There once was a pony named Golden Delicious, who was King of the Pirates. He had fame, fortune and wealth beyond your wildest dreams. Before they hung him from the gallows these were the final words he said.
“My fortune is yours for the taking, but you’ll have to find it first. I left everything I own, in One Piece.”
Ever since, ponies from all over the world had set sail for the Grand Line searching for One Piece. To make all their dreams come true.
The sea was calm by the little fishing village of Shoobe; its fleet was out trawling the waters for any sign of sea life it could catch. Ponies bustled around the small town selling their wares and dodging one particular adolescent earth pony that seemed hell bent on getting to the docks.
“Gang way!” The colt roared, his thin body allowing him to squeeze between two rather large fish sales ponies and their customers. He ducked and dodged, laughing aloud as he revelled in his new found freedom; today was the day he was going to set sail.
He leapt down the stairs to the docks, landing with his knees slightly bent, as the thump against his chest and sides let him know his trusty flight goggles were still around his neck and his saddlebags were still full. He gave a quick shake getting his long brown mane out of his eyes, before he wandered the jetty looking for his prize, The Octavia, his promised ship.
He walked past numerous vessels of sizes ranging from dinghies to full sized ships with several masts. Head swinging back and forth, he didn’t even notice the solid wall of a pony until it was too late, Pipsqueak landed with a small owe.
The wall pony turned and gave him a reproachful look.
“Watch where you’re running!” The Stallion growled, Pipsqueak looked him over in awe. His cutie mark, a large anchor, would have marked him out for a Sailor if the tiny Sailors cap perched on a cropped black mane didn’t already achieve the purpose.
Pipsqueak lay where he had fallen, taking in the sea coloured coat and eyes that were coloured like storm clouds, that right as this moment seemed to be glaring quite ferociously. With a quick roll Pipsqueak bounced onto his hooves and gave the Sailor a lazy salute.
“Sorry Sir, you’re not hurt are you?”
The Sailor’s angry expression dispersed as he laughed, Pipsqueak grinned enthusiastically, his tail almost twitching with eagerness.
“No lad, I’m fine. What has you in such a hurry?” The Stallion said his voice sounding like he had been gargling nails.
“I’m looking for The Octavia,” Pipsqueak explained hurriedly. “I put all my money into her, and she’s going to be my new ship!”
The laughter that met this statement only grew louder, as passers-by whispered the comment to each other. Pipsqueak looked in confusion at the Sailors and Dock Workers, two of which were in such hysterics that they were literally holding each other upright.
Wiping his eye the Sailor gave a mirthful look at Pipsqueak. “Ahh, that’s a good one runt. Paying for The Octavia! Will wonders never cease?”
Pipsqueak glared at the Ponies around him. “I did pay for it, two and a half thousand bits to Sour Grapes, he inherited the ship when his grandfather died and he sold it to me!”
The laughter doubled but eventually the Sailor in front of Pipsqueak calmed down enough to motion that Pipsqueak should follow him. Along the deck they walked, dodging left and right around the Dock Workers and Crew ponies who swarmed in the tight space.
Eventually they stopped in front of what Pipsqueak could only describe as perfection. The ship was massive with a double mast and cross beams that he could only imagine the length of. The pearly white sails were folded, as Pegasus ponies flew about main crow’s nest moving ropes back and forth between them.
The deck was a hive of activity, Earth and Unicorns ponies all decked out in the white coats and hats of Celestia’s marines were shouting orders and moving suspicious looking boxes into the ships hold which Pipsqueak mentally wagered also held the dormitories, and he gave up counting the numerous holes in the sides for the cannons.
This was the ship he had bought.
“Mr Grapes got ripped off if he thought this was only worth two and a half thousand bits,” Pipsqueak said aloud, too entranced by the ship to notice if his remark had any effect on his companion. Starting towards the ship he eagerly raced up the jetty, brushing past angry marines as he reared up on his back legs placing his front hooves on the wheel; he loved loving the feeling of the smooth wood.
