applejack whispered, pointing behind the librarian’s assistant.

“I too enjoy a light reading before bed, Twilight Sparkle, but I must say, I doubt I read them with such... fervor, as you do,” a serene and slightly amused voice said from atop a throne. Twilight did a complete 180 and found herself facing Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria.

“Your... your highness!” she said, forgetting all informality and nearly throwing herself on the floor in a bow, a bow her friends all did with as much grace and dignity as they could. “I... I didn’t mean to be so... crass. I just-,”

“It is quite all right, Ms. Sparkle: to hide our true selves is one of societies’ more... insensitive formalities,” the princess said, stepping lightly off her throne. As always, her dress shimmered in the light, as if miniature suns were radiating out from each encrusted diamond. Her positively amazing mane flowed behind her, though there was no wind to push it along as gently as it appeared. “Please, stand: all of you. There is much for us to discuss.”

Twilight nodded, rising to her hooves with her five friends. “What... what can we help you with, Your Highness?” she asked as they drew around a table detailing the entire country of Equestria. Coast to coast, with the lands of the Griffins and Dragons bordering to the south, and the Crystal Empire to the far north: it was a greatly varied land, and the ponies that inhabited it were no exception.

“Normally this would likely be under the jurisdiction of a subordinate, but I feel as though I cannot allow a situation such as this to go on any longer,” Celestia said, her magic causing the map to distort and zoom in of Equestria’s distant Western coastline, which stretched from the cold waters of the far North to the tropical seas of the far South. A variety of cities, towns and villages dotted the coastline, with the larger ones supporting a vast array of interconnecting railroads and harbors.

“As you all know, the peace between Equestria and many of the southern kingdoms, including that of the Griffins and the Minotaurs further to the south, is because of our trade network,” Celestia said, her finger lazily tracing the coastline’s edges as if she were trying to memorize their every twist and turn. “We supply them with raw materials they do not have, and they in turn do the same for us. It has made all three of our countries very rich, and as such, it has invited in some... less than stellar ponies.”

“What do you mean, princess?” Fluttershy asked quietly, secretly enjoying the small, finely-detailed drawings of whales and dolphins frolicking in the ocean. She always did have a fascination with animals.

“The elite of Canterlot, as do the elite of many of our countries’ larger cities, have vast fleets of trade ships bringing in goods from distant ports,” Celestia said. “Our navy, as per the agreement all nations have settled upon, is only large enough to defend larger cities from attack by... unscrupulous beings. As such, I am afraid we have a problem.”

“What kind of problem?” Pinkie Pie asked, pulling a sweet roll out of a hidden compartment in her sleeve and swallowing it in one gulp. Nopony knew how she hid those sweets without her entire outfit getting terribly sticky or otherwise dirty, but she had her ways.

“Pirates,” the princess said simply, an almost imperceptible shadow falling across her face. “Towns and villages have been plagued by them for years, but we have always been under the assumption that they were acting alone, and more often than not, it was always a smaller crew on one of these vessels: nothing major. They would be successful for a while, then either we’d capture them all or they’d fragment and split up, never to be seen again.”

“But something has changed,” Twilight said, her analytical mind having already connected the dots. She prided herself at being very good at connecting things together in ways some ponies might find troublesome, but it had served her well in the past.

“Yes, Twilight,” Celestia said. “We believe, or at least I do, that Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings, is behind it all, or at least most of it. Even I cannot be sure if she is working alone to cause all this grief for our nation. After our uneasy truce following the failed invasion of Canterlot during your brother’s wedding-,”

This made Twilight growl slightly.

“-she and her kind retreated to their chain of islands, a series of both extinct and active volcanos far off the coast of our country. The soil is rather fertile, and the coastal regions highly fruitful, but the soil is young and our crops have a much harder tim growing there, hence why they need to resort to such acts to simply get enough staple food to survive. There, on those islands, they have stayed, rebuilding their society piece by piece as they licked their wounds from their defeat at the hands of Princess Cadence and Shining Armor's love.”

“But, why would she try and start somethin’ now, yer majesty?” Applejack asked. “Wouldn’t trade with any other country help her own? I mean, from what I’ve heard, their islands have some of the most fertile soil in the area, not ta mention excellent spot for harbors and drydocks.”

