Chapters Captain crouches low to the ground and quickly makes his way toward the group once again. It doesn’t take him long to catch up, and within a few seconds he is reaching for the map again. He is just a few centimeters away, just a bit more, he thought, almost there. He grabs it as quick as he could before anypony could notice him. I have the other half of my map, I can finally start getting treasure! he thinks to himself.
He quickly unfurls the map and takes a good look at it. Then he takes out his half and holds it up next to the new half. His eyes go wide at the sudden realization.
“WHAT THE BUCK!? THESE AREN’T FROM THE SAME MAP!” he shouts.
He glances back at the group of soldiers to see them all glaring at him. The captain quickly checks his coat and sees that his map is gone, he looks back at Captain, and it doesn’t take long for him to put two and two together. “I want her arrested immediately!” he barked out to the rest of the soldiers.
“Whoa, whoa, wait guys. Can’t we go get a bottle of rum and forget… Wait, Did you just call me ‘her’?” says Captain.
The soldiers quickly rush at him. Sadly for them, they didn’t know quite how fast Captain was. Captain easily sidesteps one of them to deliver a punch to the back of the neck. He ducks under another one, quickly getting back up to headbutt the one behind. He doesn’t ever bother to dodge the next, opting to simply punch him in the face. He turns back to face the last soldier standing.
“You can either try to hit me or run,” he says.
The soldier looks around with a clear hint of fear in his eyes, only to look back at Captain with a smirk. “Ok, so you want to fight then” says Captain as he moves toward the soldier. Then he hears a clicking noise from behind. He slowly turns around to see five more guards, and one captain each leveling a gun at his head. “So guys, how about we go to the tavern, get a bottle of rum and forget everything that has happened?” asks Captain. He is only answered by a strong blow to the head knocking him out.
Captain moans as he slowly returns to the waking world. He holds his sore head and to find that he now has a rather large bump and the back of it. Unconscious three times in one day. Well that’s a new record for me, he thought as he slowly takes in his new surroundings.
He is now in a small, dark cell. There were three solid brick walls, and one wall made of iron bars which leads out into the hallway. The whole cell smells of urine, and mold. On the wall opposite are his possessions, and those of several other stallions he guesses. Sticking his head up to the bars, he could see a guard a little ways down the hall.
“Well ain’t this a sunny place?” he mutters to himself.
“Don’t get used to it, we’re all going to be executed soon enough,” says a male voice from the other side of the wall, presumably from another cell.
“How do you know that?”
“Cause we’re pirates. They hang pirates here,” says a new voice from the same wall.
Captain thinks for awhile. “What would you say if I can get us out of here?” he asks finally.
“How do you plan on doing that?” asks voice #1.
“I ain’t about to tell you until I know what you would do for me in return.”
“What do you want?” asks voice #2
“Would you join my crew?”
“You’re a captain?”
“Yes, I’m a captain. So will you join my crew?”
“If you can get us outta here, sure,” says voice #1.
Captain starts to kick at the lock on his door. “Good luck with that,” says voice #2. “They’re iron, you can’t break them”. However he doesn’t stop kicking. “If you keep that up the guard will come”.
He hears some trotting coming closer. “What are you doing down here?” says the guard that has just arrived. He sees Captain kicking at the lock. “Hey, you stop that!” There is no reaction. The guard draws his pistol “Stop that or I’ll shoot.” He says as he approaches the cell. Still nothing “Finally warning. Stop or I will… AHHH!” In an instant, Captain turns around and grabs the guard by the mane, slamming his head into the metal bars.
Captain quickly grabs the key from the unconscious pony and unlocks his cell. He goes over to the next cell and looks in. Inside are three large stallions: a black one with a white mane, a green one with a red mane, and a blue one with a grey mane They stare at each other for a few moments before the three caged stallions start laughing at their liberator.
“What are you laughing at?” asks Captain.
“So you’re our captain?” says the black stallion between laughs “I’m sorry, but we didn’t think you’d be so pink!”
“Stop laughing at me this instant!” Captain yells.
“Oh. Right away captain Pinkhead,” says the blue stallion before going into another fit of laughter.
“You know, I think she’s more flamingo than pony,” laughs the black one.
“Fine,” is all Captain says before swallowing the key.
“What are you doing?” yells the black one.
“I’m teaching you not to laugh at me,” says Captain before going over to the opposite wall and taking his compass, a cutlass which belonged to one of the caged pirates, and the guard’s flintlock pistol. Then he dashes down the hall, looking for a way out.
“Guards, guards, someone is trying to escape!” the stallions shout.
He runs down the hall towards a window at the end of the hall. He skids to a halt a few feet from the window. It is a small hole in the wall, about 2 feet by 3 feet, with several metal bars going across it making it impossible to escape that way. He starts going back down the hall and stops in front of some stairs that leads upwards. There are going to be a lot of enemies up there. I think my best chance is the roof, climb down a wall or something, he thinks. He draws his sword and starts going up the stairs.
After going up four or five floors, knocking out three guards on his way, he finds himself at a door with a slight breeze coming from the other side. He opens the door expecting the worst. He is met by an open sky and a relatively empty roof. There are a few guards but none of them notice the barely open door. He can hear some cannon fire from a little ways off. “I guess they’re doing naval exercises,” he whispers to himself. He crouches down and starts making his way to the side of the roof. He climbs over the side and started to make his way down. Finding one hoofhold after another, he made it about halfway down, before he slips and falls down to the ground.
“I’m going to die!” He shouts as he falls to his certain doom. Imagining how gruesome the end result is going to be. Then he hit the ground, hard. I’m dead now, I can’t believe I’m dead. Oddly death hurts… a lot. He opens his eyes to see that he had landed in a bush, a thorn bush, but a bush all the same. He looks himself over for any bad injuries, all he has are some minor cuts, and a large bruise on his right hindleg. He tries getting up, all of his muscles scream in pain. “Well, I’m alive that’s for sure,” he mumbles. He stops when he hears someone talking.
“Do you have any final words?” says a rough deep voice. Then he hears several guns cocking.
“Do you have any final words?”
Captain pokes his head out of the bush, but he doesn’t see anyone. It appears as though he has landed between the wall surrounding the fort and the fort itself. He starts to hear some talking, but he can’t make out what is being said. He approaches the wall and begins making his way toward the voices. He comes to a corner. From there he is able to hear what is being said. “...You call yourselves righteous, yet you kill my kind for being different. You do not enforce justice, you create chaos, you are the real monsters…” says a female voice (much like the voice of the siren from his dream).
He looks around the corner. He sees four guards, three of which are standing in a line holding rifles, and the fourth is a slightly larger stallion, standing behind the others. They seem to be standing in a firing range of sorts. The wall opposite them is covered in bullet holes. Directly in front of the wall is a changeling tied to a wooden post. The changeling looks pretty much the same as the others he has ever seen, a black body with turquoise hair. “Monsters,” he whispers before crouching down and starting to approach the scene.
“Enough!” says the large guard, “You have no right to judge us. You’re the monster here. You are a creature that feeds off of others. Your kind offers nothing to this world but death, and for that you will be killed.”
“Ready.” The changeling takes a deep breath and closes her eyes.
“Aim.” The changeling braces for what is about to come.
“Fi--” His command is cut off by the sound of metal slicing through flesh. He looks down at his chest to see a blade freshly coated in blood sticking out of it. The blade is ripped out and he falls to the ground. Before any of the others could move, Captain attacks the one in the middle, plunging his cutlass into the guard’s throat. The last two guards are now facing him, drawing their own swords. Captain went straight for the one on the left, bucking the guard’s foreleg, resulting in a loud snap. The guard fall onto the ground screaming in pain, which was cut short by a slick metal object sinking into his chest. Captain turns around to face the remaining guard, only to see him running off toward the nearest door.
She couldn’t believe her eyes. One stallion, a pink-headed stallion at that, has just killed three guards before any of them could even take a swing at him. On top of that, they were in the middle of a fort. Where did he even come from? she thought. He turns toward her, and approaches. She is now more afraid than she was with the four guards. He stops in front of her. They both gaze into each others eyes for a moment. He then raises his sword, and she closes her eyes. Did he just save me, to kill me himself? she thought. She hears the dull sound of metal striking wood, then the tension around her chest was gone. She opens her eyes. He has just freed her. Why would anyone save a changeling? she thought as he sheaths his cutlass. He takes her hoof, and says “I think we should leave before a lot more of them show up”.
So there they are, galloping at full speed toward the gate of the fort. He could hear their pursuers shouting “Close the gate! Close the gate!”. To his horror, the gate is actually closing, No, no, no, no don’t close, don’t close! he thought. He tries running faster, but the changeling is too weak, and he trips. He picks up the changeling, making her give a little yelp, and puts her onto his back. He runs as fast and as hard as he can. He isn’t about to die in here; he still had to achieve his goal. Pushing his body as far as he can. The shouting grew more and more distant. Then he blasts through the gate with only inches to spare.
He needs to get out of Hayvana, he needs a ship. He runs through the crowded streets, happy to have this changeling with him. When other ponies spot the changeling, they get out of the way. Giving him a free pass to the harbour... almost. The only ponies not to jump out of the way are the guards, that litter the city. He shoves a guard out of his way, sending the guard into a couple of bystanders. He turns a corner to find the guards have it blocked off. He crashes through the widow of the closest house. Ignoring the screams from the random citizen. He then shoots out of the other side and quickly looks around to get his bearings. He bolts toward the harbour once again, taking the back roads this time. Once there he beelines it for galleon he saw earlier. “What are you doing?” asks the changeling.
“Going to get that ship,” he replies as he points with his hoof.
“We need something smaller. We will never get that thing out of the harbour.”
“But, but… It’s a big beautiful ship!”
“We need something that the two of us can get out to sea!”
“Fine,” he mumbles, heading toward a smaller gunboat. Once he arrives at the boat, he puts her down onto the deck of the boat. He then raises the sails, and goes to the wheel, steering it toward open sea.
He wakes up under a starry sky to the gentle sound of waves hitting the side of the boat. He looks around, dazed “Was that all a dream,”
“Not even close,” replies a female voice somewhere to his left “How much?”.
“What?”
The changeling comes over and looks him in the eyes. “How much are you being paid to save me?” she asks.
“Nothing.”
“Oh, come on now. No one saves a changeling out of the kindness in their heart.”
“I’m not being paid to free you. It wasn’t that much trouble, really.”
“You infiltrated a fort, killed several guards, ran all the way to the harbour with me on your back, got the boat out to sea, and then you passed out.”
“To be fair, I was also breaking out.” He gets up into a sitting position. “Don’t get me wrong. I have never been one to like monst… uh changelings. That being said, I saved you because they were being worst monsters. They kill innocent creatures without a second thought, all because Celestia says so. I’ve just had enough of these senseless ‘executions’. I didn’t want to be part of one.”
She looks down at the deck beneath her hooves. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to assume. I just thought...How about we start over? My name is Ebony”.
“It’s alright I don’t care all that much. Oh, and my name is Captain.”
Ebony looks back at him with a very flat look. “Why were you in the fort if you weren’t breaking me out?”
“I’m a pirate. Wanna be part of my crew?”
“I don’t kill.”
“So what? You don’t have to kill to be a pirate.”
“Fine, I guess I owe you anyways. How big is your crew?”
“Counting us, two.”
Ebony gives him an emotionless stare. “You have got to be kidding me.”
“Nope,” he says with a smile.
“Idiot.”
“Hey! I didn’t call you ugly-- OW!” he yelps as a black hoof slams into his jaw. “You know I can kill you in a second, right?” he says as he rubs his sore jaw.
“You won’t kill your first-mate now, would you?”
“Fair enough,” he replies.
“So what`s the plan?”
“Don`t know. Head to Neighsau, or maybe somewhere in Floridoe, get a crew, and become rich. First off, which way is north?”
“You have a compass.”
“No clue how it works.”
There is a dull thud as Ebony facehoofs.
Ebony slowly opens her eyes. She wakes up with a headache from Tartarus, and no memory of anything from the night before, except for the fact that she drank… a lot. She is in what looks like a bedroom. The walls are a faded shade of blue. There is one window in the room directly in front of her. There are a few decorations on the walls around the room, a few paintings and a mirror. There is a closet and a drawer towards the foot of the bed, all in all it is a relatively plain room. There is a smell of booze and sweat, though she isn't sure if it is the room or her. Then she realizes that something wrapped around her waist, and someone is breathing down her neck..
She screams as she jumps out of the bed and onto her hooves, probably quicker than she should have. The quick motion sending a bolt of pain through her head causing her to wince. When she opens her eyes, a cream colored lump opens its eyes and looks at her.
“Good morning to you too, sweetie,” Rose says as she rubs the sleep from her eyes, yawns then looks at her.
“Were you cuddling me?!”
“Yes, yes I was and if you don’t mind, sweetie, I’d like to continue,” she replies patting the bed next to her.
“Am I in your room?”
“Sweetie, with the amount you drank it didn't take much to convince you to sleep with me,” she replies with a seductive look in her eyes.
“W-what? W-we didn't do that, r-right?” A bright red blush showing in her cheeks.
“Of course not, sweetie. I’m just pulling your leg.”
“Oh, thank the winds,” Ebony says, breathing out a sigh of relief.
“I still think that your captain is a lucky stallion, to have a mate like you.”
“I told you I don’t like him like that!” Ebony shouts at her new friend.
“Really? Well, you wouldn't stop mumbling something about ‘captain’ in your sleep.”
More blush comes to Ebony’s cheeks. “He saved my life okay? I was having a dream where he saved me. I’m only part of his crew because I owe him,” she says.
“Then why don’t you ‘repay’ him,” Rose says with yet another seductive wink.
“You are a very horrible pony,” Ebony says.
“And you’re a very cute changeling.”
Ebony’s eyes widen in horror. “How did you know I’m a changeling?!” she shouts. Rose just points to the dusty mirror on the wall. Ebony goes over to it and sure enough there is a black changeling with a turquoise mane and tail, staring back at her.
“Your disguise dropped when you passed out,” says Rose, who has gotten into a sitting position.
“And you are not afraid of me?”