“Oie what do you think you’re doing!” A voice full of authority screeched behind him.
Pipsqueak looked at the marine in front of him. She was an older mare, her flank showed three Caramel Apples and her once orange mane and tail had streaks of grey. Her uniform was also slightly different too; the jacket has a single black line running along the back instead of being a solid white sheet.
“I’m standing at the helm of my new ship, Marm!” Pipsqueak replied with a smile, sticking out his hoof.
The next thing he knew he was on the ground staring up into the mares reddish yellow eyes, that now held the same ferocity as an angry Ursa Major.
“My name is Captain Caramel Apple. What do you mean your new ship?”
“Well you, I bought the sip of this marine named Sour Apples, he said it belonged to his grandfather and that I could have it. So I spent forever making enough to buy it off him, the deed to it is in my bag,” Pushing her away from him and ignoring the grunt he received he quickly shrugged off the bags and dug through it.
“He said I might meet the old Captain and that I should give them the deed and this letter,” Pipsqueak mumbled through a mouthful of stuff before pulling out a sheet of paper and an Envelope and handing it to Caramel.
The Captain took if off him, her place orange fur rippling more and more as she read. With a growl she looked at Pipsqueak and before he knew it she had bucked him, right down to the deck. He lay groaning as he listened to her howl.
“Take this little idiot off my ship, immediately. Point him on the path home; make sure he doesn’t try this again. Captain Nice Flank indeed!”
Pipsqueak was borne upwards by two Pegasus who took both him and his now refilled saddlebags and, none too gently, threw him onto the jetty.
The Sailor who had accompanied him wandered in close and gave him a quick inspection as Pipsqueak tried to simultaneously hold both his sides and keep weight off his back left leg.
“The leg is just a little sprained, nothings broken. You’ll be fine,” Pipsqueak nodded as he looked towards the ship.
The Sailor seemed to catch his expression as he exclaimed. “I wouldn’t suggest trying that again the Marines might not be so lenient next time.”
“I don’t understand what went wrong; I had all the right forms.” Pipsqueak muttered; the Sailor shook his head.
“You were scammed kid, swindled. You never had a ship.” Pipsqueak felt his ears drop down as he heard this, he sank low to the cobblestones and the Sailor made a sympathetic clicking noise. “Why do you want to go out to sea that badly? You’re still a young colt, you have time. “
Pipsqueak turned his head to look at the Sailor, and gave a large grin, injuries mainly forgotten as he broached his favourite topic.
“I’m going to live up to my promise to my friend and do what only one pony has ever managed to do. I’m going to become King of the Pirates.” Pipsqueak exclaimed proudly as he bounced onto his hooves.
The Sailor grinned at him an eyebrow raised. “Oh, you and what crew?”
“The crew I’ll find. I’m going to collect, the roughest toughest bunch of fighters in all of Equestria and the Grand Line!” Pipsqueak bounced excitedly. “But first things first, I need a ship and I know exactly who now owes me one.”
With a short goodbye Pipsqueak hurried back towards the main town of Shoobe, this time powering through the crowd instead of using the light speed precision dodging he had this morning. Quickly he turned down the side streets just off the fish markets, watching as two muscular stallions swapped saddlebags with a younger very pretty mare. They glared at him as he approached and kept glaring as he squeezed past them; it wasn’t his problem at the moment.
Back alleys and streets finally took him back to his neighbourhood and onto the path of Mr Sour Grapes his next-door neighbour. Grapes’ house was of a moderate size, and from the few times Pipsqueak had managed to break into it, very comfortable. With a flick of his head, the flight goggles settled around his eyes and with a scowl he marched past the small house of Mr Whooves, who was allowing him to rent his back room for a song.