“I do not know how her mind works, nor have I ever pretended to,” Celestia replied. “All I know is, pirate activity has been increasing up and down the coast, with larger and larger crews of pirate per ship, and sometimes small fleets of pirate ships working in unison to take down or separate trade fleets. Equestria and her trade fellows in other countries are hemorrhaging money on lost goods, Twilight.”

“But... what can we do to stop this?” the purple unicorn asked. “I mean... surely there are those more experienced, more... I don’t know, militarily qualified for such an undertaking?”

“I want you there to help try and create a more lasting peace with the Changelings, should war again appear on the horizon,” Celestia said. “Besides, you will not be without accompaniment: Prince Blueblood has been assigned to the area, and you will fall under his protection once you reach the coastline.”

“What?! That... that rude excuse of a stallion is going to be our protection?” Rarity said with a mild shriek, her displeasure made perfectly obvious after having been quiet for so long. “Your Majesty, I simply must object! He is... well, he is utterly repulsive, both in personality and manners!”

“I understand your... concerns, Rarity,” Celestia said with a very slight grimace. “But I assure you, he has since improved from the last time you saw him, after a sound scolding following that “disaster” of a Grand Galloping Gala. In fact, one might say he has changed for the better, though “better” is entirely dependent ones’ point of view.” Indeed, he had improved: he was no longer an ass in prince’s clothing. Now, he was in charge of many things, and as such, could not devote as much of his time to his “ass-ness” and actually ran things quite fluidly out along the coast.

But Rarity didn’t know that, so she merely harrumphed and settled her mane back to its proper place. “I still don’t like it,” she muttered.

“Your highness, thank you for this opportunity to once again serve Equestria’s best interests, but... how are we supposed to do this? The coastline is so far away, and even with your express delivery service, it will still take some time for our letters to reach Chrysalis,” Twilight said.

“You will not be sending letters to her: rather, you will be sending them to me,” Celestia said simply. “All six of you will be there, remember? I hope for you to meet the... Queen, face-to-face, and talk to her.”

“But... but... but-,” Twilight began, her brain furiously trying to come up with a counter-argument for them needing to go.

“No more buts, Ms. Sparkle,” Celestia said, her tone no more serious than it had been before, but carrying with it the full weight of her mandated power. “Please, I am counting on you all: this is a situation that needs more of a scalpel and less of a hammer, so to speak. Our military cannot be overtly involved: a few ships or small fleets here or there, but if we were to amass forces to stop this, other countries might see this as an attempt by us to begin an age of imperialism. They would then respond in kind, and the calls to war for conquest and glory would sound forth, like they have so many times in the past.”

Twilight had nothing to say to that: after all, how could she argue with history itself? The peace that had been holding between all the countries had been tenuous at best over the past few hundred years, and if it were to be tipped, then who knew what would happen?

“Yes, your majesty: we will leave as soon as possible,” Twilight said, steeling her nerves. She didn’t want to leave her home behind, but if the princess asked of it, and the country needed it, then she would try her hardest to complete this task.

Celestia smiled, her features softening as the map below her reverted to its natural state, showing the entirety of the country. “Thank you, Twilight Sparkle: many thanks to all of you,” she added, looking at the gathered Elements of Harmony. “I will have your things prepared for your journey: should you need anything, only ask Minister Derp and his daughter, Derpy. They are in charge of all things pertaining to transportation. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some letters to send Blueblood: he is no doubt busy right now, but I am sure he can listen to his aunt.”

With that, the princess left the six mares alone in the room, all of them staring down at the map. “Well, I must say I wasn’t expecting this,” Fluttershy said softly as her fingers traced the political boundaries of her parent’s domain.

“Me neither, and my Pinkie Sense would have normally told me of such a doozy of a thing!” Pinkie Pie said, devouring another hidden sweet. “Oh wait, maybe that was why my spine twirled around inside my back this morning: it tickled!”

Everypony else ignored the physical impossibility of such a statement, but they all looked at each other instead. None needed to say another word to know what the others were thinking: this was very, very important, and they could not fail in this endeavor.