“To be honest, sweetie, you scared the bucking shit outta me,” she says. She scratches the back of her head. “I screamed for ten minutes straight, after that I was perfectly fine with the idea of sleeping with a changeling.”
“You screamed for ten minutes and no one wondered what was wrong?”
“It was late, and everypony was drunk.”
“Oh…”
Rose climbs out of the bed, giving the changeling a clear view of her cutie mark. Two vines wrapping around a bottle with a rose at the end of one. “Well I’m going to be downstairs cleaning up, just call me if you need any help, sweetie,” she says as she walks out of the door. “Oh, and you are going to help me today. You kinda drank more rum than what you could pay for. So you owe me that much, sweetie,” she yells a few seconds afterward.
An hour later a beige pegasus is standing behind the counter at the tavern. She is cleaning off the counter with an old rag. She looks around, trying to find a few possible recruits to Captain’s crew. She has already noted a few that seem suitable, but is unsure how to get them to join without any money. Finally she takes a few deep breaths, I might as well try something, she thinks. She walks around the counter to one of the stallions she first noted. He is a light grey pegasus with a mane and tail made of several shades of darker grey. He has the image of a cannon for a cutie mark. He is sitting on his own, smoking a rather large cigar.
“Hello,” she says.
“Hello, what do you want?” he says around the cigar.
“I was wondering if you were part of a crew.”
“No, why?” he asks.
“What’s your name?”
“Smokey Skies.”
“How would you like to join a crew Mr. Smokey?”
Well, that went better than expected, she thinks as she trots toward the next pony she is going to ask. This time she is going to ask a skinny earth pony, he has a brown coat with a green mane and tail, and he doesn’t have a cutie mark.
“Hello, sir.”
“Wha? Oh, uh... hi?” he says.
“My name is Ebony, what is yours?”
“I’m Twigs.”
“Well Mr. Twigs I was wondering if you wanted to be part of a crew?” she says.
“What crew?”
“My captain’s.”
“Who’s crew?” asks a pegasus. His name is Arrel, he is a small pale blue pegasus, with a white mane and tail. He has a few tattoos made of black ink scattered over his right foreleg, as well as covering his cutie mark.
“My captain’s.”
“Not much of an answer.”
“Trust me, it’s the best I can do.”
“Why would you want me?” Arrel asks with a sigh.
“Well, that was what my next question.”
He sighs again. "I used to be in the military."
A sword is brought down onto the table where she is sitting, cutting the table in half as though it isn’t much more than air. “Sweetie, you’d better pay me from that tonight,” Rose shouts over to them.
A diamond dog with light brown fur with black hair, sheaths his sword. He is wearing dark olive green pants with a dark grey, sleeveless shirt, and has a coat draped over his back like a cape. “So you’re good with swords?” Ebony asks, ignoring the comment from Rose. The diamond dog nods his head. He is the next candidate on her metaphorical list. From what she has gathered, his name is Howler, he is from Neighpon, is very good with a sword, and rarely talks. “I’m guessing that you’re not afraid to kill anypony?”
“No,” says the next recruit. This time, Ebony is talking to a unicorn mare. She is midnight blue with a long, dark purple mane and tail that almost looks black, with a few streaks of lavender. There is a long scar across her right side. She has a ghostly map covered in stars for a cutie mark. She wears a silver necklace with an amethyst in the middle. Her name is Starry Night. She had said that she is a navigator. “I will not take the life of another pony, except one,” she talks with an air of elegance, saying every word smoothly.
“That’s fine. I didn’t think you would.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing, I just thought that killing would be below you.”
“Well, you thought right,” Starry says turning her nose up. “Hm… I have a question for you. How much will you pay me to join?”
“Well you see, we can't pay at this moment. However, I can promise that we will make you wealthier then in your wildest dreams.”
“A promise? That’s the best you can do? What makes you think that I will join because of a promise?”
“Because it is the best offer you can ever get,” Ebony replies with a smile. They both stare at each other for a while, both trying to think of a comeback of sorts.
“Fine, I might as well join. Just to make sure you idiots don’t get lost in the middle of the sea.”
“Well then, I welcome you to the crew.” She shakes hooves with Starry Night.
Captain is sitting on the side of his boat, watching a couple of foals play with the dog that has been bothering him. Captain spots his first mate coming down the dock with a couple of ponies and a diamond dog in tow. She got me a crew! he thinks. He hops out of his boat and walks up to Ebony, checking out his new crew with every step. “Hello Ebony, I see you’ve made some new friends.” Glancing back at the group, they all look uneasy (except the diamond dog).
“He’s the captain?” asks the light grey pegasus.
“Yes he is, everyone I would like to introduce you to our captain. His name is in fact Captain. Captain this is Smokey Skies, Arrel, Twigs, Howler, and Starry Night,” says Ebony as she goes up to each of them respectively.
“You’re that guy from yesterday, the one that was fighting a lot of stallions,” says Smokey.
“You got a problem with that?” Captain asks.
“Uhh… No sir.”
“Good, now come on everyone I want to go get a better ship.”
“A better ship? We just got this one, do you really want a new one now?” Ebony asks.
“Yes. I want a new ship. I want to go get a galleon. I want a ship that matches my greatness.”
“Sounds full of himself,” Starry says under her breath.
“We are only seven. We don’t have the ability to keep a galleon, we’ll need more ponies for that. I think a schooner is within our ability,” says Ebony ignoring the comment.
“Fine how about a brig?”
“I guess it might be possible, but we still--”
“Then it’s settled, we’re going to get ourselves a brig!” He looks back at the crew with a large grin. “At the same time I’ll see how well our crew does.”
“So, why are we going back to Hayvana? We barely managed to get out last time!” says Captain as he and his crew sail for the pirate forsaken city.
“We're going there because we might be able to find a docked brig. If we can, it means we won’t have to fight as many soldiers as we would if we were to find one at sea,” replies Ebony.
“I guess that makes sense. Sounds like you know what you’re doing. Are you sure you weren’t a pirate before we met?” asks Captain raising an eyebrow.
“I never said that I wasn’t a pirate. Which I’m not, by the way. I’m just… smart, that’s all you need to know.”
“Fine, don’t tell me,” he says. “Why don’t you drop the disguise?” he whispers to her.
“We just met them. They would try to kill me if they find out now. I’ll show them at some point if they’re still with us, and if we all survive long enough.”
“Fair enough. Starry, are we still on course?” he asks.
“Yes, we are still on course. Why would you think we are off course?” replies Starry.
“I just feel we that are going the wrong way,” he says.
“You have no sense of direction whatsoever. If we were listening to your directions we’d be at Canterlot. I, on the other hoof, don’t make mistakes.”
“Let me get this straight. We are not going to use cannons?” says Smokey. He is sitting against the rail of the boat, cleaning out his flintlock pistols.
“No, we need the ship,” replies Ebony.
“That ain’t no fun.”
Captain hears the word ‘idiot’ mumbled from somewhere over by Starry and gives a little chuckle. “Tell you all what. When we get this ship, I’ll treat us all to some rum,” he says. They continue on in silence, until they arrive at the city.
The harbour is a large concrete structure just above the water with several wooden docks expanding outwards from it. Merchant ships rush to unload their cargo and deliver it to the stores. The concrete mass is littered by small merchant stalls, large groups of ponies gather around to see what they are selling. Large stacks of crates and barrels line the waters edge, waiting for pick-up. Even from the water, Captain can see the large number of guards posted along the streets. I wonder who they are looking for, he thinks sarcastically.
It doesn’t take him long to spot a brig, further down the harbour. It has Celestial Royal Navy flags, about sixteen cannons, and a large ram fitted to it. It has white stained wood with gold trim (usual colors for Celestia’s army). Perfect, not as good as a galleon, but good enough for now, he thinks. They dock their boat a good distance away from their target so they won’t be noticed.
Ebony stands up, and turns toward Captain. “You’re going to have to wait here,” she states bluntly.
“What, why? I can help take the ship!”
“Yes, but there are a lot of guards out there. I think it’s safe to assume that they are looking for us, and you’re not hard to miss,” she says pointing at his pink mane.
“Please don’t mention my mane. Also I’m the captain I have to go.”
“No you don’t. If you go out there you’ll get us all caught. I’ll make sure we get the ship, and I’ll send someone to get you.”
He lets out a sigh. “I guess you’re right. Good luck then.”
“Thanks. Arrel, Smokey, Howler, you’re with me, come on.”
The four walk off of the ship, and onto the dock. They make their way past the merchant stalls and through the crowded harbour, trying to remain unnoticed by the guards. Which is easier said than done since there is a diamond dog in the group. However they manage to make it to an alleyway a short distance from the brig, without incident. Ebony turns to Arrel, “I need you to do some recon. Fly above them come back, and tell us what we are up against,” she says. Arrel shoots up, his colors camouflaging him into the sky. “Right, the two of you get ready. We’ll go after he comes back.”
A few moments later, Arrel lands in front of the group. “There are four guards on the ship itself. There are another four on the dock stopping anyone from getting to it. There is still some cargo on board which means, more are going to be coming, or they’re leaving soon.” he says.
Ebony sits there taking in the information for a minute before looking back at the crew. “Okay, I have a plan. Howler you’ll have to swim around the ship, and come up from the water. Arrel, and Smokey, you two cover him from the air. Avoid attracting the attention of the ones on the dock. Try to keep it quiet, that means no guns Smokey.”
“Why, can’t we just kill them all?” asks Smokey
“No, there are too many guards posted around here. If they see or hear us we’ll be surrounded in seconds.”
“What if the ones on the dock notice us?” asks Arrel.
Ebony takes a deep breath, “You kill them,” she finally says.
“What are you going to be doing?”
“I won’t be fighting, if that’s what you are asking. I’ll try to distract the rest of the guards around here. Once you get the ship come and get us from the gunboat.”
“Got it.” Arrel says before taking to the air with Smokey. Howler dashes down the harbour a bit, then jumps in the water.
Now, how do I get the attention of the guards? she thinks. She comes out of the alleyway and turns toward a slightly crowded vendor stall, a colt runs out of the group with a bag of bits in him mouth. An idea hits her and she ducks into the alleyway. A minute later a yellow earth pony mare comes walking out. She approaches two guards, trying to look as unassuming as possible, idling glancing around.
Though the act is dropped the second she is close enough. She yanks the bit pouch off one of the guards and runs down the harbour, keeping the water to her right. The guards closely follow, calling at three other guards ahead of her to try and stop her. She bolts left into a crowded street. However she is quickly cut off by guards coming the other way. Thinking quickly she throws the bit pouch onto the ground, sending shiny bits flying across the road. Ponies scramble to get the precious bits, quickly forming a mob around the thief. The guards try looking for a way through, they decide to force their way through. That is until they hear screaming coming from the mob.
“CHANGELING!”. Panic ensues ponies start running every which direction, toppling into guards. Once most of the horde is gone they catch sight of a changeling flying off into the sky. I think that will keep them busy for a nice long time .
For a civilian, she sure knows what she’s doing, Arrel thinks as he flies far above the deck of the brig. He watches as Howler slowly swims his way to the starboard side of the ship. I can’t believe I’m working with a diamond dog, he thinks. In fact I can’t believe any of this. I’m working for a pink headed captain, who now has a crew of seven, and is trying to capture a brig with four crew members. Scratch that, three, the female doesn’t fight. Then again it`s not all that bad, I mean there is Starry . He is so wrapped up in his thoughts that he almost misses the fact that Howler is climbing up the side of the ship.
The diamond dog lifts himself onto the deck and draws his katana. Howler quietly approaches the patrolling group of ponies. Howler slits the throat of the last one in line, stopping to slowly lower the body to the deck. He does the same to the next one, reducing the number of patrolling guards down to two. He is about to go for the third one, until the guards notice that there are less hoofsteps. They turn around and immediately see the two bodies of their fallen comrades, but they aren’t given the time to react. Howler quickly slashes at them, dropping them both to the deck in one swing.
Smokey and Arrel land on the deck of the ship. “You two get rid of the bodies. I’ll go and tell Ebony,” Arrel says. He prepares to take flight, crouching lower to the ground and spreading his wings.
“Stop right there,” he looks toward the dock, four stallions are standing on the deck of the brig now, one of which is leveling a pistol at Arrel. Howler slowly unsheathed the sword of one of dead guards. The movement, completely unnoticed by the newcomers, “Surrender now, or we will kill you,” he declares in an authoritative voice.
I wonder if the dog can keep up? Arrel thinks. To answer his question, a sword is thrown into the chest of the guard with the pistol. Arrel takes advantage of the distraction, taking to the air a few inches above the deck, quickly making his way around the group. He draws his sword and slashes at the hindlegs of two of the guards.They fall to the deck with screams of agony. Howler dashes at the last standing one. The guard draws his sword, putting it in the path of Howler’s katana and his neck. However it does nothing, Howler cuts the sword in two, along with the neck of his opponent. Arrel finishes the two laying on the ground.
“Right, I’m going now. Be sure to get rid of all the bodies.”
A few minutes later, Captain is trotting down the dock toward his new ship. He is closely followed by Starry, Ebony, and Twigs. Arrel is reconing the area, to make sure nopone is coming. He walks onto the ship, and looks around admiring his the brig. He turns toward Ebony, “I thought there were guards on the dock.” Ebony replies with a small shrug.
Arrel lands next to Captain, “There is a group of soldiers coming this way,” he says. “I think we should get outta here.”
A smile spreads across Captain’s face. “Good, I was getting tired of this place anyways. Twigs, Howler, Smokey take this thing off the dock, and raise the sails. I want to see how fast my new ship is,” he looks around, “Ebony, I see we still have some cargo on board, mind checking what it is?”
She walks around the deck of the ship looking through the crates and barrels. “A few kegs of rum, a good amount of gunpowder, uniforms, a few crates of swords and about five hundred bits,” she replies. “And no you can’t have the rum, we would make more bits if we sell it.”
“We can make a few bits off of the uniforms, and swords too.”
“Captain, she is ready to go!” says Twigs.
“Good, time to leave.” He takes the helm and steers for the sea. He looks back at the dumbfounded group of soldiers standing at the dock, watching as their ship sails toward the horizon.