Pipsqueak stomped onto the front porch his hoof descending onto the wooden door in a few sharp hits. Standing he waited, listening to patter of hooves on the wooden floorboards, which signalled the approach of Sour Grapes. Suddenly the door opened and a bright blue eye peered through the door. The eye widened before the door was thrown open with enough force to rattle the windows as it hit the front wall.
A scrawny stallion with a light blue mane and cream coloured coat stood there, his expression horrified as he stared down at Pipsqueak; who glared back.
“You came back. You came back and you’re not even injured,” Sour Grapes stammered, Pipsqueak remembered the cool and smooth voice of the pony who had sold him the ship, oh how different it was now.
“You sold me a ship that wasn’t yours, and you made me insult Captain Apple,” Pipsqueak stated as Sour Grapes began to cower. “Why?”
“Well, uh, you see,” Sour grapes started to stammer as Pipsqueak stared up at him. “It totally was my ship.” Suddenly he brightened up and the stammer left his voice, returning to the smooth and charming tone he had held earlier. “I’ll just duck inside and grab the proof. Wait here and I’ll go and grab it okay?”
“No tricks?” Pipsqueak asked, as he settled down onto his rump.
“No tricks, I’ll be right back.” Sour Grapes smiled at him as he closed the door. Pipsqueak listened as the hoof steps faded, indicating him going deeper into the house; numerous bangs and scrapes could be heard making him wonder what this evidence could possibly be.
Pipsqueak grew bored as he sat on the porch, his tail making small sweeping motions over the uneven boards. He yawned staring down the street, a minute passed then two then four and suddenly he realized he had been tricked.
Springing up from the porch he sped down the street, looking for the closest pony. He found them down the third alley way, the young mare he had passed before was sitting there counting a heap of bits with a smile on her face. Her red mane was piled up on her head a yellow hair band with Cherries decorating it holding it in place, her green eyes, highlighted with just a touch of eye shadow gleamed as she took in Pipsqueak and the mole under her right eye was almost hidden by the thick foundation she wore.
She tugged on her light blue frock that hid her cutie mark from view, just by the cut and the material told him she was either from high class or knew the way to work for it.
Her smile barely faulted as she grumbled at him. “I say, this place has become a highway today! Can a girl not conduct her business in private?”
Pipsqueak blushed as he realized the possibilities of her statement, stumbling over his words in his embarrassment. “Excuse me miss, you haven’t seen a cream coloured pony wander through here before me?”
“Cream coloured you say?” She wiggled her flank as she thought; Pipsqueak quickly stared at the ground.
“Yes, he seemed to be in quite a hurry. Had full saddle bags and everything, muttering constantly about catching a ship, is that who you...”
Pipsqueak turned and ran before she had even finished speaking, kicking his legs into overdrive. Suddenly his vision tunneled and he propelled himself forward down the cobbled main streets. Images flicked by him as he twisted and turned, knocking over bins, carts and ponies in his rush for the dock; his one objective branded into his brain. Get to Sour Grapes.
Suddenly he saw him, running full pelt along jetty as fast as he legs could carry him, bulging saddle bags seemingly threatening to spill their contents at every step. Without hesitating Pipsqueak got up beside him and rammed him, throwing them both into the water.
Suddenly everything was dark; he floundered as his bags pulled him down. He turned his head watching as Sour Grapes managed to swim slowly upwards towards the surface. Pipsqueak tried to follow him limbs floundering, but he felt as though there was a lead weight on his chest that was slowly getting heavier.
He closed his eyes, to just enjoy the weightless feeling as he slowly slipped into unconsciousness. The next thing he knew there was a rather large pounding sensation on his stomach as he felt bile and water rush up his throat and pool out of his mouth.
“That’s it kid, bring it all up.” A familiar rough voice exclaimed. He opened his eyes, he was lying on his side, his stomach feeling as though an out of control chariot had hit it and his head spun. The Sailor he had met earlier was standing in front of him, while two other dock works hemmed in Sour Grapes who looked less pleased than Pipsqueak thought it was possible for a pony to look.
