The Pirate Master

Rusty woke up. He had this terrible nightmare again of him drowning. He didn't know why he had so many nightmares.

He thought to himself and wondered why he had nightmares of that. He liked the sea and the waters, but he was afraid of drowning.

It almost felt real. The nightmare has repeated itself several times the last few days.

He stood up on his hooves and looked at the clock on the wall. It was 6 in the morning. Rusty didn't know what to do, so he decided to stay awake.

Rusty looked around him. He was kind of bored. He looked at the grey colored paint on the walls and the roof.

Below his hooves were the blue painted floor of planks that made a lot of loud noises when he trotted on them.

It was a normal day in Manehattan. The sky was gray and filled with a lot of rainy clouds. He knew what his family were going to do today.

Today they had to move.

_______________________

Rusty Gold (Kind of ironic name, since gold can't rust) was a dark green coated unicorn stallion with blue eyes and light blonde hair. He went to the kitchen where his mother cooked breakfast.

Near the table sat a young, orange coated pegasus colt with red eyes and brownish hair. His name was Dark Gold. That was Rusty's little brother.

"Good morning, Rusty," Dark Gold said. Dark had his normal blank expression on his face. Rusty knew Dark didn't mind them moving.

"Good morning, Dark," Rusty said. Unlike Dark, Rusty didn't want to move. He would miss his friends so much.

"Have you seen Sunlight?" Rusty asked, wondering where his sister could be. "I haven't seen her since yesterday."

"She said she had to do something with her friends," Dark answered.

"For how long exactly?" Rusty asked. He wondered if his sister would come with them when they moved to the new town.

"She said she was going to play until this morning, so she will be home soon," his mom answered. Rusty knew his sister didn't want to move. Sunlight liked this place.

_______________________

Rusty waited near the taxi. He saw Sunlight Gold, his little sister. She trotted towards him. Her pink coat, red hair and green eyes could easily be seen from a distance.

She raised her wings and made an angry look on her face. This often happened when she was angry. She was angry now probably because it would now take long time to meet her friends again. Rusty's mom told him the new home was a bit far away.

"Well, time to go," Rusty's mom said.

"But when will we come back?" Sunlight questioned.

Those were the last words Rusty heard before going into the taxi and started moving to the other town.

_______________________

Rusty trotted out of the taxi. The landscape in this new town seemed much more natural. The grass here also seemed more green. The sky was clear blue, and only a few clouds could be seen.

Rusty and the others took their saddlebags and followed mom. They had a lot of questions. What was it like in this town? How was the ponies? What kind of buildings were there? What kind of ponies lived here?

Rusty's thoughts were interrupted when they stopped trotting.

"Kids, this is Ponyville."

_______________________

Rusty could not believe his eyes. In front of him was a peaceful little town surrounded by a river. The houses in Ponyville was unlike the apartments he had seen in Manehattan. There was a clear difference between Ponyville and Manehattan.

Next to the town was a forest. Rusty had heard about it. It was called The Everfree Forest.

It was told to be a mysterious forest filled with clouds that moved without pegasi controlling them, animals that took care of themselves and mysterious plants that were told to be magical.

Rusty also noticed the city of clouds in the air and the giant mountain city in the distance.

"Where are the skyscrapers?" Dark questioned.

"There are no skyscrapers in Ponyville," he could hear mom say.

"You didn't tell us the new town were an old village!" Dark shouted.

"Dark, calm down. This isn't too bad," Rusty said. "After all, there is nice architecture in Ponyville, and a nice landscape."

Rusty facehoofed himself, realizing his brother didn't care so much about nature or beauty.

"Mom, can you tell us where we are going to live?" Rusty asked.

"Oh, let me show you!" the mom said.

They trotted a bit across the town, until they stopped in front of a house.

It was a two-floored house. It was simple, but seemed good enough.

Rusty had this odd feeling he was being stalked. It just felt like something watched him from a distance. He turned around, and saw a pink pony in the distance, gasping, then ran away.

"Well?" his mom questioned. "What do you think of the house?"

"I don't know, I haven't seen the inside yet," Dark said.