Ebony comes up to Captain. “So what are you going to call it?”
Captain taps his chin as he thinks of a name for his new ship. “Misfortune,” he says.
“Why are you going to call it that? Wouldn’t it be better if we name it after something that isn’t bad luck?”
“I’m going to call her that because it’ll be bad luck for anypony who crosses her.”
“Of course, it’s not like it’ll give us bad luck too.” Ebony replies sarcastically.
The next day, Captain and Ebony are sitting at the counter in The Lucky Mare. The rest of the crew is spread throughout the tavern celebrating yesterday’s success. Smokey is having a drinking contest against Twigs, Howler is meditating in a corner. Starry is sitting further down the counter talking with Rose, and Arrel is sitting at a table, playing a game of cards against some other patrons there. Ebony is telling Captain what had happened after she had sent Arrel to get the ship.
“Sounds like you had a lot of fun,” Captain says, taking a long chug of his rum.
“Of course you can say that, I can’t run as fast as you. I damn near died out there,” she replies.
“If you don’t like it, you can always leave, I’m not making you stay. I have a crew now, I think I’ll be alright.”
She takes a drink from her own bottle, then says. “No, not yet. I still owe you remember.”
“Ok, but remember the offer still stands,” he turns toward Rose. “Can I have some more rum over here?”
Rose quickly grabs a new bottle of rum, and brings it over. “I hear you got yourself a new ship, sweetie.”
He looks up with a smile of confidence. “Yep, it handles well, it’s fast, and I’m going to see how well it does in battle later.”
“I’m guessing that you two are going to be ‘celebrating’ tonight then?” she sends a seductive wink toward Ebony.
“Yep,” he says, completely unaware of what he just suggested. Rose lets out a laugh while Ebony facehoofs again.
Rose suddenly takes on a more serious expression. “You had better hope it’s as fast as you think, sweetie. Or else you might be seeing how strong it is sooner rather then later.”
“Why is that?” asks Ebony.
Rose points her hoof to a group stallions, “One of them says there is a galleon from the royal navy out there,” she leans in closer. “They say the captain is looking for a pirate who stole a brig from the Hayvana harbour.”
Ebony and Captain exchange a look. “I think we should get outta here for now,” says Captain. He quickly glances around for the rest of the crew.
“I think we should as well,” Eboy replies, hoping that they can outrace a galleon.
“I think we should stay here, and talk about how you stole a ship,” says a deep voice from behind them. They turn around, a light brown earth pony with a black mane, and dark blue eyes, is standing behind them. He is wearing a coat with a sun insignia, which covers his cutie mark. “Hello Captain, long time no see.”
“Flintlock, how did you find me here?” Captain asks. He is smiling at the newcomer. Why in Tartarus does he have to smile all the bucking time? Ebony thinks.
“Well, I heard that a pink headed pirate had help a changeling escape a few days ago. Now the very same pirate steals a brig. It wasn’t very hard to put two and two together. One question though, where is the changeling?” says Flintlock.
Captain points a hoof at Ebony, “She’s the changeling.”
“CAPTAIN!” she shrieks, making both of the captains laugh. "He's an enemy!".
“No need to worry Ebony. He's a old friend of mine,” Captain says.
“What, are you saying that you never told her about me?” says Flintlock with a little chuckle.
“I only knew her for a few days so far, and you kind of disappeared.”
Flintlock gives a hearty laugh, “Me! You were the one that disappeared, I made a name for myself, and became one of the top captains in the royal navy.”
“Sorry, but I’m not following. Who is this guy, and why do you know each other?” interrupts Ebony, throwing a confused glance at both of them.
“We’re brothers,” they say in unison.
She looks at the both of them. A blue pony with a pink mane, and a brown pony with a black mane. “No, don’t see how you two are related.”
“We’re not. It’s a bit of a story, so how about we sit down, and have a drink?” says Flintlock. He sits at the counter, and orders a drink. “It starts when we were kids…”
A foal version of Captain is walking the streets of Kigerston. It is a cold rainy night. His parents died a while ago so he has no home now, and has not gotten used to living on the street. They tried putting him into an orphanage, but they were are horrible places. None of them cared about him, all they ever did was punish him. So he has ran away, and now he is wandering the streets. He looks around at the well maintained homes. Most of them have lights on inside. He hops up onto a stack of crates, and looks in through the window. He sees a family, a foal, a mare, and a stallion, happily eating supper. He watches in quiet despair as they eat. He himself has not eaten for two days now. He watches as the stallion gets up from the table, and goes out the door. The stallion goes over to him.
“Get outta here brat!” he yells at the shivering foal. “I said get lost!” Captain doesn’t move, he just looks at the stallion with his a pitiful expression on his face. “Leave!” The stallions shouts before he hits Captain off of the stack, sending him to the cold wet ground.
Captain quickly gets up, and scurries away. There he is yet again, out in the cold, and dark, slowly starving. He lies on the ground, unable to go any further. I think I’ll just lay here and rest for a while, he thinks. His eyes slowly close, darkness creeping over him.
He starts coming back to his senses a while later. He is warm, oddly enough, am I dead? Did I go to heaven? he thinks. He can smell food, and smoke from burning wood. He slowly opens his eyes. He is inside a house, the walls painted a faded dark green. He is wrapped up in a blanket, there is a plate of food, and a glass of water on the floor in front of him. He turns his head slowly, his eye eventually fall upon a mare. She is sitting on a chair looking out of a window. The mare is a unicorn, light brown coat with a yellow mane. Her cutie mark is a length of purple thread and needle, looping into the shape of a heart.
“Where am I?” Captain asks, his throat sore and dry. Just then did he realize just how hungry and thirsty he is.
The mare perks up, and turns to him. “Good, you’re awake. I was afraid you would never wake up. My name is Silk Heart, and you’re in my house.” She looks at him. She has purple eyes, there was something about them that made him feel a little at ease. She points to the food, “You should have something to eat; you’re a little light.”
That is all the invitation he needed. He grabs the plate of food and starts devouring. While it is a little cold, he can’t complain, it is the only thing he has eaten in days. The mare goes over to the counter in the kitchen and looks at him. He holds up an empty plate, “Can I have more?”
Silk laughs, takes the pate and starts serving up more food. “I wish my own foal liked my cooking as much as you do,” she says as she places the plate in front of him. He finishes it just as quickly as the first.
Once he is done he looks back up at her, “Did you save me?”
“No, not really. The one who did save you is my son. He ran out last night and when he came back, he dragged you back with him. I just gave you a blanket and some food.”
“Where is your son?”
“Want to meet him? I’ll go get him.” She walks off down the hall, and disappears through a doorway. He takes this time to look at the home a bit more. The kitchen is small, but well organized. The front door is to his left, on the other side of the kitchen is the hallway. There are a few doorways visible in the hall. The same door the mare went into bursts open, and a young foal with a light brown coat, and black mane comes running down the hall. He comes to a skidding halt directly in front of Captain.
“Hey! Are you alright?” asks the energetic foal.
“Yeah, I’m ok… umm why did you help me?”
“Because you looked like you needed help. I wasn’t about to watch somepony my age starve to death. I’m not a monster.”
“Umm… thanks.”
“Don’t worry about it. Oh, my name is Flintlock by the way. What’s your name?”
“Captain, my name’s Captain.”
“I was later adopted into his family. After a few years, we decided to follow our dreams, and become a captain no matter what,” finishes Captain.
“Wow… I’m sorry about what happened when you were a kid. Sounds like you two are close though,” says Ebony as she takes in the story.
“No need to be sorry, it’s in the past now.”
“So, he won’t turn us over to the military?”
“No he won’t… Wait a minute, how did you end up as a captain for the Royal Navy?”
“It’s a bit of a story, I’ll tell you next time,” says Flintlock. “Getting back to the present, what do you plan to do now?”
“Don’t know, I guess loot some unexpecting merchant.”
“Well, if I were you, I’d stay away from the north-east waters, there are two merchant schooners coming from that way. Get too close, and they might think you are pirate,” says Flintlock letting out a hearty laugh.
“Is that so? I’m guessing that they might have a lot of protection.”
“Oddly no, it’s just the two schooners, and their cargo. I guess they think that they won’t be noticed if there’s less of them. Also if I were you I’d change the figurehead and flags of your ship. The navy might see it and they’ll know it’s the stolen one.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Captain says, taking a drink from his bottle of rum.
Flintlock, Ebony, and Captain sit on the dock as they watch Flintlock’s crew resupply his ship. A sizable crowd has gathered on the docks as well, after all it isn’t often for two CRN ships to be docked in Neighsau. “I forgot to ask, but what’s her name?” Captain asks pointing a hoof at the Celestial ship. It is a galleon, wood stained white with gold trim, the usual colors of the CRN. At the front of the ship is a figure head of Nightmare Moon.
“She’s called ‘Nightmare’s Revenge’. She’s the strongest ship you’ll find.”
“Asides from mine.”
Flintlock lets out a hearty laugh. “I think you might be overestimating your ship.”
A tall slender unicorn stallion comes walking up. He is the color of sand, and his mane is light brown with a streak of dark brown running through it. “Good to see you’re alright, Flintlock. The men were starting to wonder if the pirates here didn’t like you. I had to explain to them that, if that happened you’d come back, and this be a ghost town.”
“Ah, Sandy, good to see you too.” Flintlock gets up and pats him on the shoulder. “Captain, Ebony, I would like to introduce you to my first mate.”
Sandy takes a step forward, and gives a little bow. “It is a pleasure to meet you, my name is Sandstone. Though my captain, and the rest of the crew call me Sandy.”
Ebony gets up. “Wait a sec, I just thought of something. I know we can trust you Flintlock, but how can we know the rest of your crew won’t turn us over, no offense Sandy?”
“None taken,” replies Sandy.
“Don’t worry, you can trust them, I hoof picked them myself. They’re loyal, anyways if they were to turn you in they’d go to jail themselves. No pony ever said I don’t do pirate-y things,” Flintlock say with a smile.
“Anyways, the ship is restocked and ready to go, Flint,” Sandy says. He then turns toward the galleon and walks off.
“Looks like that’s it, I gotta or the navy will think something happened to me. I hope to see you all again soon.” With that Flintlock trots off toward his ship, while Ebony and Captain head off for theirs. “Good luck with your hunt!” Flintlock shouts over to them.
“You know me, brother, I don’t need it, but thanks anyways.” Once at the helm of his ship he turns to watch his brother sail toward the horizon. It was good to see you again, he thinks.
He turns to his crew, “Alright, Twigs, Arrel, Howler raise the sails, get us outta dock. Smokey check the cannons, I want them to be ready when we get there. Starry plot a course to the north-east waters.” He goes to the helm.
“You can’t be thinking of attacking those merchants, can you?” asks Ebony from his side.
“Why not?”
“Because we lack the ability to properly use this ship as it is. We can’t win a fight against one of them, let only two. We need a bigger crew.”
“No we don’t. I believe we can do perfectly fine as it is.”
“If you say so…”
How did I get stuck in this situation? Starry thinks as she looks over one of her maps. She is inside the cabin of the ship, nothing too impressive. A small room in the hull of the ship. A lantern is hung from a hook on the ceiling, she sits at a small desk in one corner, with a few maps spread over it. I am stuck on a boat with a diamond dog, a meat head who can only think of shooting ponies, a twig who can out drink a meat head, and an ex-military who has a crush on me. Bloody unbelieveable.
“Hey, is something the matter?” asks someone from behind her. She jumps out of her seat, and turns to Arrel, who is standing at open door. She sits back down again sighing.
“You know you could have knocked first. Also what would make you believe that something is wrong?” she replies trying to regain composure.
“You were mumbling something to yourself.”
Curse you for thinking out loud! she scolds herself. “I do not know as to what you are referring to.”
“You just did it again.”
She sighs again, think fast, and not out loud. “I was just wondering about the first mate. Don’t you think she seems to know a little too much?”
Arrel scratches his chin in thought. “I guess you’re right. I was thinking about that myself. But it’s not our problem, after all, we all have secrets to keep.”
“I know, but there is something odd about her. Anyways, why are you here? Certainly, you didn’t hear me from outside did you?”
A slight blush shows in his face, “I was… um… wondering if you were going to come out anytime soon. You’ve been in here since we left Neighsau.”
“No, thank you. I would prefer to stay inside here then be out there when the fighting starts. Now if you don’t mind, I have some work to do, and you’re distracting me,” Starry says. She then pushes him out of the door, and closes it.
“Twigs, get up to the crows nest. I want to know the second you see them,” Captain calls from the helm.
“Aye, Cap’n!”
Captain watches as the small pony climbs the mast. He’s an interesting one, he thinks. He looks over the rest of the crew, they all are, really. He looks off the starboard side. The suns rays reflect off of the calm water, making it shine like polished metal. There is no where he would rather be.
“Two ships, dead ahead Cap’n,” Twigs shouts from half way down the mast.
Captain takes out his spyglass to see his targets. Two schooners are both at full sail, both coming toward ‘Misfortune’. He smiles, good there’s nothing to stop me. They won’t even know what’s coming till we shoot them. “Smokey, how are the cannons looking?” he asks.
“They are in perfect condition.”
“That’s what I like to hear. Load the starboard cannons, aim for their masts, and cannons. Lets not give them a chance to fight back.” He turns the ship a bit more to the portside. Smokey, and Twigs dash around the deck loading the cannons. His heart starts to beat faster at the anticipated battle. It’s been a long time since I last did this. The ships are only meters away from the cannon range. To captain time seems to slow down as they approach their prey. Then the merchants enter the point of no return. “Fire!” In a powerful blast, the cannons go off, ripping apart the deck of the closest ship. One of the masts fall into the sea and the ship slows to a stop.
He turns his ship around, heading toward the other schooner. “Load portside cannons!” he commands, as his ship speeds toward their prey. Another blast goes off, but this time it is coming from the schooner. Splinters of wood shoot out from the hull, not enough to sink me, Captain thinks. “Fire!” At his command a blast goes off, crippling the second merchant.