Several of the other dock workers looked at Pipsqueak with fear and revulsion as though he had broken some sacred oath.
“King of the Pirates and can’t swim a stroke, you choose a good career path.” The Sailor laughed as he hauled Pipsqueak to his hooves.
“It’s not that I can’t swim,” Pipsqueak started to explain when one of the workers interrupted him.
“The child carries one of the cursed relics of Nightmare Moon, no normal pony can move at such speeds!” Shouts of disgust and outrage came from most of the on-lookers but the Sailor just shrugged.
“You obtained a Nightmare Amulet kid?”
Pipsqueak nodded knowing he should have been more careful, he thought back on what he had read up about the strength and weakness of the relics left by the War of Eternal Night. Amulets could give great powers to any pony that used them, but they all came at a price.
Earth ponies lost their ability to swim and grew weak around salt water, Pegasi lost their ability to truly fly, restricted to a very short hover, while unicorns lost their magic but the Amulets power was often doubled as it fed off their innate power.
Pipsqueak shivered with cold as he looked at Sour Grapes. “You lied to me!”
Sour Grapes looked scared, twitching nervously as his guards waited for him to respond. Without a word he quickly threw himself on Pipsqueak, thrusting out his head for a quick head butt.
Pipsqueak reeled backwards as the blow struck his jaw; he shook his head to try and clear the ringing before punching out with his fore-hooves, faster and faster Pipsqueak’s punches got, almost blurring together as they knocked Sour Grapes back enough to for him to duck out of the chain of quick hits. Backing up they circled each other Pipsqueak looking for the next attack while Sour Grapes eyes just seemed to rove wildly.
Sour Grapes face was a mess, one eye closed and hoof marks all over. He snarled as he quietly mumbled.
“You’d do some real damage with that if you could actually punch for something kid,”
Sour Grapes dashed forward again but this time Pipsqueak was ready for it, with a turn he launched out his back legs delivering a powerful blow to his opponent’s side. He watched as Sour Grapes fell, dodging back to stay away from his flailing legs.
Sour Grapes rolled to his hooves, turning his head to give a glance at Pipsqueak, before he started to run, finding his path quickly blocked by The Sailor.
“You finish what you start coward,” the Stallion growled as he pushed him back towards Pipsqueak; who was waiting for him. As Sour Grapes stumbled back towards him, Pipsqueak turned and lashed out with his back legs catching him in the hind legs dropping him down onto the ground.
Pipsqueak walked around his opponent, watching carefully for any sudden movements, Sour Grapes just cringed and looked away.
“I’m sorry. Please, I’ll give you a ship, and your money. Just, please stop!”
Pipsqueak stopped as he looked at his defeated foe and smiled.
“Apology accepted! Don’t try this kind of stunt again.”
Sour Grapes nodded rising shakily to his hooves, stumbling slightly as he walked towards Pipsqueak. Quickly he shrugged off one of his shoulder bags, the jingling sound it made proving that it contained at least some, if not all, of the promised money.
Slowly, Sour Grapes limped along the docks Pipsqueak and the Sailor traveling along in his wake. They stopped at a small, wooden single-sailed vessel that rode high in the water, peeling red letters decorated the side spelling out the ships name; The Merpony.
Pipsqueak beamed as he looked at his new vessel, his eyes ignoring the weakened wood and the patched sails. This was the first step to fulfilling his dream.
He turned and beamed at the Sailor who beamed back.
“You finally got your ship kid. What are you going to do now?”
Pipsqueak stared at his new boat, frowning thoughtfully. “I need to start gathering some crew members I guess.”
“If I would be so bold as to make a suggestion.” The Sailor said as Pipsqueak climbed aboard his new ship and started to hoist the sails. “There is a rumour about a strong swordsman hanging around Water Whistle, just up the coast from here. If you want my advice you could start there.”