“Well, we’d best get going,” Rarity said, looking at the clock high above them all: the potentially life-changing news had only taken a half hour of their lives, but it seemed like it had taken up so much more. “We... we don’t want to miss our train.” The train was due to leave tomorrow, most likely: morning, if the weather was good.

The others nodded silently, and with heavy but steadied hearts, they left. The fate of Equestria, and indeed much of the world, rested on whether or not they could complete this task.

But no pressure or anything, right?

Meanwhile...

“Should have stayed a carpenter,” Jeremy Hoofer, Ensign aboard the TMS Sunstrider, muttered to himself. He was the youngest officer aboard, having barely entered stallionhood before enlisting in the navy. After working his way through training, he had been assigned a non-descript, AKA non-illustrious career aboard a rather plain escort vessel. It had been a routine patrol with their sister ship, the TMS Moonskimmer, along the coast north of the port of Augustine, when a sudden fog had come out of nowhere. Then, as the two captains tried to re-establish communications with one another, a sudden burst of bright light was the only thing Jeremy saw before he felt his ship shudder beneath him. Another distant blast made the ship tremble again, and to his horror, he had seen three of their cannons roll out and into the ocean, the holes torn into the side a gaping wound. Such accuracy was unheard of from cannons, and the sight had filled the earth pony with dread.

Soon after, a horn sounded in the deep, and shouts and yells accompanied ropes and grappling hooks as another ship appeared out of the mist right next to them. Within seconds, dozens upon dozens of figures had leaped or climbed aboard, doing battle with the shocked and dazed crew of the TMS Sunstrider. It had all been over in a few minutes, the attacking forces brutally forcing the surrender of the crew. The captain, bless his soul, had refused to do so, and had received a naval axe blow to the wrist, cutting his hand right off. He had then passed out from the pain, but was otherwise still alive: or at least, the ensign thought he was, judging from the rising and falling of his chest.

The rest of the crew was tied up alongside him, in chains they normally reserved for captured pirates in the brig below. Instead, they were trussed up, being held at sword-point by the pirates who had so surprised them. Then, as if magic, the fog lifted, and they saw their sister ship in the same shape as them. She was parked on the opposite side of the ship that had pulled up next to them, the majority of the crew being forced into her hold down below.

The flag that flew high over the ship that had defeated them both was clear in the now-sunny skies: a skull above a pair of crisscrossed swords, a torch holding it all aloft on the rippling fabric. It was a sight all sailors had learned to fear, for if the dreaded captain set their sight on their ship, there was little they could do, for it belonged to the Sea Wraith.

Soft hoof-falls accompanied a trio of figures off the Sea Wraith, the one in front making barely a sound. The large hat, tipped with a feather, bobbed slightly with every move. The coat, complete with golden buttons, a red velvet finish and a long, tasseled sleeves, gave him the appearance of a commodore. The captain wore long, light blue pants, and the boots were polished to a fine sheen, though they looked strong enough to crush a wooden beam underhoof.

He, or at least everypony along the coast thought he was a he, wore something akin to a mask over his face. There were rumors he had been terribly disfigured in a battle and now wore it to hide his shameful visage. Others said he had the face of a beast and only wore it to add to his mystique, revealing it only to those he was going to kill. The mask itself was of a purest white, almost intensely so, and the holes where the eyes would shone through were shrouded by a thin fabric, so that nopony could see his eyes.

“What do we have here, Grund?” the captain asked softly, his voice like a slithering snake. It was smooth, gentle, and yet carried with it a deep, resonating tone that would have sent chills down the spines of any scullery maids, had they been aboard the ship. In the spines and hearts of stallions, however, it inspired anger, loathing... fear.

Grund, the first mate who had led the raid on the ship, walked past the row of captives. “All prisoners accounted for, captain,” he said in a gruff voice, limping slightly. “The captain put up more of a fight than I’d have liked, and he lost a hand for it. Still alive, though: the boys bandaged him up pretty good, as per your code.” Ah, the code: informal, but enforced nonetheless by the mysterious captain.