“Prepare to board! Howler, you and me are taking this one. Arrel, Smokey, you two take the other one. Kill anyone who gets in your way, don’t kill the ones that surrender.” Captain jumps down onto the ship, slashing one of the sailors as he lands. Captain lunges at another sailor, managing to get him in the chest. Howler lands behind him, blocking the strike from another sailor with his katana. Howler reaches over and grabs the sailor by the back of the neck, he then throws him into the sea. Howler runs at a small group of sailor near the bow of the schooner, slashing them down in a few seconds. Captain draws out his pistol and levels it at, whom he assumes is, the merchant captain.
“What do you want?” asks the merchant.
“We want everything on your ship, or we will kill you,” Captain states bluntly.
The merchant looks around at the decimated ship. His eyes spending more time on the dead sailors than anything else. “Ok, ok, you can have it all. Just don’t kill anypony else.”
“Good, now load it onto my ship.”
A few minutes later ‘Misfortune’ pulls up to the first schooner they had shot. They see Arrel, and Smokey sitting on the bow of the ship, pointing pistols at the captured crew. There are six bodies on the deck. “Who wants to load the cargo onto my ship, or die?” Captain calls out, leaning over the rail of the ship.
“Why did we just leave them all? We could have just killed them, or taken them with us. And why did we leave them on their boats?” Smokey asks as the Neighsau harbour comes into view.
“Because they didn’t have to die. I left them with their ships for that same reason,” replies Captain.
“Yeah, but they’ll tell everypony about us now.”
“Exactly. Ok you lot, when we make dock you can go do whatever you want, but I would like to see you all at the tavern later. Not you Howler, I need your help with unloading.”
“What about our pay?” asks Arrel.
“I still have to sell this stuff. Don’t worry you’ll get your bits, just wait.”
A couple of hours later, Captain walks into The Lucky Mare. He scans the area for his crew. Smokey is passed out after challenging Twigs to a rematch. Arrel is trying to tell what happened to Starry, who is utterly unamused. Ebony, and Rose are chatting over by their usual spot at the counter. He goes over to each of them and places a small bag of bit in front of them.
“Sorry if you didn’t get as much as you thought you would. I kinda had to use some of the bits to pay for repairs, and such.” He says as he gets around to Ebony.
“You don’t have to pay me.”
“Yes I do. I don’t do slave labour, and that stuff. I pay all those who deserve it.”
She looks down at the bag of bits in her hooves. “Thanks,” she says. Why does he treat me so normally? I’m a changeling, that he saved. I don’t see why he should, or even want to, pay me. Captain leaves to challenge Twigs at a drinking contest.
“Did you do what I think you did to earn that money?” asks Rose with a sly grin.
“Buck you.”
“Oh, sweetie, I would pay you so much more if you did.” She ducks under a beige hoof as she laughs at her friend.
The next day, the crew has gathered on the dock, they are looking at Misfortune. It’s hull is stained a dark red with black trim. Black sails hang from the masts, rippling in the light wind. The figurehead is now a female earth pony wielding two swords. At the top of one of the masts, fluttered a black flag. The image on the flag depicts a crossed sword and scroll, with a skull on in the middle. “Crew, I would like you to meet the new 'Misfortune',” Captain says.
Captain stands in front of a church. The church looks familiar to him, but he can’t quite place it. It is an old church, dusty stained-glass windows, wood boards bleached from the sun, and two large wooden doors. He looks around for any other building, but finds none. He then hears the loud thundering sound of the bells, as they rang. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. Opening his eyes, he pushes his way through the door. There is a long red carpet going from the door to a table near the front. Seven benches flank the carpet from either side.
He makes his way to the table at the front, looking at it for a moment. Captain turns left and begins walking again. He goes straight for the only door on that side of the church. Opening the door he sees that he is at the top of a staircase, an ominous glow coming from the bottom. He closes his eyes once again, he could feel that there is something down there. He’s not sure what it is, but he knows there is something. He opens his eyes, suddenly finding himself at the bottom of the stairs. He seems to be in a catacombs of sorts, coffins lined the walls of the tunnel. The glow he had saw earlier is coming from all the small flames on the candles.
Captain walks over to a coffin further down the tunnel, not caring about the stale scent of mold. He stops at a coffin at the far side of the hall, this is the one he’s searching for. Captain glances at the name only to find it is blurred out. He pulls out his cutlass, and slides it into the space under the lid. With a quick upward motion, the lid snaps off. The ground starts shaking, dust falls from the ceiling. Captain looks around, panicked at the thought of being buried under the tons of rocks above his head. Bricks fall from the wall as he runs for the stairs. He reaches the stairs just as the world around him crumbles to dust.
Captain slowly blinks the sleep from his eyes, the slow rocking of the ship almost putting him back to sleep again. Well, that was an odd dream, he thinks. He turns his head to the right to find an annoyed looking changeling glaring at him. Captain lets out a yawn and stretches his back. “Good morning, Ebony,” he says following it with another yawn.
“Finally… I’ve been trying to get you up for the last several hours.”
“Oh, do you really miss me so much you have to wake me up?”
“Not even close, I came to wake you because Rose has a job for you,” says Ebony as she goes out the door to his cabin, “I’ll be at the tavern.”
He gets out of the bed and walks over to the door. I know it’s a good day when I go to the tavern first thing, he thinks.
Captain enters the tavern a couple of minutes later. There are not many other ponies, he easily spots Ebony and Rose chatting at the counter.
“Good to see you’re up, sweetie,” Rose greets in a cheery tone.
“Hi, I heard you have a job for me,” Captain says, placing a few bits on the counter.
“Not quite, it’s a job for you and your crew. Would you accept it?”
“What do I have to do?” he asks. He opens the bottle and takes a drink. He closes his eyes, savoring the taste of rum in the morning.
“I need you to go to Kigerston, and get some inventory for me. As it turns out I’m starting to run a little dry, and the captain I usually hire is a little under the weather. It’s a simple job.” She leans in close, putting on a seductive look. “And I’ll repay you anyway you want.”
“Sure, I think the rest of the crew won’t care, so long as they get paid,” he says as he gets up and goes to the door, completely missing the hint. “Ebony! You go get the rest of the crew, I’ll prepare Misfortune.”
“He’s no fun, I was hoping for something interesting. Maybe he’s into stallions,” Rose grumbles.
Ebony lets out a little chuckle, “Don’t worry, I just think he’s a little slow. If you keep trying you might get him. I have to go now.”
Rose focuses her seductive gaze onto Ebony. “How about you, sweetie? How would you like to be payed?”
“Money.”
“Sorry, sweetie, I only pay money for one service. Unless of course you want to do that for me.”
“I-I gotta go,” Ebony says before bolting out of the tavern.
Misfortune pulls herself into the Kigerston harbour. There are crowds of ponies running around trying to attend to business. Vendors have stalls set up all around the harbour, trying to sell their wares to sailors, and immigrants. Crates, and barrels are stacked, waiting for a ship to transport them. Several members of the crew have stepped out of the ship to see the city.
Captain lazily looks over the starboard rail. He sees Ebony yelling at some vendors, Twigs running from vendor to vendor buying random stuff. Smokey and Arrel had left before they made port. It’s been a while since I last saw her… maybe it’s time I do that, he thinks.
He jumps off the ship and starts walking down the roads toward the church. The roads really haven’t changed much since he was a child. He knows where he is going this time. He continues on for half an hour. He stops in front of a run-down house. The windows are boarded up, the door has a large crack across it’s surface. The walls are so dirty it makes the road look clean. He sits there for several minutes before getting up and continuing down the path. He walks around a church and into a graveyard, he continues down the rows of headstones looking for a special one. Stopping in front of a small, very basic headstone. “Hey… mom,” he says, looking down at the name, Silk Heart .
He sits down on his haunches. “I know I haven’t visited you a lot lately. I was held up in a few… situations, but I’m here now.” He pauses, taking a deep breath then continues. “I don’t know where to start. Well, I was stuck in Hayvana for a while, that’s why I didn’t come. I was having some hard times there, it all went from bad to worse, and I had started to believe I would never be anybody. I started to grasp at straws, going for even the smallest chance of a change. Until at some point I ended up in prison, I didn’t want to die I a place like that. As I was about to escape when I met… her. I can’t keep my mind off of her. Two outlaws in desperate situations, but I saved her all the same… I knew you would have agreed. And then everything started to change for the better. Now I have a crew, a ship, a great first mate… now I have a family.”
He takes a deep, shaky breath, wiping away a stream of tears that has formed. “I saw Flintlock recently, I’m not sure if he’s been here lately. When I saw him he was doing alright, knowing him he’s probably doing better now. He’s a great captain, I haven’t seen him command a ship yet, but I can tell. Mom, I think I can finally achieve something. I know I have a long way to go, but with my crew I’m sure I’ll… we’ll reach greatness. I’m not sure whether you’d agree with the path I have chosen, but I’m going for it.” Captain lifts himself up and wipes away a few more tears. “It was nice talking to you, I love you.” He turns to leave, but stops himself. He turns back to the grave, “I don’t suppose you’d give me sign whether you think I can or not, would you?”
Then the bells of the church start ringing. He looks at the church, in a daze. His mind goes back to the dream he had, with him staring up at the church. That’s where I’ve seen it, I can’t believe I didn’t notice it before, he thinks. He runs to the church doors pushing his way through them. The inside looks the same as his dream, a red carpet flanked by seven benches on either side. He runs over to the catacomb’s door, jumping his way over the benches. He races down the stairs, over to the coffin.
Jamming his cutlass into the gap under the lid, he pushes the cutlass upward. With a crack the lid opens, inside is the corpse of a male unicorn. Of course the color of his coat and mane has faded but still visible, green, and grey respectively. Lying on the chest of the corpse, is a rolled up paper. He grabs the paper, and quickly opens it (to make sure it’s not a letter). Looking at the paper, it’s obvious that’s it a map. He rolls it up again and puts it in his belt before turning to the door. He glances quickly at the name on the coffin, Emerald Lance . “Sorry, but I’m taking this. In any case I think I can put it to better use then you.” Captain dashes out of the door, out of the church, and down the road towards the harbour. He stops and looks back toward the graveyard, “Thanks, I’ll visit again. I promise.”
“Starry, I have something for you to look at,” Captain says as he climbs onto the deck of ‘Misfortune’. He reaches into his belt and gives her the map.
She unrolls it and looks back up at him with an annoyed look. “What is this!?”
“A map, I need you to find out where it leads.”
She opens her mouth to protest, but sighs, knowing that she won’t win.
“Where were you?” Ebony asks.
“Why?”
“You were gone for a while. You never told anypony where you were going. Then you come back with a map.”
“I was visiting some family.”
Captain sits upon his golden throne in the sky, looking out over the world of the mortals. He takes a deep breath; after years he has finally surpassed the army, princess, and even the mortal world. He watches a ship slowly sail over the ocean, perhaps he should enter the world again, after decades of watching. He is starting to miss the feel of helm at his hoofs, the smell of sea water in the morning. Maybe I should return, he thinks.
He hears thunder crack in the cloud under him. How can pegasus stand that? More thunder goes off, but he decides to ignore it. He turns his view toward Canterlot, it always makes him a little happy to look down on the princess. More thunder, louder this time, Captain feel the shock wave through the cloud. The cloud tears open and Captain falls through. He looks down in terror at the fast approaching ground. Looks like I’m returning sooner than I thought.
His eyes shoot open, he’s underwater. Where’s my ship? He pushes upward and breaks the surface. He realizes that he is in fact a couple of hooves away from the starboard side of Misfortune . His gaze turns upward and focuses on the Starry Night leaning on the rail, with an expression somewhere between bored and annoyed. “Why am I in the sea?”
“It was the only way to wake you, literally. I shouted at you for several minutes, when I realized that wasn’t going to get me anywhere, I threw you off the ship,” she says.
Captain starts climbing his way up the side of his ship, with a grunt he flops up onto the deck. “Fine, but why did you wake me?”
“I finished identifying where the map leads.”
“It took you three days to do that?”
“This bloody map has no reference points, no landmarks, nothing telling me where it leads. There weren’t even any coordinates, I had to compare the shape of the bloody thing against everything on my maps. It leads to a pitiful little island just west of here, by the way.”
“Oh, alright then, I’ll go get Ebony, then we set sail.” Starry sighs then heads down into the hull of the ship to get some rest.
Ebony wakes to the sound of someone humming a cheery tune. It doesn’t take long to realize that it’s Rose. She stretches her back, her makeshift bed isn’t too comfy, but she doesn’t want to wake up cuddling with Rose again. She opens her eyes to a red tail swaying for side to side as she brushes her mane in front of the mirror.
“Liking the view from back there, sweetie?” Rose chuckles.
“No, not in the slightest,” Ebony replies bluntly.
“Oh, that hurt sweetie, you should be more nicer to me. I am letting you live with me.”
“Yes, and I appreciate that, but I’m not going to give you a reason to cuddle me.”
“Oh I get it, you’re saving the cuddling for Captain, aren’t you, sweetie?” says Rose as she walks over to her closet and starts looking through it.
“Shut up about that, would you, It’ll never happen.” Ebony says, covering her head with the blanket. Rose pulls out an elegant dark grey dress, looking it over before deciding to put it on. “Aren’t you getting a little bit too dressed up today?”
“No, because I’m not opening the tavern today.” She tosses a key to Ebony, which is caught in a field off green magic. “You’re allowed in, but not allow to drink the merchandise or give it to the crew.”
“Where are you going?”
She gives a slightly annoyed sigh. “I’m going to a ‘party’. I’m not going to be back till tomorrow.”
“You don’t sound happy about it.”
“In case you can’t tell from the dress, it’s a noblepony’s party. The kind where everypony stands around and talks about how much money they have, while listening to music and drinking wine.”
Ebony stares at her, she quickly shakes her head. “How the buck did you get into that kinda party, aren’t they usually very selective about who goes?”
“Well… I’m actually quite rich and well known throughout the community. In fact I’m the one providing the wine for the event.”
“Wait, if you’re rich why do you work at a tavern?”
“It’s my grandmother’s, she passed away sometime ago, and she left it to me in her will. At this point I simply don’t want to get rid of it.”