“Thank you!” Pipsqueak yelled as he sailed away, waving until both Sour Grapes and the Sailor were just mere dots in the distance. Eventually he settled down, one hoof on the tiller as he stared towards his next adventure; Water Whistle.
A/N: So I had this one looked over and redone. So thank you Twai for helping me with that. Ownership is of course other people (Hasbro to be exact. So Please don’t sue me.. I’d appreciate it.)
Chapter 2: Arrival at Water Whistle
Chapter 2
Pipsqueak stood at the bow of his ship, the wind whipping his mane around wildly as he watched the coastline pass by. A beautiful beach of white sand stretched out beside him broken by the occasional section of mangroves. He had to quickly tilt his tiller as he dodged past the occasional trading vessel or Marine patrol but mostly the three day trip had been easy.
Pipsqueak looked over his remaining food, a rather squishy apple and a small container of water was all he had left. He picked up the apple taking a small bite as he watched the sights, the sky was clear and the currents didn’t seem any worse than when he had left. It was around mid afternoon when Pipsqueak noticed a small boat floating in front of him, it was similar to his but instead of the plain, white sail this one displayed proudly the skull and crossbones.
Pipsqueak grinned as he pulled a short bit of rope of out of his saddlebags; quickly tying one end of the rope around one of the seats in his boat, he jumped over and repeated the process. Content that the two boats were lashed firmly together he began to explore the ship; or what was left of it.
The boat was a mess, the timbers were scratched and the seat in the bow was cleaved in two. After a few minutes more searching Pipsqueak found something that caught his eye, a brown coloured sack was hidden near the stern. Making sure there was nothing he had missed, Pipsqueak undid the ropes and with it and the bag in his teeth jumped back to his boat.
Safely back on his ship and now drifting away from the destroyed craft, Pipsqueak upended the sack and dodged backwards to avoid the two items that slipped out. A shining blade hit the deck first, burying to the point in the timbers just between Pipsqueak’s fore-hooves; a long plain black scabbard followed it hitting the deck with a loud thump.
The blade was single edged and lightly curved, ending in a wicked point, the cross-hilt was thick and the hilt wrapped with green cloth looked like it had bite marks; the sign of either a Pegasus or Earth Pony wielder. With a strong tug he pulled the sword out of the timbers before he awkwardly leaned the scabbard against the side of the craft.
After a few minutes of tricky maneuvering Pipsqueak finally managed to sheath the sword and lay it down beneath his hooves. He toyed with it, idly pushing it back and forth, imagining himself with a decent blade at his side.
“Who do you belong to I wonder?” Pipsqueak mused quietly, his fantasies dashed as he realized it had to belong to whoever owned the boat. He nodded, deciding to make sure he checked the next couple of towns.
All thoughts of searching and more importantly where his next meal was coming from fell out of his head as wood bounced against wood signalling his arrival at Water Whistle. Clutching the sword in his teeth Pipsqueak jumped onto the docks, dropping it before quickly hopping back in and grabbing the rope to moor his boat.
Picking the sword back up he trotted quickly towards the town, constantly threatening to tip over due to the uneven weight in his saddle bags. Walking slowly, Pipsqueak took note of his surroundings.
The buildings were decrepit, holes patched over with planks of wood and scorch marks on the stones. The streets were cracked and dirty, ensuring Pipsqueak didn’t rush too much on his search and the numerous fountains dotted around were either off or spraying small pathetic jets of brown sludge.
Looking around for somewhere to fill his now growling stomach, he spotted a place that smelled quite strongly of sizzling tomatoes and Applejack Daniels and walked closer.
The building stood out most because it was unlike any of the others; clean. The building was two stories, the wooden Saloon doors were polished and the windows were clean. A small plaque above the doors declared as boldly as it could Celestia’s Blessing: Bar and Board!