"She meant by the looks of it from the outside," Rusty said.

"Nah, it's ok," Dark said, making Rusty wonder if Dark even had feelings at all.

"Why do you have to hide your emotions?" Rusty questioned Dark.

"What's up with you being so curious?" Dark questioned back.

Rusty wouldn't like to start a fight now, so he just left his thoughts and went inside the house.

_______________________

Rusty looked at the new house they were going to live in. It didn't look so bad. It felt bigger on the inside.

The family packed out their stuff in the house. Knowing that they were going to stay here for a while, Rusty went outside to check out the neighbors, but was interrupted by a pegasus mare speaking to him.

"Mail delivery," the mare said. "To Rusty Gold."

Pegasi could fly in air without making a lot of sound, which could be a reason why Rusty didn't notice her come.

Another thing came into his mind. He wondered who sent him the letter. Rusty wasn't very social, his friends has never sent him letters, and even though one of his friends decided to write a letter, they wouldn't know if he had moved to Ponyville.

"Um, excuse me, but are you sure this is for me?" Rusty questioned the pegasus mare.

"Yes, I am pretty sure, mister," the

mare answered.

Rusty took the letter, then went inside his house. Rusty went to his room, noticed by Dark. Dark looked at Rusty and the letter he got.

"I didn't know you had friends who sent you letters," Dark said.

Rusty sat at a chair and looked at the letter. "I wonder who sent me this."

Rusty opened the letter and began reading from it.

• Dear Rusty Gold

   From what I know from your studies, you are a talented unicorn with a lot of creativity.

   I could use ponies like you, too bad a pony can't find these everywhere.

   Therefore I will offer you a chance at studying at Canterlot University immediately. After that, we could talk about your abilities.

   - Sincerely

A pony you will soon know

Rusty read though the letter several times to make sure he didn't read the letter wrong or if he had missed anything.

"I think I get to study at Canterlot University," Rusty said, smiling a bit.

_______________________

Rusty stood in the train station. "Are you sure you think this is the right decision?" mom questioned Rusty. He didn't know for sure if this was what he wanted, but he wanted to know who the pony that sent the letter were.

Rusty heard the train conductor say that they were gonna leave soon. "Well, I guess that's it, then," Rusty said, gulping and taking slow steps towards the train.

_______________________

The train ride didn't seem too long, but Rusty became bored on the way to Canterlot.

After coming to Canterlot, a light grey coated mare told him to follow her. Rusty wondered if the one who sent the letter ordered her to bring him to them. The mare went to a big castle, followed by Rusty.

Rusty looked at the paintings on the walls as he trotted through a corridor.

"She is waiting for you," the mare said, leaving Rusty to some double-doors.

Rusty pushed the doors, and couldn't believe what he saw.

In front of him was a white coated alicorn with rainbow colored mane. Rusty knew who that pony were.

"Oh, Rusty. Good you could come," Celestia said.

"Is this a dream?" Rusty asked.

"Oh, no," Celestia answered. "But you might wonder why I ordered you to come here. I didn't ask you to come here just to study."

Rusty was confused. He didn't know what Celestia talked about.

"It seems you like the sea," Celestia said.

"Yes, a lot," Rusty said, not knowing where this was going.

"My sister told me you had nightmares of drowning," Celestia said. "So why do you like the sea?"

Rusty was not sure. He knew he liked the sea. Just thinking about the waves and the underwater terrain in it. But this question still made Rusty think a bit.

"I guess I like it because of a memory I had when I was little," Rusty said. "I remember when I was on a sailboat with my dad."

"I understand. So you like sailing?" Celestia asked Rusty.

"Yes, I do. I would give a lot to get to sail," Rusty said.

"Listen here, Rusty. If you go to study in Canterlot University, I would gladly try to fulfill your dream," Celestia said.

"Really?" Rusty asked. He could not believe what he heard.

"Yes," Celestia answered. "So what do you say?"

"I accept the offer," Rusty said with a smile on his face.

"Good, I will show you where you will study," Celestia said while trotting away, followed by Rusty.