“Okay… so why do you have so much money?”
“I own two wineries in Prance, and half a dozen taverns and restaurants over Equestria. Which is why I’m going, so ponies will buy more.”
“Prance?!”
“I don’t suppose this could wait till I come back? My ship is going to leave soon.”
“Uh… um… alright, it can wait. Have fun.”
“Sweetie, the only way I’ll have fun is if I end up in somepony’s bed.” Rose goes out the door leaving Ebony to try and sort out the information she just got. She walks over to the window to see Rose trotting off toward the harbour.
“Something wrong?” says Captain from the, still open, doorway. Ebony lets out a scream as she quickly turns around and throws the first thing she finds, which happens to be a pillow. Captain catches it with ease. “I don’t think a pillow will do anything even if it did hit.”
“The buck are you doing here?!”
“Got treasure to find, need the whole crew.”
“No, what are you doing here, in this room? You should have knocked. I could’ve been getting dressed or something. What if I had a knife?”
“You probably would’ve missed, or I would’ve caught it. Now, hurry up, we have treasure to find and things to loot.”
She lets out a sigh, “Fine, give me a second.” She goes over to the mirror as green flames surround her. She gives her disguise a once over. Satisfied, she trots out the door, following Captain.
“Are you sure we are on the right course?” Captain asks Starry.
“Would you stop asking me that every five bloody minutes! Unless you remember, I don’t make mistakes!” she yells at him, her face flushed red from anger.
“Well, we’re not there yet, I think we should’ve been there by now.”
“That’s because you have no sense of direction or time!”
“Would you two stop yelling? I have a horrible headache.” mutters Smokey over from the cannon he’s sitting on.
“That’s because you keep on having those stupid drinking contests against Twigs, and keep losing! How can you lose to him, you’re twice his size!” Starry shouts back.
“Are we there yet?” asks Captain.
“I swear to Celestia, I may not kill ponies, but I’ll make an exception for you!” She goes down to her quarters before she kills someone.
“Good job, you’ve managed to piss off our navigator. Good luck getting back now.” Ebony says from his side.
“Not my fault if she got the directions wrong.” They hear rage filled scream come from under the deck.
Arrel flies down from the crow’s nest, landing at the base of the mast. “Captain, the island is dead ahead, but…”
“But what?”
“We don’t seem to be the only ones after the treasure.”
Captain pulls out his spyglass and quickly spots the island. There is also another ship along side the island. A brig with black sails, he doesn’t see much else from this distance other than the fact the sails are being raised. He sighs, and looks at his crew.
“Howler get below deck, we’re going to have visitors, and I don’t want to find out whether they like diamond dogs or not.” He does as told, while the rest of the crew (minus Starry) watch the ship slowly approach. Captain looks at the ship through his spyglass again. He counts out about twenty sailors, sixteen cannons, and one captain looking at him through his own spyglass.
“Ahoy! How goes it?” the captain calls over with a bit of a chuckle.
“Alright,” Captain replies.
“That’s good to hear. Say, whachya doin’ here, pinkie?”
My mane, he has to mention my mane. “Searching for a unsuspecting merchant to loot, fishing, enjoying the sea. I should ask you the same question.”
“Oh, nothin’ much, just um… just doing some fishing ourselves.”
“Alright, in that case we should be able to get along.”
“Say, what’s your name? I’m captain Rocky Bottom.”
“Captain.”
“...”
“...”
“...”
“My name is Captain.”
Rocky stares at him from a second before falling into a giggle fit. “So, you’re captain Captain?”
“That’s pretty well the idea of it,” he says with a blank expression.
“I’m sure we can get along perfectly fine, captain Captain,” he says with a snicker. With that they part ways, Rocky’s ship goes back to the island, while Captains a little distance away.
He takes out his spyglass again, this time directing it toward the little island that he can now see clearly. It is a small barren island with literally nothing on it asides from one palm tree. Three stallions are on the island, one is hold a sword, while the other two carry a shovel each. In the middle of the group is a green earth mare, there is a yellow streak cutting through her light grey mane. The stallions seem to be yelling at her, and she is clearly afraid of her situation. One of the stallions hit her hind leg with a shovel.
Captain grits his teeth. “Something the matter, Captain?” Ebony asks.
The stallion hits her again. “No, nothing.”
“So, what’s the plan then?”
“Wait till night, sneak onto the island, steal it from under them.”
“What about the mare?”
“What about her?”
“Are you just going to leave her there? It’s pretty obvious that she’s not part of their crew.” Captain remains silent as he watches the stallion hit her again. “You know, I can see your anger every time they hit her, and I don’t need to be a changeling to see it.”
“Not right to treat anyone like that. I’ve been treated like that.”
“So…”
“So, when night comes we save her, and take the treasure.”
Ebony looks out toward the island. “I don’t think she has until night.”
He sighs and remains silent for a few seconds then turns around to his crew. “Howler, I’m sorry, but you’ll have to swim over to that ship. Arrel, Smokey, you two cover him from the air.”
“What are you going to do Cap’n?” Twigs asks.
“I’m going to have a chat with their captain.” He turns back to Arrel, and Smokey. “If one of us draws our sword be ready attack. If we both draw our swords, start dropping them, but leave the captain to me.”
“Finally, I get to kill somepony,” Smokey shouts, flying into the air beside Arrel.
“Twigs lower a rowboat.”
“Aye, Cap’n.”
“You can’t possibly hope to beat them, they’re at least twenty on that ship,” Ebony says.
“I don’t really care. If I have to, I’ll crush them all myself.”
“Boat’s ready Cap’n.”
Captain jumps over the rail and lands in the boat with a heavy thud .
“Good luck Captain, please come back.”
“It’s a pleasure to see ya again so soon, captain Captain,” says Rocky with a far too big smile.
Captain sighs, he’s really starting to get annoying with that. “I just came to chat.”
“What about?”
“I notice your crew is doing something on the island, and it doesn’t look like fishing.”
The smile drops and is replaced with a serious glare. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Captain sees a wet paw cling onto the rail. “I give you two options, you can either leave this island now, or you’ll help me lure the sharks so I can fish'em.”
“Ah, so that what this is about. You want the treasure, but how did you hear about it?”
Captain draws his sword. “Final chance, leave now or don’t leave at all.”
Rocky lets out a mocking laugh. “You’re threatening me, on my own ship? Do you really believe you can beat an entire ship on your own or are you too drunk to know better? Doesn’t matter anyways, because…” He draws his sword. “You’re going to die here.”
Then all Tartarus breaks loose.
Two gunshots go off making just as many sailor go down. Rocky looks up at a light grey pegasus holding a double barrel pistol. The sailors point their pistols at the pegasus only to be attacked from the other direction by a sky blue pegasus. Arrel lands on the deck, skidding to a stop with his sword in his mouth. Screams come from the port side of the ship, as a dripping wet diamond dog jumps onto the deck, striking down three sailors at once. Quickly the ship is filled with the sounds of swords clashing and pistol fire
However that is as much as Rocky gets to see before Captain is upon him. He blocks a slash from Captains sword. Captain continues his relentless onslaught, leaving no opening from a counter attack from his enemy. Sparks fly as strike after strike is blocked by Rocky, he rolls out of the assault and lunges at Captain. His blade is easily deflected, and he takes a hit to the jaw from Captains hoof. He staggers back a bit, when he regains his composure he sees Captain, not having moved from his spot. He could have killed me, he’s going easy on me, Rocky thinks.
He charges forward and slashes down at Captain. However Captain just steps out of the way, hitting the back of the cutlass with his hoof, wedging it into the deck of the ship. Rocky tries to pull the blade out, but to no avail. The air is knocked out of him, and he is sent flying across the ship and into the rail. A pair of powerful fore legs wrap around his neck and cut off his air.
“Give up or die,” Captain says.
“Never,” Rocky spits out with his last bit of air.
There is a loud crack, and Rocky falls to the deck. The fighting around them slowly stop as the crew take notice of their fallen captain. Captain looks up from the body and surveys the battlefield. “I give you all the same option, leave now or I paint your ship the same color as mine, using your blood. Before you answer look around, you’ve lost half your numbers already and I wasn’t fighting, now I’m able to join.”
The crew immediately drop their weapons and start rushing to raise the sails. Captain turns to his crew and says, “Arrel go back to the ship, have them come here. Smokey, Howler, we’re going onto the island.”
Howler and Captain jump into the rowboat and row the short distance to the island. The three stallions come running up to them. “What happened up there?” His only answer is a cutlass sinking into his neck, and the rage filled eyes of Captain. Before the other two could do anything Captain's blade sinks hilt deep into the chest of the next. The last one grabs his sword and charges. Captain picks up the shovel and hits him in the jaw, resulting in a satisfying crack. He tries to get up, but receives a bone breaking blow to the back. Captain then jabs the shovel through through his back, there is a quick gasp then nothing.
“Woah, don’t you think that’s a bit harsh Cap? I mean you gave all the others a chance,” Smokery says from the air.
“They didn’t deserve a chance,” he says as he yanks his cutlass out of a body. He turns to the mare, she stares at him in shock and fear. He starts to approach her, she tries to get up, but it’s clear her leg is broken. Captain stops in front of her. “Don’t worry, I’m not here to kill you. Just stay still, you don’t want to make that leg of yours any worse.” She continues to stare at him in shock and fear, a little less fear, but still fear. He sighs, “I came here to save you.”
A small smile forms on her face. “Thank you. Are you with the military? I didn’t think anyone would notice me missing for a lit--” She spots the dark red ship with black sails, and a pirate flag, coming toward the island. “You’re pirates!” she screams.
Captain winces at the outburst. “Uh… yeah, kinda. Does it make a difference?”
“You’re going to kill me!” she say as she starts sobbing.
“Calm down, I’m not going to kill you.”
“You’re going to feed me to the dog!”
He shares a quick look with Howler. “Calm down or I'll knock you out.” At this she stops crying. The rest of the crew arrive on the shore. “Ebony, take her onto the ship and look after her. Starry point us toward the treasure.”
“You know where the treasure is?” asks the green mare.
“No, I have no clue where it is.” He points to Starry, “She does.”
The green mare isn’t given time for more questions, she is picked up by Ebony and brought onto the ship.
“I wonder what she had to do with anything,” Arrel says.
“She’s related to the pony I got the map from.”
“How can you tell?”
“Same colors, she knew about the treasure, can’t be a coincidence that they just happen to kidnap her.”
“You two coming to help or what?” Smokey shouts over to them.
Captain and Arrel trot over to the hole he has started digging.
Inside the dark red vessel, Ebony tends to the mares wounds.
“So… what’s your name?” Ebony asks.
“My name is Jade Statue, I’m an architect. In fact I helped build the fort in Havana.”
“That’s neat, I used to work there myself until I was… let’s just say I quit. Name’s Ebony by the way.”
“Yeah I kinda heard before. The pink-headed one was… uh…”
“He’s scary when he wants to be, he’s incredibly vicious when he needs to be. But don’t worry, he’s nice, he’s an odd pirate to say the least, but strong nonetheless.”
“Did he really come to save me?”
“Yeah, he did, you’d be surprised how angry he got when he saw you being hit. Actually maybe not, seeing as to how you saw him ram a shovel through a pony’s chest. Okay, now I have to put your bone back in place, so this is going to sting a bit.”
“Okay, give me a sec- *crack* - holy bucking mother of celestia that hurts!
“I told you I would hurt.”
“You said it would sting a * bit!***” Jade screams.
“Oh right, I lie sometimes.” Jade just glares daggers at her. “Hey, at least your leg will heal properly.”
“What are you going to do with me now?” she sighs.
“I guess we’ll drop you off at Hayvana or another nearby port town.”
“You’d go into Hayvana just to bring, and risk being caught?”
“I’m sure Captain would.”
“I guess I owe him now.”
Ebony smiles at her. “Trust me, you’re not the only one.”
“Thanks,” says Jade, she staggers a little as she steps onto the dock. The harbour is just as busy as every other time the crew has been there. Crowds of ponies rush to and fro trying to keep up with their daily activities. Though it appears that Misfortune is attracting a little more attention than needed. It’s not too often that a pirate docks in Hayvana.
“No problem,” Captain replies.
“No problem? You freed me from pirat… other pirates, you have me patched up. Then you drop me off in Hayvana, a place famous for executing pirates. If you ask me, I’ll say that’s a little work.”
“No, it was no problem.”
“At least let me pay you back.”
“Buy me rum if I ever come back, and I’ll call it even.” He watches her limp down the dock. Out of the corner of his eye he stops a group of soldiers coming out of a street and towards him. “Loose the sails, let’s get back to Neighsau.” He walks over to the helm, sparing a glance at the group. I wonder if he knows that I’m here...
“Good work crew,” he says once they’re out of the harbour. “Tonights drinks are on me.”
Ebony suddenly remembers the conversation she had this morning. “Sorry guys, the tavern’s closed today.”
“What?! B-but what about my rum?” Captain says with a look of utmost despair.
“Yeah, we need to have our rum!” Smokey complains.
“You two have a very serious drinking problem,” states Starry.
“But, I still need to beat Twigs at a drinking contest!”
“I still don’t understand how you lose in the first place.”
“Ebony, are you sure that it’s closed?” Captain asks.
“Yes.” Captain falls to the deck of the ship and begins to cry. “She should be back tomorrow.” He immediately stops crying and grabs the helm once again.
“You should have said that before.”
“I wish to correct my previous statement. He’s an alcoholic, you’re the one with a very serious drinking problem,” Starry says.
“Are we there--”
“If you dare say it, I will throw you off the ship!”
Captain pauses from a moment as he thinks of something. “Fair enough, are we there yet?” Before he knows what’s happening, he finds himself in the water.
Ebony quickly enters ‘The Lucky Mare’ and slams the door before anyone could see her. She looks around the dark interior, then takes a deep breath. I don’t need Captain knowing I have the key to this place, she thinks. A ring of green fire surrounds her as the disguise drops. She opens the door behind the counter and goes up the stairs. She flops down onto Rose’s bed, she shouldn’t be back until tomorrow, and this bed is a lot comfier than the makeshift thing.