Without hesitation Pipsqueak pushed through and wandered in, taking in the sights of the down-stairs bar. Numerous tables were spread around the room though almost all were empty, mares and stallions, mainly marines, sat around drinking and eating as a single unicorn bolted around, handing out small portions of food and drink.
Pipsqueak wandered up to the bar, dropping his saddlebags and the sword down next to him as he pulled himself onto a stool. He watched as a pretty young unicorn wandered over, her pale blue coat was primed and neat like her long black mane but her smile didn’t quite meet her yellow coloured eyes.
As subtly as he could he leaned forward slightly taking note her cutie mark, a wine glass and a large red tomato.
“Howdy stranger,” She greeted quickly straightening herself up. “They call me Bubbly. What can I get you?” She asked casually as lent on the bar, her eyes flicking down more than once to the bulging Saddlebags sitting at Pipsqueaks hooves; nervously he placed his hind legs around the bag as he placed his order.
“Food if it wouldn’t be too much trouble, a tomato and lettuce sandwich if I can.”
“Course you can sir, anything else you need?” Pipsqueak thought for a moment before he nodded.
“Actually, do you still have any rooms to let? I want to spend some time in town, I’m looking for someone.”
Bubbly gave another of her false smiles as she turned and headed into the kitchen, leaving Pipsqueak with his thoughts. Pipsqueak looked around at the other patrons; most he noted were either sullen, close to drunk or both. The ones that bothered to wear clothes showed there patches and darning but they still looked strong as though the hard times had just started.
Most were unarmed except for the select few in white coats, who bore either the standard short swords or rifles of those in the lower infantry rank.
Pipsqueak sighed bored, starting to count the grains on the counter in front of him before Bubbly trotted back with his meal. He grinned at the sight of it; fresh white bread and he could see both the lettuce and fried tomato sliding tantalizingly out of it.
Picking it up; he bit into it, chewing slowly as he felt shreds of lettuce and bread flow antagonizingly slow down his throat and into his very impatient stomach. As Pipsqueak enjoyed the deep repetitive trance of chewing and swallowing his delicious meal he was raised back into the real world when a rather loud laugh broke out at a table adjacent to him.
“So we found it a couple of days back. It had pretty much destroyed the entire ship, lying close to exhaustion after knocking out at least four pirates by itself,”
Pipsqueak turned to the speaker. A younger pony was standing agitatedly in front of several older Marines who watched as he jumped up and down.
“I’m serious. The boat was a wreck; it was laying there among the unconscious bodies of the crew and we couldn’t get its damn weapons off of it. Captain Azure Arc ordered us to take them all in hull; the monster’s still in the brigs. Solitary. One of the feeding crew lost one of his ears; real mess.”
A majority of the Marines looked rather disturbed, but one gave a booming laugh.
“That weak little thing? I reckon the Pirates knocked themselves out; and she just took credit for them while they were down.”
The entire group dissolved into pointless arguing and with a shrug Pipsqueak turned back to his meal. Polishing off the last of the delicious sandwich he caught Bubbly eyeing his saddlebags again; she jumped slightly as he gave her a glance and she backed up behind the bar again.
“All finished?” She asked quickly, pointedly looking anywhere but at Pipsqueak.
“Oh yes, thank you it was great.” Pipsqueak said contentedly, leaning forward on the bar. She grinned, a true smile this time, as she picked up his plate and took it into the back; returning shortly with a glass of dark red liquid, small bubbles slowly rose from the bottom before popping out of existence.
“A glass for the compliment sir,” She said. “On the house,”
Pipsqueak stared at the liquid and frowned. “What is it?”
“Tomato juice and red wine,” She said happily. “A couple of other ingredients as well, gives it the bubbles and mixes the flavors together quite well. How I earned my cutie mark coincidentally.”
Pipsqueak nodded as he took a sip, it was strange it tasted mostly like Tomato juice with the fizzyness one normally associated with carbonated beverages. A warm burning sensation filled his stomach as he smiled; this stuff was fantastic!
