The Pirate Master

A few days later...

Rusty sat on a chair in the classroom. He read about ships and the different traits with the different ships.

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• The Schooner

   The schooner is one of the smallest ships that you can sail across the seas. It is known for being hard to detect and being ulikely to be raided.

• The Frigate

   The frigate is a large and strong ship used during war. It can load a lot of goods and cannons, but is mainly used for battling other ships. The Frigate is better at firepower than damage resistance, but it doesn't take so long time to build them, making them feared across the sea.

Rusty stopped reading, thinking he wouldn't need to know about any of the other ships. Also, class ended, meaning he had to move to the combat class.

_______________________

Rusty dueled another pony, he tried to do the things he learned a duelist could do during a battle. After fighting a bit, he disarmed his opponent and won the battle. Rusty's teacher told him he was getting better and better, which was good news for Rusty.

Rusty went towards the observatory where his roommate was.

Rusty knocked on the door. It didn't take long before Shadow opened the door and let Rusty in.

"What have you been doing?" Shadow asked.

"Nothing, just won a duel and learned about different ships," Rusty said. "What do i do now?"

"Well, you have two days to prepare for sailing to Manehattan to deliver supplies," Shadow said. "If you succeed on that, you will gain a few bits, but also learn about the trade routes."

"Ok, thanks for the info, Shadow," Rusty thanked.

"No problem, just make sure to have everything prepared, alright?" Shadow asked.

Rusty had a small voise inside of him telling him this would get difficult. He were getting a bit nervous just thinking about sailing to Manehattan.

"Ok, i will make sure to do that," Rusty said. A quedtion came into Rusty's mind. "Hey Shadow, have you read page 2 and 3 on 'A captain's guide to the sea'?" Rusty asked.

"Yes, what about them?" Shadow asked, wondering what Rusty wanted to get him to answer.

"I didn't get to read those pages," Rusty said.

"Well, on page two was information about cannon ships and the galleon ship," Shadow said. "On the third page, however, was information of pirate ships."

"What? There are pirates?" Rusty asked, now feeling a bit more nervous.

"Yes, but don't worry. Pirates don't occur so often in the route you will take," Shadow said. "Also, even if pirates appeared, we would know if that would happen. Pirates don't use any equestrian nation flags. Since you will be using a schooner, we will escape easy and quick, if we are lucky enough."

Rusty relaxed a bit. He hoped what Shadow said was true.

"But to make sure, you will have to go through a test," Shadow said. "Challenge me to a duel. If you defeat me, then you truly are ready."

Rusty was a bit surprised. He didn't know Shadow practiced sword combat. Rusty thought he probably practiced alone. "Are you sure you want to duel me?" Rusty asked. "I think i am a bit more qualified for dueling than you."

"Then prove it," Shadow said. "Prove to everypony that you're a great duelist."

Rusty's mind stopped. What happened? In the first moment Rusty was wondering if Shadow ever used a sword. Now he was going to duel him.

"Meet me at Canterlot University Dueling Hall," Shadow said. "Make sure to bring extra protection."

_______________________

Rusty was feeling nervous. As on if Celestia's students, he could withdraw from battle, but he didn't want to do that infront of his classmates. Even though they were wearing armor, Rusty couldn't stop thinking of Shadow coming up with a surprise.

The judge came into the middle of the duel ring.

"Okay, here's the rules; first pony to win 3 of 5 rounds, wins the game. You can at any point give up if you want. To win a round, you will have to touch your opponent with your sword, or make them go outside the ring. Disarming the opponent is allowed."

Density began to fill the air.

"I'm ready," Shadow said.

"I'm ready," Rusty said.

"3... 2... 1... FIGHT!" the judge shouted, starting the duel between Shadow and Rusty.

Shadow took quick steps towards Rusty, surprising him. Now that Rusty's defense broke down, Shadow disarmed Rusty, took his sword to Rusty's chest, and won the first round.

"How'd you..." Rusty said, interrupted by the judge saying that secound round started.

Rusty charged towards Shadow, but the attack was easily blocked by him. Rusty aimed low at Shadow, but Shadow managed to do a little distraction and then slashed away Rusty's sword, disarming him again.

"Where have you learned that?" Rusty asked.

"Give up already?" Shadow asked.

Rusty could see some of the classmates laughing a bit. Rusty thought to himself that he had to win now.

Round three started. Rusty took a defensive position. Shadow slashed his sword towards Rusty. Rusty blocked the attack very well. Rusty attacked and walked closer to Shadow, making Shadow walk backwards. Shadow didn't notice he crossed the ring, making Rusty win.

Round four started. This was getting more intense as time passed. Rusty charged towards Shadow, now pretty sure he would win this round. But what happened next was not expected. Rusty slashed his sword towards Shadow, but somehow, with his fast reflexes, Shadow blocked the sword and took his sword to Rusty's chest, winning 4th round.

"Game is over! Shadow win!" the judge said.

"I... lost," Rusty said. Now feeling a bit depressed.

"That was good fighting," Shadow said. "It seems like you have what is required to be a captain after all."

"But... i lost the duel," Rusty said.

"I know, everpony i have dueled have lost against me," Shadow said.

"And you didn't care to tell me that before now?" Rusty said angrily.

"Relax, Rusty," Shadow said. "Atleast you learned something new"

"Like what?" Rusty asked.

"For the first, dueling isn't always about winning, it's about achieving a goal," Shadow said.

Rusty gained a grin on his face and took his sword to Shadow's chest. "I win," Rusty said.

"That's not what i meant," Shadow said. "Ignore that, the secound is that you learned that proving yourself to be stronger that oters isn't good," Shadow said.

"I didn't try to be better tha..." Rusty said, but got interrupted by Shadow.

"The third thing you 'MAY' have learned is that you don't have to battle others, it is your choise," Shadow said, making Rusty think a bit.

"Now if you excuse me, i will have to learn another pony about dueling," Shadow said. "See you in two days, Rusty."

"Okay, see you soon, Shadow."