She curls up under the blankets, I wonder what he’ll do next. The crew seems to be getting a lot more used to each other, in Starry’s case I’m not sure if that’s a good thing. Well, I’ll give her props for having the guts to actually throw him off, especially since she know he could kill her in a second.
An image of the green mare flashes through her head. Captain certainly is an odd one, taking on a crew of twenty with only four, just to save some random stranger. Then he sails into Hayvana harbour without changing the flag or sails, to let her off. I ould never have guessed that a pirate like him exists, wonder why he does all that though. Her eyes drift closed as sleep takes over.
She wakes to ray from Celestia’s sun shining through the window, giving the room a soft glow. She quietly lay in the bed warped in the warmth from the sun and the comforting feeling of hooves wrapped around her waist. She could simply spend the day like this. However that comforting feeling is quickly replaced with panic, rage, frustration, and embarrassment. She turns around to face the cream colored pony, and roughly shoves her off the bed. Rose lets out a little yelp before she hits the ground with a hard thump .
“Goodmorning to you too, sweetie,” she mumbles from the floor.
“Why were you cuddling me!”
“Hey, you were the one in my bed, you were just asking for it, sweetie. That and you looked so cute, and cuddleable when you were asleep.”
I guess she has a point, on the first part at least, she thinks, but dares not admit it. “Why do you always want to cuddle me?”
Her head pops up above the edge of the bed. “Sweetie, I wanted to do so much more than just cuddle with you, but I was too tired,” she says with a wink.
A blush comes to her cheeks, “Would you stop trying to cuddle me? Wait, why are you back? Didn’t you says you were going to be back later today?”
“Oh, uh… the host kinda got drunk… then passed out. So the party was canceled.”
“Okay… but you still have to explain why you’re rich.”
“I thought I already did that.”
Ebony lets out a frustrated sigh. “Fine, explain Prance.”
“My full name is Rose Wine, I’m originally from Prance. Even there my family were nobles. When I was old enough, my parents saw fit to give me a winery.”
“Your parents gave you a winery for your birthday?”
“Yeah, that’s the basic idea of it. Once I had made enough money I bought a second. After that I decided to move to Equestria, at the time my Grandmum was here. I bought several bars and restaurants, since I could provide them with wine. Then I inherited ‘The Lucky Mare’, and here we are.”
“How rich are you?”
“I have enough money to buy this town. If you want, I could spread the wealth with you, but you’d have to ‘earn’ it,” replies Rose as she climbs back into bed, trying to wrap her hooves around Ebony.
Ebony jumps out of the bed before she could be caught. “No thanks, we’ll do perfectly fine on our own.”
“Wait, I want to cuddles more.”
“No, would you just stop that already?!”
“If you want I could invite Captain over for cuddles as well.”
Ebony freezes as her blush turns to a brighter red. “Uh… w-wha… um…” She bolts out of the door for lack of a better response.
“You forgot your disguise,” Rose yells at her.
Ebony runs back into the room in a burst of green flame. She goes straight for the mirror to check the disguise.
“Cheeks are too red.”
Ebony is gone before her roommate could harass her more. Leaving Rose rolling on the bed laughing as hard as she can.
Ebony stands at the counter of the tavern again, scanning the crowd of ponies. She quickly spots out Smokey, Arrel, Howler, Twigs, and Captain. She is starting to get more and more use to this place. The smell of old booze and sweaty pirates. The yelling, shouting, laughing, storytelling, and pirates singing cheerful shanties. It is all starting to feel a little like home to her.
“Hey Ebony, how’s it going?” asks Captain.
“Alright, had a bit of a bad morning, but asides from that I’m fine. How about you Captain?”
“I’m great, I finally can have some rum!”
“Hey, sweetie, I have a question to ask you,” Rose says.
“What is it?”
“Well, me and Ebony were wondering whether you wanted to join us--” She is tackled to the ground by the disguised changeling. Ebony plants her hoof firmly over Rose’s mouth.
“What was that?”
“It was nothing, it was nothing, just ignore her, I think she’s going a little crazy,” Ebony quickly says. Captain shrugs and continues to drink his rum. Ebony removes her hoof, only to see Rose smiling up at her. “Shut up.”
“I wasn’t going to say anything, I was just going to ask him if he want to join me on a trip to Kigerston.”
“As if.” She turns toward Captain. “So, what are we going to do today?”
“Nothing, I plan on upgrading the ship later today.”
Arrel comes walking up to the counter. “Hey Rose, did you see Starry lately?”
“Sorry, you just missed her. She was in earlier asking whether I had any interesting news.”
“Oh…”
The door bursts open, and a group of ponies (and one minotaur) come walking in. The sounds throughout the tavern quickly die out at the arrival of the newcomers. The group is made of one white female pegasus with a mane made of two shades of red with a long scar along her right shoulder. A pale blue unicorn stallion with a yellow mane, a dark brown earth stallion with a red mane. A green earth mare with blonde mane, and a large male minotaur. “Well, looky here, if it isn’t the traitor.” Arrel’s eyes go to the size of pinpricks. He doesn’t turn around, he doesn’t have to, he remembers those voices well enough to know who they are. Did they come for me? he thinks. “What, have nothing to say to your old crew?” taunts the green mare.
“Old crew, do you know them Arrel?” Ebony asks.
“Traitor…” Captain mumbles.
“And you never told them about us?! Don’t begin the think you can turn your back to the past like that. It can’t make up for what you’ve done,” says the mare. “Can you imagine our surprise, to find a worthless traitor like you. When we come here from a completely different target. You know when we’re done with him, we might come back for you.”
Captain stands up from his stool, and stares down the mare. “Can you please shut up? I don’t like it when some pony insults a member of my crew.”
The green mare doubles-over laughing. “You, you’re a captain? Let me guess, your name is captain Flamingo.” Her laughter slowly dies down to a few chuckles, before long her face is completely serious again. “You might want to get rid of him now before he betrays you.” A few tears start rolling down Arrel’s cheek. “He’s a traitor of Celestia’s Royal Navy, he turned inf--”
“I don’t give a buck,” Captain states bluntly. Arrels attention snaps to his captain. “I don’t care if he betrayed the navy. He’s a good pony, he’s a great scout, and fighter, and I won’t get rid of him no matter what you say.”
“Yeah but he betrayed us, his friends, if he did that to us imagine what he’ll do to you, his new crewmates.”
“Again, I don’t give a buck. As you said before, it’s in the past. I don’t think he’d be willing to do it again.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“Captain, please stop,” Arrel says in a quivering voice. “They’re right, I am a traitor.”
“So does that mean you’re going to come with us?”
Captain draws his sword, in a corner of the tavern a diamond dog gets up and draw out his katana. Smokey levels a double barreled pistol at them. “If you want him you’ll have to take him.” Several more swords and pistols are drawn throughout the tavern.
“Wait, don’t kill them,” Arrel shouts jumping in between the group and the rest of the tavern. “I don’t want anyone to die because of me,” he says looking towards the group, the white pegasus looks away.
The mare looks around the tavern with an annoyed glare. She opens her mouth to say something, but is cut off. “That’s enough! We’re not here for him, and he isn’t a target,” the brown stallion says. He glares at the mare and says, “We’re leaving, the longer we spend here the further away our target may be.” He turns and leaves the rest of the group quickly follow.
“Arrel, I think you should tell us what that was about,” Captain says.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Arrel says, slumping down onto a chair.
“Well, I do,” Captain says bluntly.
“Please, you’ll only think the same of me as them.”
“It’s no ones place to chose what I think of you, but me. Now, tell me and let me decide what I think about you.”
Arrel sighs and looks around at the rest of the crew. “Fine, three years ago I was a member of the crew onboard the Avenger , and we were pirate hunters…
Arrel flies above the night sea, listening to the waves to make sure not he not heading for water. He flies through a dark grey cloud, looks like a storm we’d better hurry . He spots a few orange dots on the sea below. He glances to his left, easily finding the white pegasus flying next to him. He motions toward the ship down blow, she gives a quick nod before they drop altitude. They stay out of sight from the ship’s occupants, while trying to identify their target. After a few minutes of circling he sees a black earth stallion stepping onto the deck.
“Found the target, his ship is to the east of the island. He has a pretty big crew, be ready for a fight,” he thinks.
“Got it… you two better return to the ship. I can’t hold the mental link much longer,” Coral replies.
“Right, coming back.”
“He’s so hot…”
“Dawn! We didn’t need to hear that!” Honey mentally scolds the white pegasus.
“Sorry, sorry, I’m still getting used to this whole telephy… telapy…”
“Telepathy,” Coral thinks.
“Yes, that!”
“Give her a break guys, she’s new here,” Minos thinks.
“Guys, we should get back on track, we’re comin’ up on them now.” Terra thinks.
Arrel and Dawn find the Avenger approaching the ship from the south. “Race you there,” Dawn says.
Arrel looks back toward their ship. As it is he’s closer than her, and it’s not that far away from them. “You’re on.” He shoots off toward the Avenger . However a white and red streak quickly blasts by him. Of course, I lose… again, he thinks.
“You challenged her to a race? Don’t you ever learn?”
“Mind link… of course.”
He lands on the deck of the ship, taking a little rest for the fight that’s soon to come. Minos comes walking up to him, his massive battleaxe sends shivers down Arrels back. The minotaur places one of his giant hands on Arrel’s shoulder. “You know, I think she likes you.”
“What gave you that idea?” he replies sarcastically.
“I’m just pulling your leg ,buddy,” say Minos. I wouldn’t have a leg if you really were, Arrel thinks. “I won’t argue with you there.” Coral, turn off the bucking mind link!
Minos goes over to the cannons and prepares for the fight. The target ship races toward them, hoping to sink the Avenger with their ram. Other crew members run about loading the cannons and grabbing their weapons.
“Arrel, Dawn, sorry but it looks like you can’t take a break yet. I need you two to go get their captain. This is supposed to be a simple job, and I don’t wanna waste time with boardin’,” Terra calls over.
“Yes, sir.” Arrel gets up and crouches closer to the deck, preparing to take flight. The Avenger suddenly makes a hard starboard turn, aiming the portside to the bow of the pirate ship.
“Fire!” The order comes out nearly as clear as the thunderous shockwave that soon followed. The cannonballs find their target, obliterating the figurehead, and sending splinters of wood raining down into the dark sea. The pirates fire some chain-shot at the masts, ripping off a fair section of sail. The crew quickly go about reloading the cannons as the pirates turn to aim their main cannons. “Brace!” Terra shouts, a second later cannonballs rip into the hull and deck.
“Cannons are loaded, sir,” call out one of the deck-hooves.
“Fire!” Once again, the booming of the cannons are heard, quickly followed by explosions of splintered wood from the pirate ship. “Arrel, Dawn, now!” Arrel quickly shoots off of the deck, easily spotting the pirate captain at the helm of his ship. He looks around to find Dawn to his right. He motions toward the captain, she quickly nods in return and they dive for stallion. Before any of the pirates can react, the two pegasi swoop down and pick up their captain by the shoulders. They circle around the ship and head back towards the ‘Avenger’, throwing the outlaw, unceremoniously, onto the deck. He is immediately cuffed and thrown under the deck.
“Good now, sink the ship,” Terra says. The cannons go off once more, punching large holes into the deck, water quickly starts to flow in. Terra goes back up to the helm and steers for Hayvana.
“Good job ,crew. How about a few drinks on me?” asks Terra, walking along the harbour toward one of their more prefered taverns.
“Or would you two rather be alone? You know, some private time where no one can see what you do… together,” says Coral, blowing a lock of his green mane out of his eye.
Dawn looks away,trying to hide the blush forming on her cheeks. “You should stop bugging her,” Arrel says.
“She should stop thinking about how hot you are,” Honey growls. Arrel rolls his eyes at the green and blonde mare.
“Sorry guys, I won’t be able to join you. I have a few thing to tend to,” Arrel says.
Terra give him a suspicious look then turns away. “See ya,” he replies with a wave of his hoof.
Arrel flies in the other direction, landing just outside off a slightly beat-up tavern. He walks into the dusty place, inside isn’t much better off than the outside. A few tables are overturned the ones that aren’t overturned have either a drunk passed out on it or a a stallion near that state. Chairs lay about, broken, and forgotten. In the middle of the room are two stallions trying to fence using a pair of old chairs. Charming, he thinks, he looks around and spots a pirate sitting alone at a table by the right wall. He sits down at the table, across from the pirate. Something is off about him, he seems… clean?
“Are you Cloud Walker?” asks the pirate.
Arrel sighs, thank goddess these fools don’t know my real name. “Yes, I’m Cloud Walker.”
“So, what did you bring me?”
Arrel crosses his forelegs. “Where’s my money?” The pirate throws a pouch of bits over to his side of the table. “Right, currently the pirate hunters are after a pirate named Black Bit.” One of the patrons leave the tavern, Arrel can swear he hears some fighting outside. Probably just a drunken fight, he thinks. “The fort is also bringing reinforcements and supplies, you can expect more soldiers when that’s happening. Also, as far as I know, a shipment of bits is coming in from Eaglela--” He hears what he thinks is shouting from outside, he quickly relizes that it isn’t shouting, but rather, they’re orders. “I got to go.” Arrel grabs the bits, gets up and starts to walk away. However before he can get far the pirate grabs him by the foreleg.
“You ain’t going anywhere.” The door bursts open and several soldiers come walking in, among them he spots Terra and Minos.
Terra picks up a chair and places it in front of Arrel, and sits down on it. He lets out a heavy sigh and says “So, you’re the one that has been hoofing out info. I was really hoping they were wrong, you know.”
“How did you find out?”
“We caught a pirate you talked to, he gave a description. Why, why would you betray us?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Tell us, dammit!” Minos shouts, making all the soldiers flinch.
Terra and Arrel stare at each other for what seems like hours. “There’s two ways this can go down, either you come quietly and you stand a better chance of getting out. Or we take you down, and Minos here is very angry at you,” Terra says.
“To take me down you’ll have to catch me first.” Arrel flares his wings, breaking free from the soldiers grip. He then breaks through a window a flies off toward the harbour. There is a massive crash as Minos breaks down the door in pursuit of him.
