Pirates of Equestria

14: Motives

Shining Armor walks the deck of his new frigate as it sails across the churning ocean. It is a magnificent vessel, a significant improvement from the small schooner destroyed by Sky. Like the Guardian Dove that he sailed before, this one is painted with the same purple and blue pattern with the gold trim. It is outfitted with thirty cannons on the sides with an additional two on the bow and four on the stern. Shining had made sure to thank the Royal Coast Guard for providing such a ship for his search. As the ship was now his to command, the prince had been given the honor of naming the mighty vessel. He instantly knew the perfect name, the Crystal Princess.

Walking besides Shining is Braeburn who gawks at the massive ship as they walk the deck. Even now the settler pony struggles to overcome the culture shock of life at sea. Soarin sits up at the helm issuing orders for the helms pony. After the attack by Sky the Wonderbolt had insisted that he stay with the prince for the remainder of the journey. Shining had eagerly accepted the pegasus’ invitation.

Shining walks up to the bow of the ship and peers out at the vast ocean. They had been sailing for the past day with no sighting so far. Despite Sky’s standing reputation, he is rather difficult to find. It seems he chooses when he is found with now not being one of those times. Hope and fear both flash through Shining’s mind when the lookout calls out. A ship has been spotted, a brig.

Shining takes a spyglass and looks out in the direction of the sighting to see the ship floating in the water. He commands the helms pony to head towards it and keeps a close eye out. As the Crystal Princess closes in, Shining takes notice of the severe damage to the drifting ship. The few sails that are still attached to the masts are tattered and torn to small pieces. The main mast is the only one of the three still standing and gaping holes dot the side. It was not Sky’s ship but the fact that this one is so heavily damaged does not ease the prince’s worry.

Shining heads to the starboard side as the ship eases in close. The crew throw grappling hooks and pull the brig in close. Shining and Braeburn head over to the wounded brig along with several guards to investigate while Soarin takes command of the Crystal Princess. What the prince finds is a gruesome sight.

“What happened here?” the prince asks out loud as Braeburn vomits on the bloodied deck.

Bodies lie all about with a small pile of mangled bodies in the center of the deck providing a pungent smell. Dried blood covers the deck like a coat of paint. There are three total ponies that had been decapitated, one being the captain. The other two are amongst the pile in the center. The heads are nowhere to be found, likely having fallen over as the ship tossed from the waves. Amongst the bodies, none are found that do not belong to the guard crew. Either none of the attackers were killed or their bodies are already on the bottom of the ocean. Finally, Shining notices a single pony hanging by his neck from the main mast.

“This doesn’t make sense,” the prince says.

“What do ya mean?” Braeburn asks, struggling to hold back the urge to vomit again.

“Why is this ship still floating and why is this one pony amongst all the others hung?”

None of it made sense. Up to now, Sky’s tactics consisted of him attacking ships, slaying the entire crew, and sinking the damaged vessel. Why leave this one adrift and why is one pony hanging from the mast? First things first though.

“Gather the bodies!” he commands. “We are giving these ponies a burial at sea.”

These ponies did not deserve to be left here to rot, plus Shining cannot afford to lug around the more than two and a half dozen bodies to bury on land. As for the one hanging, he calls for a closer look.

“Cut that one down,” the prince says indicating the hanging pony. “I want to take a close look at him.”

A pair of pegasi cut the pony down and bring him to the prince. Shining looks over the pony for anything that would explain why he was hung instead of being slain like the rest. The pony bears some marks of injury, but nothing serious. Likely, he was injured during battle then hung until dead. Surprisingly, the pony was really no one special. He was not the captain nor any officer for that matter. There is nothing about him that Shining can find to cause Sky to single him out from the rest. Was he the lone survivor or just one that rubbed Sky the wrong way? Judging from the body pile in the center of the deck, there were other survivors. Those others had likely been killed by the sword after they surrendered but only this one was killed by hanging. Why?

“Uh, Mister Shinin’ Armor Sir?”

Shining looks over at the sickly looking settler pony.

“Why are you so interested in this one pony? What’s so different about this attack?”

Shining hangs his head as he thinks about his old friend then looks back at Braeburn. “Sky doesn’t do anything without a reason.”

Braeburn looks at the prince, more confused than before.

“Up until now, Sky has always sunk a ship, leaving few if any survivors.”

“But there are no survivors this time.”

“True, but he didn’t sink the ship. The fact that one pony out of forty was hung and the ship is still afloat means that Sky wanted the ship, and that pony, to be found.”

Braeburn tilts his head, still unconvinced. “What makes ya so sure about that?”

Shining is quite for a moment as he stares at the body on the deck. “I’ve known Sky for a long time and he doesn’t do anything without a reason. He would not change his tactics unless there was a reason.

“This here,” he indicates the horrific scene around them, “is Sky’s way of leaving a clue to what’s going on in his head. Remember how I told you he loved playing games of strategy with Big Mac. Well this is him changing his tactics, something he often did to confuse his opponent. This time, he is after something and is leading us using clues like this. There is a hidden message here. He has used this method to communicate with allies in secret back in the day.”

“So what will be the next clue?” Braeburn asks, struggling to wrap his head around this talk of strategies and mystery codes.

“I can’t be sure,” Shining says. “But given the way Sky is acting now, it will likely be another gruesome one like this. All we can do is follow the clues until we figure out the ultimate motive. Or better yet, find Sky and end this before things get any worse than they already are.”

A pair of guards come over and take the hung pony’s body for burial. Shining looks over the scene once more. What is Sky after? For all his talk, Shining is just as confused as Braeburn. He knows how Sky likes to operate, but this is something he never thought would happen. This new Sky Runner, the “Demon Captain,” is someone he does not know. He had never been able to outsmart Sky before, even in simple games. This clue to his plans, is going to be the first in a line of clues and Shining cannot even figure out what “game” the pegasus is playing. The Sky he once knew has become something he can hardly comprehend. Hopefully, he is not beyond saving, even with his mass killing spree.