He leaned back his head and gulped it down; happily taking his time lowering the glass down onto the bar.
“Another if I may please.”
Bubbly smiled as she refilled his glass and he repeated the action draining this one even faster than the last. He listened to the noises of the common room but slowly they began to fade away and he felt something soft against his back.
Pipsqueak’s eyes shot open in surprise. He was lying down in a small room; sunlight beaming into his face from the open window. His head aching he stretched and rolled to his right, his head making a large thunk against the small bedside table. He tried not to howl.
Turning over again so he lay on his back, Pipsqueak stared at the cracked white ceiling and tried to remember what happened.
“Monster on a boat, then Bubbly mixed me some of that delicious drink, then I must have fallen asleep,” Pipsqueak whispered softly as he frowned, He sat up, much too fast, the room around him spinning and churning but he resisted the bile that rose in his throat; slowly he looked around.
The room was practically unfurnished apart from the white-sheeted bed he lay in and that damn bedside table. Rising panic hit him for a few minutes as he searched for his saddlebags, but he quickly spotted the corner of them poking out near the edge of his bed.
Suddenly the door burst open and Bubbly clopped loudly into the room.
“Morning!” She said enthusiastically. Pipsqueak groaned and put his front hooves over his ears.
“Please not so loud,” he muttered as she wandered over to the bed.
“You said you were looking for someone last night right? Well there’s a gathering happening in the town square today, you might meet this mysterious pony there!” Bubbly said excitedly and almost too quickly for Pipsqueak's aching head to keep up with.
Pipsqueak nodded slowly as he rolled the right way out of bed, landing on shaky legs. With a yawn he stumbled past Bubble and picked up his bags. A niggling thought that something was wrong appeared in the back of his head, but the pounding and pain drove it back to its hiding place in the subconscious.
“Got everything? Good. Good! I’ll help you down-stairs shall I?” Pipsqueak nodded and followed her back down to the bar where he was given several cups of cold tea. His head now pounding significantly less and with directions to the gathering from a now happily smiling Bubbles he quickly left the bar and headed into the town proper.
Ponies swarmed the streets pushing and shoving against the small groups of Marines that patrolled the streets. Two small fillies ducked in front of him as he arrived in the square. A large wooden stage had been set up, stacked up crates used as a stairway gave access to the platform.
Six ponies stood on the stage, looking out over the gathered crowd. At the front was a brown earth pony, his black mane and tail were perfectly groomed and his blue eyes scanned the faces of the crowed while he smirked.
A white shirt’s collar with a dark blue Jackets collar underneath was combined with a red tie, bearing a bit symbol, completed his outfit. Pushing closer Pipsqueak realized the pony had three money bags as his cutie mark, defiantly a sign of the upper class.
A younger pony, which bore the posture of a noble lady, around about Pip’s age stood next to him. Her coat was a rather luscious looking pink complimenting well with her purple and white mane, a silver tiara was perched delicately on her head, an exact replica as the one on her flank. She was good looking and knew it, looking down her nose at the many stallions that were standing eagerly near the stage, openly watching her.
Tearing his eyes off the stage for a minute, he compared the townsfolk to the two immaculate beings standing before them all. The difference was staggering and something again stirred in the back of his brain which caused his head to pound.
Pipsqueak quickly turned his attention to the other members of the stage, trying to ignore his aching head. Behind them was three beige coloured ponies wearing dark glasses and looking tough, basic security types. It was however the smaller pony that caught his eye.
It was a bored looking pegasus; her coat was a bright orange and her messy mane and tail were a deep magenta, she wasn’t as obviously cutesy as the pink mare up the front but she looked lean and fit, her cutie mark showed three different swords in a ring, their blue, red and green handles touching in the center.
It was her wings however that drew his attention the most. Unlike the usual Pegasus, whose wingspan was ordinarily at least half their width, her wings were rather small, almost underdeveloped.