Terra sighs again. “I was really hoping you would pick the quiet way,” he says before getting up and walking over the destroyed door.
A shadow falls over Arrel as he flies at top speed. Looking up, he finds a white and red pegasus streaking past, and stopping in front of him. “Please stop, Arrel, I don’t want to hurt you,” Dawn says.
I don’t want to hurt you either, but I’m not stopping. He flies around her and continues on along the harbour. A quick and sharp pain shoots through his back, sending him crashing down the the hard surface. Dawn quickly lands beside him. “I’m sorry, I said I didn’t want to hurt you,” she says.
“Then why not just let me go!” he shouts at her, immediately regretting his words as he sees the tears streaming down her face. She looks down at the ground.
“Why would you do this to us? Just tell us, we can help!”
“I-I can’t tell you. Listen I don’t want to hurt you either,” he draws his sword. “But I will if you try to stop me,” he bluffs. Please stop… I’m not willing to hurt you.
She looks back up at him. “If it’s going to be that way, I guess I have no choice then.” She draws her own sword and flares her wings. He swallows a lump that has formed in his throat.
“Please I really don’t want to hurt you, just get out of my way.”
“If you don’t want to hurt me, then put your sword down.”
“Fine, if it’s going to be this way.” He takes to the air and tries going over her, but he is blocked by Dawn. He swings his sword at her, keeping it just short of her. She deflects the blade and takes a jab of her own at his wing, he goes into a drive. He levels out just a few hooves above the street, the same blade pops up in front of him, he has no time to block. He shuts his eyes, preparing for the sting of her sword. However only a slight breeze pass just in front of his forehead, opening his eyes a lock of his hair drifts down and lands on his snout. He flies backward, putting some space between him and Dawn.
He turns around and flies away from her, a white streak quickly passes by him. He catches the flash of a sword out of the corner of his eye. He goes into a roll, avoiding a strike that would have hit his wing. He returns with a strike of his own, being met with a flash of sparks from metal against metal. Dawn swings at his wing, he strikes at her as well. The sound of metal against flesh fills the air, quickly followed by a blood curdling scream and something hitting the ground.
Arrel stares at her in shock, her white coat stained red, and his sword stuck in her shoulder. She screams in pain as she lays on the ground, staining her white coat even further. “Sweet Celestia, what have I done?” He goes to land next to her until he sees a large cloud of dust rising from down the harbour, with a large, enraged, axe-wielding, minotaur in the middle. He shrinks back at the sight, and flies off toward the sea.
…I hurt her, I can’t believe I hurt her,” Arrel says. The crew sits in silence as they take in what he has told them.
Finally Ebony speaks up, “Why?”
“What do you mean ‘why’?! It doesn’t matter why! I hurt her!”
“Not that, why did you want the money?”
Arrel stares at him for several moments, until he looks away. “I can’t tell you.”
“Why not?”
“Because, unless Captain is willing to give me all his money, you can’t help me.”
“You’ll never know unless you tell me,” says Captain.
Arrel takes a deep breath and focuses his look on Captain. “I need it to save my sister.”
“What?” Ebony asks.
“My sister was taken by some debt collectors, I owed them too much, I didn’t pay. So, they took my sister as ‘collateral’, since then I’ve been trying to make the money to get her back.”
“Wait, that means she was taken…”
“She was taken four years ago… I’ve been sending payments to them to make sure they don’t kill her.”
Rose looks at him, tears starting forming in her eyes, I can help! “I--”
“Everyone, to the ship.” Captain says, getting up from his seat and heading toward the door.
“They said they would kill her if anyone went after her.”
He turns around. “That is why we’re going to get her without being noticed.”
“They have an army of thugs!”
“And I have a crew, I look out for my crew. You’re part of this crew, it’s clear she means a lot to you. So, I’ll get her back by myself, if need be.”
“I’m coming, you’ll need your first mate,” Ebony says.
“I’m with you, Cap’n!” Twigs calls out.
“Ya can’t leave me outta this!” Smokey shouts.
Howler lays a paw on Arrel’s shoulder. “I’ll come as well, you fools will be lost without me,” Starry says from the door.
They all look at her, “When did you get here?” Ebony asks.
“I came back as he was beginning the story.”
Arrel looks around at the crew, a small smile spreads across his face. “I’ve left my sister there long enough; I think it’s about time I knock those guys senseless.” At that, the sound of cannon fire fills the air. They look outside, groups of ponies are running for the port, some of them pointing to something further out to sea.
“What was that?” Captain asks.
The crew rushes outside to see what the commotion is about. Out to sea, two ships are circling each other firing volleys of cannonballs at each other. One has black sails and a pirate flag, while the other has Celestial sails and flags. Large billows of black smoke rise from the navy ship. They each unleash another round of fire upon the opposing ship. “That’s the Avenger !” Arrel shouts.
“Looks like they’re losing,” Captain says.
“We have to help them.”
“Why? They threatened you, they plan on arresting you.”
“Because I’ve already hurt them once and I have a chance to help them now. They’re my friends, I don’t want to watch them die.”
“Does anyone know who the other ship is?” Captain sighs.
“Yeah, his name is Fish Bait. He’s an ass, quite literally too. He has no mercy, kills anyone he doesn’t like, and refused to pay for his drinks last week. Trust me when I say no one well miss him,” Rose replies.
Captain looks out over the fight for a few moments longer. “Alright then, everyone to the ship. Let’s go save some pirate hunters,” he says sarcastically. The crew rushes to get Misfortune out to sea.
“Are you sure you want to? If you help them, it might give you a pretty bad reputation among the other pirates,” Rose says.
“Yeah, I’m sure. Either way, one of my crew members wants to help, not really my choice.” He climbs onto the deck of his ship as it leaves the dock. With the sails fully out, they charge toward the fight as cannon fire continues to fill the air. “Smokey and Twigs, load the cannons, we’re going to sink them.”
“Wait, can’t we just take away their captain?” Ebony asks. “Why do we have to sink them?”
“Because, they’ll probably just continue to shoot. Without anyone to lead them they’ll do what they do best, shoot and kill,” Arrel says.
“Arrel, you go over to your friends and tell them to stop shooting. If they hit Misfortune I’ll sink them as well, and tell them they’re going to pay for any damage to my ship. Also while you’re at it, catch their captain,” Captain says pointing to the pirate ship.
“Yes sir.” Arrel flies off toward Avenger .
“Cap’n, cannons are loaded!”
Captain makes a sharp starboard turn. “Half sail!” he orders. Just a few more seconds, he thinks as his ship comes along the back of their enemy’s ship. Then cannon fire comes from the pirate ship, creating a fresh wave of fire on Avenger. “Fire!” At his command the cannons let loose a devastating blow at the enemy’s rudder, stopping them mid-turn. “Bring up the sails and reload the cannons!” he shouts as he brings ‘Misfortune’ around for another strike.
He watches the crippled ship make a slow turn, trying to get him in range of their own cannons. ‘Misfortune’ effortlessly stay out of range and in moments is right behind them once again. “Cannons are loaded, Cap’n!” Twigs shouts. This won’t take too long, Captain thinks.
A few minutes earlier, Arrel lands in the middle of the chaotic scene onboard Avenger . Sailors run from one end of the ship to the other fixing holes, loading cannons, and putting out fire. Several sailors stop and glare at him. He hears thunderous hoofsteps against the hardwood deck. Arrel turns to Minos, shrinking back slightly at the sight of the axe-wielding minotaur. He takes a deep breath and stares Minos in the eyes. “I need to talk to Terra and Dawn, I’ve come to--”
He is tackled to the deck before he can finish. He looks up at the green mare with her forehooves pressed against his throat. “What are you doing here?”
“I came here to talk to Terra, I’m here to hel--” She presses harder on his throat cutting off his words.
“What makes you think any of us want to talk to you? You’d just sell what we tell you.” A powerful hand grabs her by the back of the neck, pulling her off him. “Let me go!” she shouts at Minos.
“That’s enough! Honey, go help put out the fires, this isn’t the time to be fightin’ one another,” Terra says, walking up to Arrel. “I hear that you want to talk to me.”
Arrel coughs a couple of time as air rushes into his lungs. “You have to stop firing at that pirate ship,” he says once he has enough breath.
“Why? Our ship is already crippled, if we stop shootin’ we’ll be wiped out.”
“Because my captain has come to help, and he doesn’t want you shooting him.”
“Help? Why would a pirate help a pirate hunter?”
“Because you’re my friends.” A series of bangs fill the air a second before a barrage of cannonballs crashes into the ship.
Terra glares at the attacker, surprise flashing through his eyes as he watches them being assaulted from behind. He looks back at Arrel and lets out a sigh. “Don’t fire! We can’t risk hitting our new… allies.”
“Thank you, I need to see Dawn now.”
“You sure? She hasn’t been the same since you hurt her,” Terra says bluntly.
Arrel winces at the memory, “I never met to hurt her, can I just see her?”
“She’s still pretty shaken up about it. She might not want to see you.”
“Please, I have to try and make things right.”
“In the middle of a battle, perfect timin’,” Terra says sarcastically. “She’s performin' recon. You know if you hurt her again Honey and Minos will kill you,” he says pointing a hoof at the enemy ship.
“I know they will, thanks.” He flaps his wings and shoots off to the pirates, only to be jerked back by something holding his tail. He looks back at Terra with a hoof planted firmly on his tail.
“You have to tell us everything later.”
He somehow knew that was coming. “Alright, I’ll tell you all later, but first we have to catch him,” he says, pointing his hoof at the pirates locked in combat with Misfortune . Terra lifts his hoof and Arrel takes off toward the battle.
He finds Dawn circling around the ship. “Dawn!” She stops and looks at him. She quickly looks away and flies back a bit. I don’t blame her for being afraid of me . “Dawn, wait I just want to talk with you”
“Why?” she asks weakly.
“Because I hate myself for hurting you.”
“Then why did you?”
“I-I didn’t mean to, I… I’m so, so sorry.”
“Why did you do fight? We could’ve helped you!” she shouts.
“Because… I couldn’t let myself get caught.”
“So you decided to try and kill me?!” Tears slowly stream down her face now.
“I-I… never wanted to hurt you, I--” Dawn delivers a lightning quick punch to the side of his face.
“You didn't just hurt me! I looked up to you, everyone did! You betrayed me and them, you hurt everyone not just me! All you had to do was talk to us. So, why did you run?”
Before she could react he catches her in a hug, but she accepts it and buries her face into his coat. “I’m sorry. I was stupid and afraid, but I promise I will tell you everything when we get back. I’ll tell you why I ran, why I needed the money, everything. I’ll even let you punch me some more if it helps.” He gets a little giggle from Dawn, she looks up and gives him another quick punch to the shoulder. He lets go as he rubs his shoulder.
“Now, I believe you guys are after someone, how about we go get him so we can have that chat?” She looks up at him with her tear filled eyes and gives a little nod. “I bet you can’t beat me to the ship.”
Her tears immediately burn away, replace by a determined blaze in her eyes. He gives her smile and in the blink of an eye, she’s gone. The hay? he looks down at the ship, finding a red and white blur racing along it’s side. She’s gotten faster, a lot faster. He tucks his wings in and goes into a dive. Spreading his wings, he skims the deck of the ship, going straight for the captain. He easily dodges the few attempts at killing him. He grabs the captain by the shoulder and brings him into the air. The captain goes for his sword, but his other arm is grabbed by Dawn. They drop the mule in front of Terra a minute later.
Arrel continues on toward Misfortune . “Captain, let’s go. I’ve left her there long enough,” he calls as he lands.
“Arrel! W-what are you doing, you said you’d answer our question,” Dawn says hovering just behind him.
He lets out a sigh turning to face her. “I said I will when I come back. I’m not going back yet, I still have something to do. I promise, I will come back.”
She hangs her head. “Alright, I’ll trust you, but if you don’t come back I’ll never forgive you.”
“I’m surprised you forgive me already.”
“I don’t you still need to tell us your story, then I'll forgive you.”
“Better than want I deserve. Don’t worry, I’ll come back with answers.” He watches her fly to her ship.
“Where to?” Starry asks
“A mansion just outside Manezanillo.”
“I told you they have an army,” Arrel says. Him, Captain, and Ebony are crouched in a bush, looking out at the yard of the debt collectors. Several thugs stand guard at different places around the property. The property is sitting right on the coast, giving a stunning view of the ocean. A path runs down the middle of the property from the small dock. The building itself is about three stories tall, and as long as Misfortune . Two stone lions flank either side of the door, along side the several guards. A large hedge maze occupies the back of the house.
Captain had set anchor a little way down the coast, to avoid attention. Then they had set out on hoof through the jungle that surrounds the building. “Doesn’t make much of a difference,” Captain says.
“Why are we skulking around anyways? Let’s just go in there and get her out,” Arrel says.
“Because they know you, they might kill her if you go barging in there,” Ebony says. “We need a plan.”
They sit in silence, trying to think of a plan. “Arrel, go back to the ship,” Captain says after several minutes.
“What, why?!”
“Because I have a plan, and you have nothing to do for a while. We need information and I know how to get it.”
“But--”
“Go back, we’ll get your sister out of there soon enough.” Arrel opens his mouth to argue, but closes it and flies off to the ship. Captain turns to Ebony once he’s gone. “You need to go in there. You’re the only one who can go in there without rising alarm.”
“Won’t the others wonder how I got in without being killed?”
“In that case you either tell them the truth, or continue lying to them.”
“I’ll tell them soon, but not yet. I’m still not sure how they’ll react.”
“I’m not forcing you… I am forcing you to go in there, however,” he says point to the building.
She sighs as she is engulfed in a burst of green flames. Once the flames are gone a light brown mare with a white mane stands where she was. “I saw one of them that looked like this, let’s just hope I don’t run into her.”
Captain leans against a mast of his ship with his eyes closed as he listens to the sounds of the sea. The sound of waves lapping against the side of his ship, the cry of some tropical bird or another, it calms him better than anything else. However, the moment is destroyed when Arrel gives a loud annoyed groan.
“We should just go in. I don’t want my sister to be in that place for a second longer.”