“Good, good, though why you had to cut his hand off eludes me,” the captain said, nudging the unconscious captain with his boot, earning a slight moan in response. It wasn’t a hard nudge: just enough to get a confirmed response of coherence, even in unconsciousness. “I told you I prefer them mostly unharmed, and losing a hand is a severe injury if not treated. Any others injured in such a manner?”

“None, sir: mostly just a few with splinters here and there from the quick shelling, but otherwise unharmed,” the earth pony replied, plucking a small piece of wood out of the shoulder of a captured sailor as he passed by. The pony let out a slight whimper, but otherwise remained silent, the blood trickling down from his wound and staining his whitish uniform: the blue highlights were stained as well.

“I see,” the mysterious pirate captain said, pausing before Ensign Jeremy Hoofer. He leaned down, grasping the young pony by the chin and forcing him to look him in the mask. “Tell me, son, what is your name? I try to learn the names of ponies I’ve met, so as to remember them should I meet them again."

The earth pony was silent at that, trying not to show weakness. “Come now boy, I am no barbarian: we are all equals on the sea, as we are all susceptible to her charms... and her fury,” the captain added with a slight chuckle, glancing out at the distant horizon. “Come now, son, tell me your name: I won’t bite.”

“Ensign Jeremy Hoofer, of the TMS Sunstrider... sir,” the earth pony added: it was a habit by now.

“Ah, another Hoofer,” the captain said, releasing the young pony’s chin. “I met your cousin on your sister ship: maybe you can talk to him when you arrive to your new quarters. Tell me, what did you do before you join Their Majesty’s fleet?” Their Majesty being a reference to the co-ruling between Princesses Celestia and Luna, of course: everypony knew equality was a lofty ideal to the two.

“I... I was a carpenter, sir,” Jeremy said. “I joined because my friends did. I... may or may not have been drunk at the time. I think we all were.” He cracked a small, weary smile at that: they had been drunk.

The mysterious masked captain laughed at that. “Ah, yes, well, even the best of us can do great mistakes whilst under the influence of that liquid called alcohol,” he said. “Tell me, Jeremy, what will you do, now that you are out of a ship, and possibly out of a job?”

“What will I do? I’m... you’re not going to kill me?” the earth pony asked, shocked at this sudden revelation. “But... but you’re a pirate! Rob from everyone, and keep it for yourselves, and all that!”

“I may be a pirate, but I have standards, son. Besides, kill you? Of course not, dear boy: why would I ever want to kill you?” the captain said, his voice sounding like he was speaking through a smile. “You, as are the rest of your crewmates, far more valuable to me alive than dead. I too have some friends, captured you see by the same ponies that employ you, and with you as my prisoners, I can exchange you for their freedom. Think of it as a win-win situation: I get what I want, and once you’re free, you’ll be well on your way to do whatever it is you wish.”

He leaned in a bit closer. “I suggest becoming a carpenter again: a much safer career path, my boy.” With that, he stood up, looking around at his boarding party of a crew: they were waiting for him.

“Well, take them down below, lads: make sure they are plenty comfortable with their fellow shipmates.” The crew nodded, some chuckling at this, as they were wont to do. With that, the chained prisoners were led off, under the watchful eye of the captain. “Be sure to attach the tow lines securely to these ships: it’ll be a tough load to haul, but they are worth far more in this state than in pieces,” the captain added as several of his crew brought out chains and large bundles of rope.

“Sir, it was a good thing you arrived before she did,” Grund said as the last crewmate left the ship, jerking his head out towards the calm waters far beyond the horizon. “Otherwise, these ships would be at the bottom of the sea, useless and in pieces, and the crews of both would likely be all dead.”

“I know, Grund, I know,” the captain said as they walked across the plank back onto their own large pirate ship, the Sea Wraith. “It does not bode well for the region for her to act so careless with the lives of others, even for a pirate. I guess I’ll need to have a “discussion” with her on that sometime in the future.” He didn’t dislike the mare of which he spoke: he just saw things differently than she did.

The first mate only smiled at this: the captain was well versed in negotiations of all kinds, and the witch somewhere out in those waters would be no real problem for him.

Author's Note

Well, thought I'd try my hand at something with a bit more flair, and a bit more... adventure. So, what do you think?