Two sheathed swords, running snugly along the sides of her body, were held in pace by two weird contraptions, one on each wing. Pipsqueak stared at the contraption trying to figure out how it worked, but was distracted when the brown stallion spoke but one word.
“Money,”
The crowed went silent, even the stallions that had been crowding around the pink mare had taken a few steps back.
“I have been trying time and time again to help you with your little money problems. It gets wasted in your filthy town wide economy, paying for your food, drinks and lives. You all get paid from the bits I’m pouring into your little cesspool by buying into your little town so heavily, I own so much and you owe me so much.”
Pipsqueak looked around at the wide-eyed faces; mares avoiding eye contact with the ponies up on stage while the stallions scraped their feet on the stones.
“I’ve bought your houses, your taverns, your bars. But you refuse to pay me my rightful rent! Think about what this town used to be: a rundown little shithole. Until I came along and started protecting you,” He paused seemingly trying to hold back a laugh. “It was destroyed every month by raiders and pirates.”
The crowed began to mutter as he spat out the last word as though he had something foul in his mouth, some nodding their heads slightly under the hard gaze they were receiving other just stared at the ground. Pipsqueak shook his still muddled head, not quite understanding the point of all of this, but the speech seemed to be wrapping up soon anyway.
“Now that I’ve clarified the situation I want you all to know. You have three days to pay me the money I’m owed plus of course the interest. Any tenants who can’t pay or decide not too will be evicted. Good day.”
The security ponies marched forward with the smaller orange mare, making a square formation around the brown stallion and the pink mare before hustling them off-stage. They were halfway across the square when a yell was heard.
“Filthy Rich you bastard! You took our town from us!”
A scrawny looking pegasus pony swooped down from above, hooves out, wings pumping furiously as he aimed at the brown earth pony. Suddenly there was an orange blur and the would be attacker was flying back into the crowd, Pipsqueak blinked.
The orange mare was standing there, wings out, the left one covered with small drops of blood. Her face was set defiantly as she clenched her teeth. Filthy Rich patted her on the head and whispered something to her before they continued crossing the square.
Without stopping to think Pipsqueak started to run, charging through the crowd until he got to the side of the downed assailant. He looked him over quickly, noticing the thin red line that had opened on the side the alabaster coat.
The pegasus grimaced in pain, staring up with a look of horror at the sword Pipsqueak carried in his teeth.
Pipsqueak dropped it quickly, ignoring the flinch from the downed flyer as he asked hurriedly. “Why did you attack that stallion?”
A bout of laughter came from the figure. “Not like his little assassins to ask questions, kill me and be done with it,”
Pipsqueak looked at him curiously. “Assassin? I’m not an assassin. I’m a pirate! Here to gather my-“
“Pirate? You can’t be a pirate! We made a deal, pirates don’t enter our town if we pay Filthy. You can’t be here!” The Pegasus groaned at the effort as he started to drag himself away while simultaneously watching Pipsqueak.
“Hey,” Pipsqueak said indigently. “I’m not here to destroy anything, I just want to get more crew members.”
“Wait? You’re a pirate without a crew?” The Pegasus looked surprised.
Pipsqueak saluted hurriedly with a fore-leg, wobbling unsteadily. “Yes sir, Captain Pipsqueak at your service!”
“Um, Flip Wing.” Flip Wing sat up uncomfortably scratching his head. “Pirate with no crew...”
Pipsqueak rolled his eyes. “That’s right. I’m looking for strong companions. What can you tell me about that orange mare?”
Flip Wings eves widened. “You mean Flithy’s pet demon? Oh kid have I got a story about her.” With another groan he was on his hooves.
With a bound Pipsqueak supported the older Pegasus as they started down the narrow dirty streets of Water Whistle, eagerly awaiting the story he had been promised.
A/N: Thank you Twai for helping me with that. Ownership is of course other people (Hasbro to be exact. So Please don’t sue me.. I’d appreciate it.)