“We can’t, Ebony hasn’t come back yet. Go below deck and try to find something to calm down. We’re going to save her soon.”
Arrel lets out a frustrated sigh then goes down the hatch into the lower section of the ship. He looks around hoping to find Smokey, whom had been checking for leaks after the fight. He see a green glow coming from Starry’s quarters, perplexed he decides to go investigate. Walking over to the open doorway he finds navigator levitating a burning piece of parchment in a dark blue aura. The flames burn an eerie green. Her gaze shifts from the parchment to him. A comforting smile spreads over her faces as she lets the paper fall as the final bits turn to ash and fly out the open porthole. “Hello, how’re you holding up?” she asks.
“I’m alright.”
“Don’t try lying to me, please. It insults my intellect.”
“I’m… I’m just frustrated. I want to go help my sister, but I’m stuck here until the first-mate comes back.”
“I understand how you feel, I truly do, but if anyone can get her out of there alive, it’s Captain. I’m not going to lie, I had my doubts about this crew at first, but we’ve seen what he can do. He was willing to fight an entire crew to help a stranger, I’m sure he’d go against an army to help one of his crew.”
“Thanks… What were you doing, with that green fire?”
“Oh, that… I was just burning a letter not much more,” she replies with a dismissive wave of the hoof. “I’ve been wondering, what’s her name?”
“What?”
“What is your sister’s name, I would like to know the name of the pony we’re saving.”
Arrel gives a bit of a chuckle, “Her names is Clear Sky. I call her Sky though,”
“I can’t wait to meet her.” They hear something landing on the deck above. “I think that’s Ebony,” she says. Arrel runs onto the deck, to see Ebony talking to Captain. They both turn to look at him, a grin crosses Captain face.
“Let’s go save your sister,” Captain says. “Ebony says that she’s in the building, and we should be able to get in from the maze in the back. She isn’t able to tell us exactly where.”
“It still won’t be easy to get in. There are a few thugs guarding the back door. You’ll need a good distraction.”
“Smokey! We need you to make a distraction, I don’t care what you do just make sure everyone sees it.”
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. He stands at the helm of his ship, he is the image of perfection. He is a large earth pony with a dark orange coat, a long black mane and tail, a skull and crossbones for a cutie mark. He is the captain of a of a pony-o-war called the 'Black Fortune' which he had stolen from Celestia’s Royal Navy all by himself. His crew, the most loyal bunch of ponies a captain could wish for, and each and every one of them had the same goal as him. To make a fortune, raise an army, and liberate the seas from the tyranny of Celestia.
Everypony knows, and fears his name. He has a bounty of well over three million bits, but he knows no one is brave enough to try to claim the reward. There is no navy in the world strong enough to even scratch 'Black Fortune'. He knows he is the unspoken king of the sea.
This day he is going after a convoy that is carrying over twenty million bits. The day is sunny, and the wind carries the scent of gunpowder and smoke from a very recent victory. He can’t help but smile as he watches the ship disappear under the waves. He knows the convoy will enjoy the same fate soon enough. He is about to return to the wheel when he hears something unusual.
It sounds like singing. It isn’t like any of the shanties that the crew sings. This is being sung by a female voice. It only gets stranger when he realizes that it is coming from the sea. He has to get closer. He feels an attraction to the water. He quickly looks around and sees his whole crew are as mesmerised as he is.
“Lower a rowboat, men,” he says.
A few moments later he is climbing into a rowboat, the singing slowly growing in volume. As soon as he is settled the singing stops, and then there is silence. No more sound, there is, no wind, no splashing waves, and no cries coming from the seagulls overhead. He sees the figure approaching through the water. It looks like a pony at first, but as he focuses he can see that its lower half is that of a fish. She is a siren, a creature of death for sailors and pirates alike.
The siren comes right up to the rowboat. He can’t believe his eyes! How can this elegant, beautiful creature be the killer of thousands? he thinks. He approaches the side of the boat. He can’t take his eyes off of her eyes. They are just so alluring. There is no way she is a killer, he thinks as he closes the distance between him and the siren. Then their lips meet.
He wakes to find himself on the floor on an old tavern, staring at an empty rum bottle. He quickly realizes he has a massive headache, and thinks he can feel something trickling down the side of his head. He puts his hoof to the general area, only to find that he is bleeding. He looks up at an angry stallion standing above him.
“Imma gonna teach ya somethin’ for kissin’ me!” the stallion shouts.
He winces at the volume of the voice. However, against the pain, slowly, his mind starts to put the pieces back together. Well, that’s a bucking ugly siren, he thinks. “Woah, wait a sec. How about we get a bottle of rum, share a few jokes, and forget any of this ever happened.”
His only reply is of the stallion trying to stomp his head in. However, even while prone, drunk, and in a slight state of confusion, he is still faster than this fool. The stallion’s hoof meets hardwood with a resounding crack, leaving a large hole. With a quick, strong punch, he sends the stallion sliding across the floor. There is a high pitched scream, causing him to wince again.
“Get out of here!” screams a barmare.
“Why, almost half of the other ponies in here are passed out too.”
“Because he’s the owner!”
“Oh, and who’s going to make m--” He fails to notice the chair flying at him from the direction the barmare is in. He is immediately knocked out.
He slowly opens his eyes, only to cover them with his foreleg to protect them from the glaring sun. His headache seems to be worse. Gee, I wonder why. He moves his foreleg, blinking a couple of times as his eyes get used to the light.
Unlike his vivid dream, he isn’t what would be called intimidating. He is a well built earth pony, with a light blue coat. While that might seem normal, his pink mane with dark green streaks, and green eyes aren’t. The only thing that makes him seem vaguely like a pirate is his cutlass cutie mark. He has no massive war ship, he in fact has no ship at all. He also has no crew, or friends. His only possessions are his compass, a rusted cutlass, a hoofful of bits, and half a map. He has been stuck in the pirate hating city of Hayvana for a few weeks now with no way off. The only thing that was right is that he is a captain, as in he calls himself Captain.
I have to get outta here, he thinks. Captain blinks a few more times as he gets up, ignoring his body’s will to not move. He scans the area he is in. A harbour spans before him, crates and barrels are stacked along the water’s edge. Several merchant, and warships are docked along it as well. His gaze slowly moves to the galleon, a ways down the harbour.
“I would love a ship like that,” Captain mumbles to himself.
He notices a small group of soldiers approaching him from the galleon. Their uniforms making them much more noticeable. Their uniforms are made of white fabric with gold trim, a large gold colored sun sits on the middle of their chests. Captain jumps behind a stack of crates to avoid being seen, and waits till they are an earshot.
“Sir, how was the search today?” asks one of the soldiers.
“Horrible, I don’t know why I even bother with this stupid thing. Maybe I should just put it into lock up,” says the leader of the group.
“Well, I don’t think it would be easy, but you do have the half with the ‘X’ on it. That’s all you need right?”
“Yes, that and a good navigator!”
“He has the other half,” Captain says.
“Did you guys hear that?” asks one of the soldiers, Captain quickly shuts his mouth.
“You’re just being paranoid,” says the leader. “Come on, let’s get back to the fort. The sooner we’re done, the sooner I can see Sally.”
Captain slips out of his hiding spot and follows the group of soldiers. He sees two pieces of paper attached to the leader’s belt. “There you are… but which one are you?” he whispers. He manages to get behind the leader without being noticed. He reaches forward for one of the slips of paper, but turns away just before the group turns around. The group quickly scan the area before continuing on their route with Captain in close pursuit. He takes another try at pickpocketing the slip of paper off the leader, slipping away before anyone notices anything is amiss.
He quickly unrolls the paper, eager to see the other half of his map. Dear Sally, I miss you every day we are apart. I wish I could see yo--
“This is a love letter,” he says before crumpling up the paper and throwing it away. He looks back at the other piece of paper the leader has. “You shall be mine,” he whispers, taking pursuit once again.
After a quick argument about how to use a compass, they start towards the east. Which they hope is the right direction to Neighsau. Captain stands by the helm. Ebony lays on the deck with her head resting against the mast as she eats an apple.
“Where did you get that?” asks Captain.
“The apple? It was in the boat when we stole it,” replies Ebony.
“Really? what else did we get?”
“A couple more apples, a spyglass, and a few bits.”
“Any rum?” he asks with a large, hopeful smile on his face.
“No," She takes a bite of the apple. "What’s your real name?”
“What do you mean? I told you my name is Captain.”
“Captain is a title, not a name. So, what’s your real name?”
“Captain.”
“So, you’re a pirate named Captain then. Funny how you weren’t one until a few hours ago.”
They continue on in silence for a while. It doesn’t bother Captain in the slightest though; he’s just happy to be back in his element. On the open water with the wind at his back, the sound of waves lapping against the side of the boat. The cries from the seagulls overhead. This is his element.
“What’s the plan now?” asks Ebony.
“Huh?”
“What do you plan on doing now?”
“I plan on making money, I don’t really care what comes after.” He could hear her facehoofing.
“How many bits do we have?” asks Captain after a short moment of silence.
“Not much, really. We only have enough to buy some food, and hire one pony… maybe.”
“Ok then,” he says with a smile on his face once again.
Really, that smile was starting to irritate Ebony. How can he smile at a time like this? The military is after us, we’re pretty damn well lost, and we have no money, she thought.
“Land ho!” shouts Captain suddenly, startling Ebony.
“What?” she looks off the bow of the boat, and sure enough they could see a sliver of land on the horizon. “I don’t believe it.”
“I told you I would find it.”
“You were trying to convince me we should go the other way,” she replies.
By the time they dock in Neighsau, the sun has risen to a bright morning. The dock is nothing special, a wooden dock in fair shape, the harbourmaster’s shop just off to the side. There are a few houses after that, which aren’t anything special either. In fact, most of them seem to be in a slight state of disrepair. There are a few colts running around on the road, playing with wooden swords. They fight each other for the treasure, which in this case is a small wooden box off to the side of the road.
“Okay, let’s go find us a crew,” he says, happy to be back in a place where pirates won’t be executed for what they do. He jumps off the boat, taking a good whiff of the musky scent of the town.
“Give me a second,” said Ebony from the boat, which had recently been docked.
“What are you doing?”
“Trying to come up with a good disguise. Pirates might be accepted here, but changelings aren’t.”
“Fine, hurry up, though.” he says as he takes in his surroundings again. That is, until he spots the dog sitting at his hooves. “What do you want?” The dog just looks at him. “Get lost mutt.” The dog barks then tilts its head to the side. “Ebony, do you wanna have lunch?” he asks.
“I don’t kill, remember?”
He continues his staring contest with the dog. “Get outta here,” he says. This time the dog actually gets up and jumps into his boat. “Buck,” he mumbles.
“Oh, just leave him be. He’s only a dog.”
“I don’t like dogs.”
“Well, I like him and he’s staying… Okay, I’m ready lets go.”
Captain turns around, spotting a beige pegasus coming off his boat. Her mane and tail are made of several different shades of red, and are just as messy as his own. Her cutie mark is an open treasure chest filled with bits. She did, however, decide to keep the green eyes.
“ Alright, then. Let’s get a crew,” he says.
“A tavern?! You decided to go to a bucking tavern and get some rum!” Ebony shouts at Captain as he drinks his third bottle. As it turns out, Captain has chosen to a tavern called “The Lucky Mare.”
“I find that it helps me think more clearly,” he says.
“We barely have any money as it is!”
He passes her a bottle of rum. “Here, you need to relax a bit,” he says.
She reluctantly sits down at the counter and starts drinking.
After a few minutes (and bottles) Ebony no longer cares about the money wasted on drinking, since it is helping dull her migraine, and helping her enjoy the show of Captain fighting a good number of the ponies. He has taken up an odd fighting style, standing on his hind legs, and his forelegs brought up to his chest.
“I’ll give you all two options. First, you try to fight me and lose. Or we can all get a bottle of rum and forget everything that has happened. Which is it going to be?” he yells at his opponents. They all charge him, but he stands his ground. Ebony couldn’t help but smile at how confident he is even thought it was seven to one.
A new bottle of rum is placed on the counter next to her. She looks at the drink, then up at the barmare. “I didn’t order another drink.” Ebony says over the shouting from the fight.
“I know, it’s on the house. I figured you’d need it if you’re dealing with him,” says the barmare. She has a cream colored coat with a red mane and tail, and hazel eyes. A few freckles dot her face. Her cutie mark is covered by the dress she’s wearing.
An unconscious stallion lands on the counter, then falls onto the floor on the other side. “Yeah, I think I’ll need it too,” she says as she opens the bottle. “My name is Ebony, by the way.”
“Nice name. I’m Rose,” says the barmare as she lifts the stallion over the counter. Another stallion lands at Ebony’s hooves, a steady stream of blood coming from his nose. “I think you should stop them before they rip apart my bar.”
“Maybe, but I’m enjoying this too much.”
“I’m guessing you’re a pirate?”
“Yeah.”
“If you don’t stop them I’ll have to close the tavern for repairs.”
She sighs and gets off the stool. “Fine, but I’ll need another bottle of rum.” Rose quickly places a bottle on the counter. Ebony picks it up and throws it at Captain’s head. The bottle shatters, and Captain falls to the floor. “I’ll bring him back to the boat.” says Ebony. Getting up and dragging him out of tavern.
After throwing him rather unceremoniously into the boat she couldn’t help but to smile at the state of her liberator. More so when the dog comes up and cuddles with him.
She returns to the tavern, and takes her seat back at the counter. “Good to see you came back,” says Rose.
“Of course I came back, I didn’t have anywhere better to go. Oh, by the way, I’m looking for a crew. Do you know of anypony who’s looking for a captain?”
“So you’re a captain?”
“No, first mate. The guy I knocked out is the captain.”
Rose leans in closer. “So you’re his mate, eh?” she says with a sly smirk creeping across her face.
“What?! No, not like that!” she yells, her cheeks almost the same color as her mane. “I’m just part of his crew.”
Rose’s smile only widens at this. She leans in even closer and says “Well, I bet that captain sails this ship all night long.” Ebony slams her head into the counter, Rose laughs at her.
“Give me another bottle, I think my migraine is coming back,” Ebony says in defeat.